Tracker Nosecone Mounting

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davdue

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I have the BRB900 tracker. I want to mount this so it is easily moveable from rocket to rocket. So how do most of you suggest to do this? I was thinking of cutting an access hole in the side of the plastic Nosecone. But not sure how to attach the access door. The two rockets are either 3" or 4". Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks


Dave Duerksen
TRA 13362 L3

Kloudbusters
 
I glue in a length of PVC to my nosecones and pack with foam around the BLGPS. Then I secure with a plumbers test plug.
nosecone_BLGPS_bay.jpgGPSbay_plug.jpg
 
Once you fabricate a way to access the space in the nosecone, I'd recommend just wrapping in bubble wrap (or even a 'burrito' of fabric like nomex held shut w/ cable ties). No need to hard mount to a sled

Greg
 
1.5" PVC slip joint extension. It is light and has a nice screw cap. I wrap the tracker in 1/4" foam. The two left pictures show it in a DX3. The right picture is from a different rocket, but shows what it looks like (minus the battery holder and alignment ring). They are about 3 dollars at Lowes or HD.

002.jpg

003.jpg

011.jpg
 
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nosecones.JPG

Sorry for the sad picture but here is my setup.
From left to right. 54mm,3",4" nosecones.
Same idea as from John's video.
On the 4" a wood ring with t-nuts. Easy to do.
On the 54mm & the 3" I machined some metal rings, drilled and tapped them for the attaching screws for the bulk head. Not as easy to do.
As per Greg bubble wrap the BRB900 and install.
It is a tight fit going into the ring on my 54mm nosecone but it can be done.
Enjoy the BRB900. Greg puts out a good product.
If anyone is wondering why the odd cut out section in the wood ring on the 4".
Answer is.
That nosecone has some age on it. It is back from the days when I was using an Ozark Aerospace GPS unit. Large unit using a large battery pack. Needed the cut out to get the unit into the 4" nosecone. Also needed the use of a laptop. Not to my liking.
I do remember flying that unit in a 3" Wildman drag race on a CTI L935 motor.
To do so I had to extend the nosecone and it added about three pounds of weight.
Needless to say I did not win the drag race.
 
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Here's a method I used to install a removable sled in a nosecone. It worked quite well. A neat feature about this assembly is that the sled can be installed while still reaching your hand into the nosecone. This was necessary to feed the spike into the bushing at the tip of the nose. I'm using a similar design to allow the attachment of a forward canard to the sled in another rocket.

nosecone iso.jpg
nose explosion.jpg
 
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What is the purpose of the linkage looking items?

There's a Dynamixel EX 106 servo on the green sled that actuates the extension of the spike through the tip of the nose. It was a bluff body dynamics experiment.
 
The way I do it is I have machined up a number of delrin plugs with G10 sleds attached, to suit varying nosecone diameters. 38mm, 54mm, 75mm, etc. I then just drill a couple of countersunk holes in my nosecone shoulders, so I can secure the appropriately sized plug/sled combination with small countersunk screws. Where possible, I also include a switch in the plug, to allow the GPS to be switched on, without having to remove the screws securing it in place.

Photos below probably give a better idea than my description!

noseplug1.jpg


installed.jpg


gpsbay.jpg
 
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