Advertisement
Using your Proton
What sets the Proton apart from other hobby rocketry flight computers is that it doesn't use any
switches, jumpers, or cables to configure or download flight data. It's all done over a WiFi
connection to your handheld device, using a common Internet browser. The pages have been
written very simply so that they do not require Java, Javascript, .NET, or any other scripting
language to operate... they're all just simple HTML 1.1. The pages are simple text with minimal
formatting, and while they may not be particularly pretty they are very easy to read, and they
render virtually the same on every browser and platform we've tested.
About Browsers and OS's...
All of the Proton's functions will work almost identically with just about any browser that you
use. Because of the differences in the way that browsers display things and handle downloaded
files, however, you may find that one browser works better than another with your particular
platform. Interestingly enough, some browsers are much faster than others... generally the ones
that are provided by the vendor. Go figure...
In general, our recommendations are as follows, in order of preference:
Apple iOS: Safari, Firefox
Android: Firefox, Safari (yes, it's an old version...), Chrome
Windows: Internet Explorer, Edge, Firefox, Safari, Chrome
Note that Chrome comes out last on all of these lists. The reason is that Chrome does not handle
the flight detail download function very well. In particular on an Android it can't tell what to do
with the .CSV file that's generated from the flight detail download, so it either hangs for awhile
or comes right back and does nothing. It's a shame, because we really like Chrome, but for this
application it doesn't work very well. If you have an Android, use Firefox instead, it will display
the .CSV file and launch your viewer if you have one installed.
Individual notes regarding browser compatibility and issues are in Appendix D.
Connecting to Your Proton
Each Proton has its own WiFi SSID network name, which is going to looks something like
Proton_2abcd
The last 5 or 6 characters are derived from the unique MAC address of the Proton's WiFi
module, so they're pretty much unique. The Proton uses the WPA2-PSK WiFi connection
protocol, so you need to enter an 8-digit passkey to connect. The passkey for your Proton is on a
label on the WiFi module that you got when you built it. It's also on a label on the package. If
you accidentally lose it, you can also get it by connecting an Eggtimer USB-TTL data cable to
the programming header. See the Appendix for instructions on how to do this. We recommend
that you put a label on top of the WiFi module with the passkey... you'll be glad you did at some
point.
- 13 -
Advertisement
