OpenFlight Parts List¶

Hardware components for building the OpenFlight golf launch monitor.

Ordering shortcut: A shared OpenFlight Mouser project is available for the parts Mouser stocks. Check it against the tables below before you order: anything Mouser does not carry has a direct vendor link here.

Next step after gathering parts: See the Raspberry Pi Setup Guide for assembly and software installation.

Core Components¶

NOTE on OPS243-A-W (WiFi version): The standard OPS243-A (USB only) is strongly recommended. The WiFi module on the OPS243-A-W drives the internal UART receive line, preventing direct connection to the Raspberry Pi GPIO UART (Layout A). However, if you already have the WiFi version, it can still be used over USB with a powered USB hub (Layout B) when paired with the IWR6843 angle radar.

Display alternative: The Raspberry Pi Touch Display 2 (7" 720x1280, MIPI DSI) also works with the Pi 5. Print the Screen-RPI-Display-2.stl bezel from the openflight-enclosure v3 case for it. It also needs the 200 mm display cable in the row above: the case mounts the Pi and UPS to the shell rather than to the screen, which makes the install easier, and the roughly 100 mm 22-way to 15-way ribbon that ships in the Display 2 box does not reach the Pi from there.

Sound Trigger (for Rolling Buffer Mode)¶

The sound trigger detects club impact to precisely time radar captures. Essential for spin detection via rolling buffer mode.

Optional path, not merged yet: PR #221 adds an opt-in --trigger hardware mode in which the OPS243 fires the rolling-buffer dump from its own internal speed trigger, with no SEN-14262 in the loop. It needs OPS243-A firmware 1.3.2, which every OPS243-A can run; whether getting there costs you anything depends on the firmware your radar arrived with, see Internal Trigger Instead below. Until the PR lands the sound trigger is the supported trigger and stays in the totals.

R17 resistor: The SEN-14262 is rated for 5V but runs at 3.3V in this setup, which can cause the GATE output to stick high. Soldering a resistor into the R17 through-hole position (in parallel with the onboard 100kΩ R3) reduces preamp gain and fixes this. Start with 47kΩ; use a lower value (e.g. 33kΩ) if the sensor is still too sensitive for your environment.

Sound Trigger Wiring¶

SEN-14262               Raspberry Pi           OPS243
┌───────────┐          ┌──────────┐          ┌──────────┐
│ VCC ──────┼──────────┤ 3.3V     │          │          │
│           │          │          │          │          │
│ GATE ─────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────┤ HOST_INT │
│           │          │          │          │ (J3 P3)  │
│ GND ──────┼──────────┤ GND      ├──────────┤ GND      │
│           │          │          │          │ (J3 P1)  │
└───────────┘          └──────────┘          └──────────┘

See sound-trigger-wiring.md for detailed instructions and troubleshooting.

Internal Trigger Instead (PR #221)¶

Why this is worth wanting, beyond the parts it saves. A microphone cannot tell your strike from someone else's, and it cannot tell either from a door, a ball hopper or the next bay over — that is the nature of listening for a bang. It is why the SEN-14262 needs its R17 gain trimmed to your room in the first place, and why a noisy range is the environment it handles worst. The internal trigger fires on the radar's own speed reading instead, so it responds to something moving in front of the sensor rather than to sound in the building. In theory that makes it both less error-prone and usable in loud places the sound trigger cannot cope with. Treat that as the expectation rather than a measured result: the mode is still unmerged, and nobody has published a false-trigger comparison between the two.

PR #221 lets the OPS243-A start the rolling-buffer capture from its own speed trigger, so the sound detector, its resistor and its wiring are not needed. The firmware that adds that trigger is OPS243-A 1.3.2, and any OPS243-A can be brought to it. What that costs you depends on what your radar arrived with, so check before buying anything: plug the radar into USB, open a serial terminal, send ?V, and read the version it prints back.

• It reports 1.3.2 or later. Nothing to buy. OmniPreSense told the project on 2026-09-10 that 1.3.2 went onto the sensors shipping from that build on (1.3.1 had gone to some earlier customers with a late bug), so a new order should arrive like this. Once the PR lands, skip the Sound Trigger table above.
• It reports 1.3.1 or older. You flash it yourself, which is where the debugger cost comes in. OmniPreSense's AN-013 code-update note is the procedure: a SEGGER J-Link on the radar's keyed J2 JTAG header (a 10-pin 1.27 mm Cortex debug header, not the J3 UART header OpenFlight wires to), Infineon's free XMCFlasher in Serial Wire Debug mode with the XMC4500-1024 target selected, and the 1.3.2 hex file, which is not a public download — OmniPreSense hand it out on request. Two ways to ask, both confirmed by Sandy at OmniPreSense, who said on the project Discord "If you have a Segger programmer, and would like to update the code on your OPS243, please send me a message here or via email on our website": message them on Discord, or use the contact page on omnipresense.com. The customerservice@omnipresense.com address reaches them too. They will also confirm which J-Link model to get. Send ?P first and pick the XMC4700 in XMCFlasher instead if the board reports that part (note on the PR). Do not press Erase in XMCFlasher: it clears the factory settings some sensors carry and anything you saved to persistent memory. On Windows run the J-Link driver installer as administrator and tick the legacy J-Link USB driver, or XMCFlasher will not find the probe (upgrade report).

That is about four times the sound trigger's $18, and it is a one-off tool rather than a part of the monitor, so it is a trade you make for the wiring and the R17 soldering the internal trigger removes, not for the price.

Angle Radar (TI IWR6843) — CURRENT¶

This is the supported angle radar. It measures vertical and horizontal launch angle, and supplies the pre-impact frames club path is derived from.

The board needs custom firmware — it does not work out of the box. The stock TI demo does not expose the raw radar cube OpenFlight needs. A validated prebuilt image ships in firmware/releases/, so you do not need the TI toolchain to flash it.

You also need physical access to the board's boot-mode switch (S1.1) and RESET button to flash. Both are on the LEVM itself; nothing to buy.

IWR6843 Setup¶

Two connection layouts are supported, and which one you can use depends on your OPS243 variant:

Layout A keeps the TI board on USB and moves the OPS243 to the Pi's GPIO header, which is what the power budget requires — the Pi cannot supply both radars over USB.

[!WARNING] Layout A does not work with a WiFi-equipped OPS243-A. Its onboard WiFi module already drives the radar's UART receive line, so the Pi cannot send it commands. WiFi OPS boards must use Layout B with a powered hub.

Full instructions: IWR6843 Operator Guide for wiring, flashing, mounting, and geometry; Moving the OPS243 to the Pi GPIO UART for the OPS side of Layout A.

Optional Enclosure Inclinometer¶

An LIS3DH mounted to the enclosure base lets OpenFlight compensate the IWR6843 tilt when the rig is placed on uneven ground.

See the LIS3DH Inclinometer Setup Guide for wiring, mounting, calibration, startup flags, and troubleshooting.

Angle Radar (K-LD7) — DEPRECATED¶

⚠️ DEPRECATED — do not buy for new builds. The K-LD7 angle radars have been superseded by a more capable radar chip. K-LD7 support remains in the software for existing builds but will not receive further development. The parts below are listed for reference only.

K-LD7 Module (UART) → FTDI 3.3V Adapter → USB → Raspberry Pi

Accessories¶

Everything about power is in Powering OpenFlight, including the barrel-jack polarity rules and the lithium-cell safety. Choosing how to feed the unit — the official 27 W supply, a Geekworm UPS HAT, a wide-input DC-to-USB-C module, a USB-C PD charger or power bank, or PoE — decides several parts at once, and one of those routes can destroy the whole build if it is wired backwards. The rows below are the accessories every build needs whichever route you pick.

Optional¶

The UPS HATs, the DC adapter, the panel jack and the power button are in Powering OpenFlight.

See Camera and YOLO Experiments before buying the camera; the standard setup does not install its optional software dependencies.

Cable Lengths (Enclosure v3)¶

The parts rows above already say which length to buy; this section is the measurement behind them, for anyone changing the enclosure or the wiring. Ordinary builders can skip it. The DC-jack and power-button runs are kept here with the rest, but the parts themselves are in Powering OpenFlight; the rear hole dimensions they have to fit are documented in the enclosure repository.

Enclosure Hardware (Inserts and Screws)¶

The heat-set inserts and screws are listed with the case, not here: see Required hardware in the openflight-enclosure repository, which gives the insert size and count per printed part and the screw lengths. One thing to plan for while you are there: the case screws sit deep in the shell, so whatever driver matches the heads you buy needs about 90 mm of reach. A stubby one will not get to them. The insert family and where to order it are being settled in openflight-enclosure#4; until that lands, buy what the enclosure page says for the parts you print.

Two more parts if you fit a UPS HAT. The shell has a round rear hole for a DC barrel jack and another for a power button, and neither is filled by anything on the enclosure page. They are not case hardware, so they are not in the list above, and they are only needed on the UPS route. Both are in Powering OpenFlight, along with the leads that join the jack to the board. The holes they have to fit are documented in the enclosure repository.

Cost Summary¶

Approximate, in USD. A few figures are unverified and the rows above say which. Read it as stages rather than one number: each step below is a decision, and the running total tells you what it costs to stop there.

1. What every build needs¶

The enclosure is in here rather than under Optional because you need one whichever radars you fit. Nothing measures repeatably until the boards are held in a fixed, repeatable arrangement, and the same printed set covers both builds: the radar front carries mounts for the OPS243 and the IWR6843LEVM, so an OPS-only build prints exactly the same parts and leaves the IWR mounts empty. The $52 assumes you print it yourself; add a print service if you do not own a printer.

2. Add the angle radar¶

The board is the whole cost here. Its micro-USB cable is counted in Accessories and its one GATE → BCM17 jumper comes out of the sound-trigger pack, so neither is charged twice.

3. Optional¶

Independent of each other; add the ones you want.

Worked totals¶

The battery line includes its own wiring. A UPS HAT cannot be powered in a closed case without a DC adapter, a panel jack and the leads that join them, so all of it is in that figure and itemised in Powering OpenFlight.

If you can live with a supply that does not detach, the same HAT will run on the official 27 W supply from step 1 instead. Both boards take 5 V 5 A on their own USB-C socket, so the adapter, the panel jack and the leads come out of the list: **+\(78** rather than +\)90 on the X1202, and no barrel plug in the build to get backwards. Nothing unplugs at the case and the cells charge more slowly, so it is a trade rather than an upgrade — both sides of it are here.

The enclosure hardware line is an allowance for the v3 set (short heat-set inserts in three sizes, plus the case screws and the board screws) at pack prices. It was $35 for the v2 set and is carried unchanged until the v3 set is priced against the insert decision in openflight-enclosure#4.

Cell prices are estimates: ~\(6 each for an 18650 (a Samsung 35E, Molicel P28A or LG MJ1 sells for about that) and ~\)8 each for a 21700 (a Samsung 50E or Molicel P42A sells for $6-9). With the X1206 the HAT is $52 at Geekworm list and its four cells come to $32, so the battery line is \(116 gross and +\)102 net, and the full build reaches ~$831. Nothing else changes: the X1206 V2.0 carries its four 21700 holders on the board, uses the same power-button header, and takes the same 12 V adapter.

If the PR #221 internal trigger lands, the Sound Trigger line (\(18) becomes optional and drops out of every total above for a radar that already reports firmware 1.3.2. For one that arrived with 1.3.1 or older, the swap instead costs the ~\)76 J-Link EDU Mini listed under Internal Trigger Instead, a one-off tool that flashes the 1.3.2 firmware.

OpenFlight works without any angle radar: you get ball speed, club speed, smash factor, spin rate, and estimated carry. The angle radar adds measured launch angle (vertical and horizontal) and is what club path is derived from.

If you are building new, buy the IWR6843, not the K-LD7s. It costs about the same as the two K-LD7s plus their FTDI adapters ($150 vs $140) and replaces both of them with one board. The K-LD7 path is deprecated and kept only so existing builds keep working.