Howdy Friends,
I too have a bunch of well used launch controllers in my stable, but they are frankly all getting rather dusty. They are: Estes, Quest, and Aerotech controllers.
I've also built my fair share of home-made launch systems from single pad systems to a couple of 12 pad systems, and one 16 pad system, all the typical hardwired analogue systems. They too are all gathering dust, in the junk heap, or scavenged for parts to try and keep each other running a bit longer.
Then I got tired of having to repair my club's home-made system for the umpteenth time! Many of you have been there too. And it was my system and it still needed constant repair work. It used relays at the pads and all the bells and whistles but it took constant maintenance to keep it running.
Then in 1991, I got into serious high power rocketry and started traveling around the country from the east to west coasts and north and south borders. And being the curious fellow that I am, I started to study club sized launch systems. I was shocked that nobody was building anything any better than the homemade systems that I'd built. Only one club had a decent system any better than the analogue systems that I'd been building for years. It was the Kloudbusters group in Argonia, Kansas. But according to the article they put in the old Tripoli HP mag, they spent $30K to build their system and another $10K to get it working well. Nothing personal, but I thought there's got to be a better was that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Not many clubs can afford $40,000 for a launch system.
And in that mode of thinking Wilson F/X was born. It is a digitally programmed system so ALL communications between all pads and the controller (wireless or hardwired) go thru the same two wires. It has relays at the pads so battery power is not wasted in transmission. There has NEVER been a single fused relay in a Wilson F/X pad box. It is flash-bulb continuity checking safe. Now all banks of pads can have their voltage read remotely. WFX controllers comes in three forms: 64-pad, 128-pad, and the ever popular ARMAGEDDON SWITCH.
Check us out at
www.wilsonfx.com to see how things operate.
And Wilson F/X launch systems are selling across the country too. Right now there are 16 clubs, both Tripoli and NAR, across the USA (including one in Australia) who are using Wilson F/X launch Control Systems.
three clubs have 8 pad WFX systems
one club has a 13 pad WFX system
two clubs have 17 pad WFX systems
one club has a 19 pad WFX system
one club has a 25 pad WFX system
three clubs have 32 pad WFX systems
one club has a 33 pad WFX system
one club has a 36 pad WFX system
one club has a 38 pad WFX system
and lastly...
two clubs own 64 pad WFX systems
8 of the 16 clubs own at least a pair of WFX Wireless units.
That's Wilson F/X controllers and pad boxes for 446 separate pads for an average of a 27.8 pad system per club.
8 of the clubs have systems with 25 or more pad boxes. And they are ALL expandable to larger systems.
More clubs (three) own 32 WFX pad systems then any other size, but there are also three groups that own 8 pad systems. But two of the WFX 8-pad "club" systems are owned by event/school groups (CANSAT and Wisconsin-Rockets for Schools) neither of which is really a "club" per say. And when you add in the two 64-pad club systems, and the 38, 36, and 33 pad systems, you get a slightly better focused idea of what size systems "clubs" are buying.
So the typical club sized system is 32-pads and larger with 4 to 8 banks of pads as pretty normal.
And there are more clubs across the country who are checking Wilson F/X out very carefully.
Gotta be honest here, nobody has anything even close in value, size, or expandability. And when you add in the 10 year warrantee against manufacturer malfunctions, it ought to be a closed issue.
If you club is looking to replace your old system, Wilson F/X is the way to go.
Brad, the "Rocket Rev.," Wilson