I kinda like this idea.
Somebody's gotta tell me why this won't work.
In a dark unlit field... especially if combined with some kind of nite-vision goggles, and maybe a high vantage point - nearby hill top.
Is this worth exploring???
Anybody know if I'm allowed to wander around the SUZ at Bong after dark with IR sensitive video equipment?
You don't need night vision with a strobe at night; it'll be plenty bright on its own. The main thing is that the light source is RELIABLE and OMNIDIRECTIONAL...
Reliable in that you want to make SURE that it turns on and STAYS on-- make sure that the batteries are sufficient for the load and desired run time, and just as important, that the switches and the batteries themselves cannot lose contact because of g-forces of liftoff, deployment of the parachute, and/or landing.
Omnidirectional lighting is important... and basically a strobe SHOULD be omnidirectional... We've done night launches and our club advisor launched a flashing LED "beer lapel pin" inside the clear payload bay of an Estes Hi-Jinks and it was very visible on the pad and in the air for most of the time... we saw where it drifted down, some distance from the pads (maybe 200-250 yards). We went looking for it and nearly didn't find it-- the reason?? The beer pin was highly directional, in that it shone brightest in the direction it was facing, and in that direction only, more or less. The rocket had come down with the beer pin facing DOWN, and luckily it had stuck in a clump of weeds and was facing down at a slight angle, which caused the ground around it to be illuminated with flashing red light... we couldn't see it until we were within about 15 feet of it, however, due to the directional light source, and having to be close enough to see the reflected light. Reflected light is MUCH harder to see than light directly coming from an omnidirectional light source. Red light is also harder to see than white light from a strobe. The thing is, even the brightest and most omnidirectional light source isn't going to be much help if the rocket lands in dense, waist-high grass and sinks down to the surface of the ground, or in an area of dense brush and trees...
We also had some rockets get lost due to the batteries losing contact under the acceleration of the rocket under thrust. If the batteries regain contact, it depends on the circuit as to whether the light comes back on... some don't, if they have a "momentary switch" and a latching relay or SCR to energize the circuit... once the battery loses contact, the light won't come back on on those until the button is depressed again. Also, beware of slide switches aligned with direction of flight-- they can turn themselves off under the forces of acceleration or deceleration or impact.
The main thing you have to consider is, where and in what conditions the rocket will land... as mentioned, if the rocket lands in tall brush, weeds, grass, or in an unfavorable position or direction, it may be virtually impossible to see until you're right up on top of it, literally. This is where a "squealer" or personal alarm or other recovery sonic aid can be very handy... but usually their battery life is nowhere near as long as some light sources...
The other issue is, a sonic recovery beacon isn't exactly foolproof either. We had a friend of mine launch at a club launch one time a fairly large rocket equipped with a sonic locator beacon... the mantis pad turned loose at launch and the rocket launched downrange at a shallow angle to the ground, and deployed about half a mile away downwind. We hopped on the golf cart to go find it-- we had sight of it before it disappeared behind some houses to the south, so we had a pretty good idea of the area in which it landed. We drove over, and scouted the area, and repeatedly stopped and listened, turning slowly with a hand cupped to our ear to pick up more sound... NOTHING... as we closed in, we FINALLY started hearing an extremely faint warbling from the locator... we tried to "home in on" the direction of it, and couldn't really tell much... we moved around and tried to triangulate the direction, all the while SO faint we could barely hear it. We moved around and finally started getting a bead on the direction, as the warbling tone got a little stronger. When we finally found the rocket, it was hanging in a low branch of a tree on the edge of a grain sorghum field, about 40 yards from the entry road down the edge of the field. The wind was carrying the sound away and "swallowing it up" to an amazing degree-- that thing was shrill and LOUD, yet could BARELY be heard from as little as 40-50 yards away! Thank goodness the rocket and sonic beacon were dangling from a low tree branch, because we would likely have NEVER heard it had it been laying on the ground in the field, ESPECIALLY if it had landed on the ground face-down. If it were in the top of a tree, it'd probably have been just as bad...
Just some things to think about...
Later! OL JR
