Need easy-remove GPS phone tracker protector

I've been using a Posh Micro X phone as a GPS tracker on my rockets. To now, I've just been wrapping up the phone in bubble wrap, but I'd like to come up with something better, because we're going to put the phone in some larger rockets. The phone is used in different rockets with different sizes, so the protector/phone combo needs to be something that can be quickly and easily moved from one rocket to the next at a launch site.

One suggestion was to cut off a piece of a styrofoam swimming pool noodle and enlarge the hole a bit. The noodle fits snugly into a 3" airframe. Any other ideas?

billdz said:

I've been using a Posh Micro X phone as a GPS tracker on my rockets. To now, I've just been wrapping up the phone in bubble wrap, but I'd like to come up with something better, because we're going to put the phone in some larger rockets. The phone is used in different rockets with different sizes, so the protector/phone combo needs to be something that can be quickly and easily moved from one rocket to the next at a launch site.

One suggestion was to cut off a piece of a styrofoam swimming pool noodle and enlarge the hole a bit. The noodle fits snugly into a 3" airframe. Any other ideas?

Click to expand...

If the phone will always be in payload bays, pretested from ejection charges, then the noodle with some bubble wrap to keep it from sliding longitudinally, will work great. If you are moving between rockets of different diameter, different diameter noodles will be required, or reverting back to pure bubble wrap.

If you will fly the phone in the main body of the rocket, then consider an additional pouch to further protect your phone from gasses. Something along the line of CR or altimeter pouches (see link below).
https://www.dinochutes.com/Altimeter-pouches_c16.htm

I'm not sure which one will fit your phone best.
Perhaps give Dino Chutes a call and see what they recommend?


a

P.S.: I also flew a bubble-wrapped phone in a 2-stage rocket as a GPS tracker a few times, including one hard landing. Mine was an LTE Droid Mini XT1030. It worked great, with no damage to report, though I never had to use it for tracking a fly-away rocket. Relying on the phone does require good cell coverage at and near your launch sites, or anywhere you think the rocket might divert to in flight.

Thanks for the reply, the phone will always be in a payload bay. I was thinking about wrapping the noodle in bubble wrap for larger diameter rockets. I also need some way to seal off the on/off switch so it won't be jarred.

By the way, as you probably know, the LTE Droid Mini XT1030 is great for rocketry because it has a barometer. You can use it with the Insane Rocketry app and then it's more than a tracker, it's also an altimeter, an in-flight video camera, and you can download flight stats. It is bigger and weighs a lot more than the Posh (130g vs. 52g), but it does more. I'm thinking about buying it or a Nexus 5 to use with the app, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.insanerocketry.insanerockets