The Quasar updates the deployment status every time that the page refreshes. If you leave the
page alone, it will refresh every 60 seconds. When it refreshes, you’ll hear a little beep from the
speaker... this also lets you know that you’ve got power and are connected to your Quasar. In
addition, every time the page refreshes a new validation code is created. You can force a page
refresh by hitting the refresh icon on your browser, or by clicking on the ARM (or REFRESH)
button without entering a validation code or entering an invalid validation code.
The GPS location on the Status page is updated every time that you refresh the page, note that it
may take a second or two for the page to appear when you refresh it while it’s waiting for the
latest GPS data. If you haven’t got a satellite fix yet, you’ll see NO FIX YET highlighted in
yellow; once you get one, you’ll see the status change to NEW FIX in aqua, along with the latest
GPS fix data and some quality of fix data and the time since the last fix. Note that if you forgot
to put the jumper on the RUN header it won’t be able to read the GPS data… you’ll see the status
as NO GPS FEED highlighted in red.
Arming Your Quasar
In order to start a flight, you need to arm the Quasar. For safety reasons, the Quasar will not
self-arm; that is, you must go to the Status page and arm it for the flight sequence to begin. This
is different than most other flight computers, which will go into an arming sequence a short time
after powering up, assuming that the continuity is OK. The Quasar is a little bit different
because it’s assumed that you’re not using a power switch so you are basically using the arming
sequence as a remote switch. This is the reason why we have the dual-ended switching
architecture; it ensures that your igniter is essentially “dead” until the Quasar has been armed
AND you have a flight in progress AND the first output event occurs. Deployment power is
OFF until that happens.
Before you can arm the Quasar, any enabled deployment channels must be in a flyable status.
This means that if a channel is enabled there must be continuity; if any enabled channel fails the
continuity test then you will not be able to arm your Quasar. You can tell very easily from the
Status page if it’s ready to fly, because either or both of the failed channels with have the
continuity status highlighted in RED. Note that this applies to igniters but not servos; servos will
display a grey OFF status in the continuity area, since there is no continuity check on them.
To arm the Quasar, enter the 4-digit validation code into the text box then click on the ARM
button. After about 5-10 seconds you should see an arming confirmation page:
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