A BT-20 sized, bluetooth altimeter for $20? Take my money, please!

Nifty product and some very cool upcoming products from FlightSketch.com. This dude has the right attitude!

From his FaceBook post:

As promised, I wanted to share some info on what is in store for 2020 from FlightSketch.

First up, it’s been a long road getting the Mini to production and at every step it seems like someone has asked “why doesn’t it do ........” And well, there were a few awesome features that just wouldn't fit. In order to meet the size and price targets for the Mini, a few things got left out. The biggest being deployment events. So, we are announcing the FlightSketch Sport. All of the capability of the Mini plus a 2 channel deployment controller. It’s the same width as the Mini (fits in 18mm tube) and 2" long. Single cell LiPo operation opens up dual deploy to many more models. The first flight on the sport was a BT-55 model on a C6-5!
Example flight: https://flightsketch.com/flights/347/

Second, almost as many people have asked for the opposite - an even smaller altimeter for competition use. We shaved 30% off the mass of the original FS Mini but the question was still “how low can we go?” Introducing the FlightSketch Competition. A sub-gram recording altimeter that is just 8mm wide and with all of the features of the Mini including Bluetooth. Small enough for record setting flights in the smallest models, we will be pursuing NAR and FAI approval for contest use.

And one more thing... like many others, we’re tired of spending hours searching for models after landing. Even low power models in tall grass can be impossible to find. It’s (almost) 2020, why can’t I just get a map to my rocket? Introducing FlightSketch SST - the Super Simple Tracker. Still just 0.6 inches wide, fits in an 18mm tube and plots your rocket’s position in real time on Google Maps. Uses Ublox GPS with LoRa radio technology for incredible range without external antennas. We maxed out our line of sight test capability at 16.5 miles with still a few dB of link budget left. And most importantly, it will be the most affordable tracking system available. Screen shots show the range test and an actual flight. 

Stay tuned for more updates. Please let us know what features you would like to see!

Thanks for all of your support, looking forward to another amazing year!

Click to enlarge.

Caught launching rockets...

Now under construction on the old Pegasus field, the Blue Origin rocket engine plant is very big and impressive; I am always amazed at how quickly these buildings are built. They seem to spring up overnight, like the walls just popped out of the ground. I hope Blue Origin give tours once the plant becomes operational, as I'm sure there is going to be some cool stuff to see within those walls.

Anyway, yesterday Duane brought to my attention an article about the plant construction that appeared in local paper and on AL.com. He pointed out that there was an aerial photo of the plant, which captured us launching rockets on the field across the street earlier this month. I looked it up on the Internet, and sure enough you can see Duane's SUV out in the field. Pretty cool.

You never know who is going to be watching when you fly rockets!