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Flying with Your Proton
The Proton is very simple to operate. In general, a dual-deployment flight with the Proton will look
something like this:
At your Work Table
• Charge or swap out your battery/batteries and check it with a DVM to check the voltage
DON'T SKIP THIS STEP!
• Install your igniters with the deployment power switch off (if used), with NO powder.
• Connect your battery to the Proton.
• Turn on your deployment power switch (if used).
• Connect to the Proton and confirm that you have continuity on all selected outputs (unless they're
set for servos). If you don't, disconnect the batteries and figure out why.
• With your AV bay horizontally on the work table, give it about five minutes to warm up. Check
the Accel reading on the Status Page; if it's near 1.0 then power cycle it (it should be near zero) and
start again. Adjust the Accel Offset from the Settings menu (we recommend using Auto Adjust).
• Check your settings, especially the deployment channel settings
• Close up the AV bay
• Turn OFF the deployment power switch (if used)
• Add powder to the charge wells, and finish prepping your rocket
• CALIBRATE THE ACCELEROMETER
At the RSO Table
• Get your rocket safety-checked, get your pad assignment, and swagger out to the pad. Note that
your Proton will beep shortly once every 60 seconds that it's powered on, as the web page refreshes.
You may need to show your RSO the Status Page on your phone to show him that it's disarmed if
he's not familiar with the Proton, since most Altimeters only beep when they're armed.
At the Pad
Put the rocket up on the rail/rod, raise it, then go to the Proton's status page. You should see that the
Accel value is close to 1.00, and it should be AQUA, indicating that it thinks it's pointed "up". If it
is RED, lower the rocket to a horizontal position, go into the Settings menu, select the Calibrate link,
and select Auto Adjust. The Accel value on the Status Page should be near zero, at this point you
can raise the rocket to vertical, if you refresh the Status Page your Accel value should be near 1.00
and the value should be displayed in AQUA.
If you're using a deployment power switch, turn it on. Make sure that you have continuity on
whatever channels you're using... if you do not, it's going to be easy to tell because the status will
be highlighted in RED. If it's OK, it will be either AQUA or GRAY.
Assuming that all settings are AQUA or GRAY and none of them are RED, enter the validation code
into the box and click on the SUBMIT box, after a second or two you should see the armed page.
Once that happens, CLOSE THE WEB PAGE. Closing the page prevents any data from interfering
with the flight sequence.
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