New boards should be here soon! Since I had some tweaks to make anyway, I also redid sizing of some of the horizontal carriers so that all the horizontal boards would be the same length. The longest was the battery carrier, due to the length of the 18650 cell, so I redesigned around an 18350. Slightly less capacity, but still plenty for our needs. #HamRadio #ModelRocketry #DIY

Speaking of our radio/electronics payload for version 3, the boards are currently at the airport in Hong Kong, so should be here in a week or so, based on past orders. With any luck we’ll be ready for an October launch of V3

#HamRadio
#ModelRocketry

At the moment, the weather forecast looks good for this weekend, so we’re planning on doing our 3rd launch of Ohyo, plus launching some of our other rockets, this Sunday (the 23rd) at roughly 14:00 UTC. Official countdown will begin, and be posted here, about 30 min prior to launch.

#HamRadio
#ModelRocketry

The booster part of radio rocket version 3 is getting its second coat of primer. Feels fitting that the newspaper catching the worst of the overspray has an article about Morse Code😄

With the amount of spray painting we’ve been doing lately it’s probably time to build a slightly bigger spray booth arrangement for in the garage. We have a very small one, but it can’t handle anything bigger than model car parts.

#HamRadio
#ModelRocketry

The booster part of radio rocket version 3 is getting its second coat of primer. Feels fitting that the newspaper catching the worst of the overspray has an article about Morse Code😄

With the amount of spray painting we’ve been doing lately it’s probably time to build a slightly bigger spray booth arrangement for in the garage. We have a very small one, but it can’t handle anything bigger than model car parts.

#HamRadio
#ModelRocketry

I think we’re ready to click order on some boards for the electronics for radio rocket version 3. Initially I think we’re just going to order the couple boards and the handful of components needed that make up the ‘core’ of the new modular system, and if everything seems to go together as expected (and works) I’ll start ordering up the rest of them.

#HamRadio
#ModelRocketry

We -might- do a launch of Ohyo tomorrow, to test a few tweaks we made since our last launch. Conditions look good, but one of our flight crew is feeling under the weather, so it will depend how everyone is feeling. If we do launch, announcements here will start about 30 min ahead of time 👍
#HamRadio
#modelrocketry

So - this should in theory be a small round PCB for the @RadioRocket with a relay and NPN switching circuit. 2x10 header block and stand-off holes for stacking. Stand-off holes are also spaced to accommodate stacking adafruit breakout boards in the mix. I’m sure I’ve botched a ton, so I’ll be poking at it for several days before I try to get anything actually fabricated.

Plan is to make some companion boards that will stack/connect.

#HamRadio
#ModelRocketry

The (short) video: https://youtu.be/98BvP39TCMo

#Rocketry #ModelRocketry

Here are a few frames from videos I took at the model rocket launch yesterday.

1. Torellian Invader upscale - this was on a Blue Thunder motor, the flame didn't show up on the video at all.

2. Second stage ignition of the Boosted Bertha

3. Just after the previous frame, the booster can be seen dropping away

4. Swamp Gas leaving the rail on a Mojave Green G78 just after sunset. The crescent moon is visible in the upper left.

#Rocketry #ModelRocketry

The upscaled Torellian Invader made it through its first flight! The shock cord broke between the parachute and the nose, but I found the nose right on the line between the launch pad and where the rocket landed, so no harm done. #ModelRocketry

So here’s where the creative re-design/layout of the electronics comes in for version 3…making most of this stuff from version 2, fit into this shorter payload bay.

If I can’t squeeze it all down, I do have extra tubes that are longer to extend the payload if needed, but I’m pretty sure I can make it fit.

#HamRadio
#ModelRocketry

Laying out and prepping the parts from the kit that will become the basis for Radio Rocket version 3. Shout out to @emmah for making us aware of the awesome Kestrel kit from Apogee!

#HamRadio
#ModelRocketry

Laying out and prepping the parts from the kit that will become the basis for Radio Rocket version 3. Shout out to @emmah for making us aware of the awesome Kestrel kit from Apogee!

#HamRadio
#ModelRocketry

I've (mostly) finished my Torellian Invader upscale and plan to fly it at my club launch Saturday on an E30. Obviously it doesn't match closely (I thought I could walk into Michael's and get olive green spray paint - I was wrong) but I think it came out pretty nicely. #rocketry #ModelRocketry

Since we clicked order on a kit that will become the basis of Radio Rocket Version 3 (Name TBA at a later date) I guess that means version 3 is officially underway. We’re still planning one more launch of Ohyo (version 2) just as an additional data point collection exercise, but the bulk of our radio-rocket effort will be transitioning to the next rocket!

#HamRadio
#ModelRocketry

So - I just had an ‘of course!’ moment. In my last launch report I mentioned that the node red display items had some things I wanted to tweak. It just dawned on me that since we captured all the packets, I can just ‘replay’ the flight in software, and do all the dashboard tweaking while simulating an actual flight. Don’t know why that didn’t dawn on me before.
#HamRadio #ModelRocketry

The parade of unfinished #ModelRocketry projects continues...but I am really trying to get this one ready to fly two weeks from today. This is an upscale of an #Estes Torellian Invader, a kit from the 80s, made out of a Super Neon XL kit. I got the fins cut and sanded this morning and just glued the first one on. 10 fins in all.

My Torellian Invader is the only finished rocket I built as a kid that I still have today. :)

Here’s the full write-up on our second launch! It includes a short 2 min video, a bunch of lessons learned, and some charts of the data at the end.

Warning - it’s a long one!
#HamRadio
#ModelRocketry

https://n3vem.com/blog/Ohyo-launch-2-report/

We’ll - I’ve got to say it - combining my #HamRadio hobby with the #ModelRocketry stuff I do with the kids is really scratching an itch - radio fun, loud noise and fire, and then a whole bunch of data to poke around at. It’s like nerd nirvana.