Main Altitude (OFF, Nose-Over, Failsafe Only, 100-500 by 50’, 600’-3000’ by 100’)
This setting allows you to set the descent altitude at which the Main chute deploys, or to turn it
off if you’re not going to be using it. You can set it from 100’ to 500’ in 50’ increments, and
600’ to 3,000’ in 100’ increments. You can also set it to deploy at Nose-Over, just like the
Drogue with a delay of zero seconds. This is for the ARLISS folks… you set the Main to fire at
Nose-Over, and the Drogue to fire at Nose-Over + 5.0 seconds, deploying your CanSats. If you
don’t know what that’s about, check it out at arliss.org … it’s very cool stuff.
The Main altitude that you use depends on a lot of things: the size and layout of your flying
field, how much wind is present, how many trees there are around you, the size of your rocket,
and not the least, how far you’re willing to walk to retrieve your rocket. 500’ is the default
setting when you first power up your Quasar, it’s adequate for probably 80% of all flights. If
you field is smaller, you’re going to want to take that down a bit, so your rocket doesn’t drift as
far when the Main is deployed. If you have a big project, you may want to turn that up a bit,
since you may not want a larger rocket deploying that close to the ground. If you’re not sure
what setting to use, ask your buddies at the field… it’s guaranteed that they will have an opinion
on the subject!
To change this setting, click on the drop-down list and scroll to the setting that you wish to set.
Depending on your browser/OS, you will either click on it or click a “Done” button to select it.
Click on the Submit button to save it, and you will be returned to the Status page.
We’ll discuss the Failsafe Only option later…
Main DMode (Deployment Mode)
Mode: Igniter or Servo
Igniter On-Time: 0.1-3.0 secs by 0.1 sec, 3-9 secs by 1 sec.
Servo Skew: See previous discussion
You can change the Main so that it turns on for a specified amount of time when triggered (as it
would be with an igniter or hot-wire) or so that it’s pulse-width modulated (for hobby servo use).
For Igniter mode, you can change the on-time from 1 to 9 seconds. For Servo mode, you can
select any of 8 different rotation and skew (amount of rotation) modes.
The operation is identical to the Drogue Mode, except of course it applies to the Main channel.
Also like the Drogue channel, the Main channel is shut off at landing detection. If you select a
very low Main altitude (say, 100’) and a very long Main on-time (say, 9 secs.), it may be shut off
before that on-time threshold is reached. There’s no point triggering the chute if you’re already
on the ground…
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