Static test techniques and data acquisition

Hello all,

I'm returning to a hobby I began quite a while back, deserted for a career and now find there is much to learn. The most frustrating part of getting started is finding material on static test stands, homemade or commercial. The only material I've seen is the brief reference in the last few pages of Dan Pollino's PVC Rocket Engine. Suggestions?

Thanks,

cecil

Use Advanced Search on this forum and search for "test stand". You can also find useful information here.

My .02 Dan 's book are waste of time . Not usefull in any launches unless you fly by your self and get your own waiver . It would be great if you could build motor cases out of pvc and be able to fly them . But a Cato would be bad . Pvc does show up on x rays .

chris m said:

... But a Cato would be bad . Pvc does show up on x rays .

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Should not be a problem if you adopt EX safety distances, at 200+ feet, PVC is light and will loose rapidly velocity

PS I know it will not be accepted at EX launch, I just use the distances as reference. Beside static stand test are usually more easy to control than a NAR or TRA rocket launch with a lot of peoples around

Yes very true , but Dan p books are just nonsense . Making a mechanical deployment . Vs electronics. You can get a good altimeter for $50.00

chris m said:

Yes very true , but Dan p books are just nonsense . Making a mechanical deployment . Vs electronics. You can get a good altimeter for $50.00

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I have not read it yet. But yes BP deployment is far more simple and reliable.

PVC does show up in x rays. The bigger question is do you really want to fool around with something that can put a piece of shrapnel in you when there are safer ways to go?

billspad said:

PVC does show up in x rays. The bigger question is do you really want to fool around with something that can put a piece of shrapnel in you when there are safer ways to go?

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Yes we know , we were discussing this guy's book .

chris m said:

Yes we know , we were discussing this guy's book .

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Remember, the OP only mentioned the book for an item at the end of it that mentioned the static test stand...the subject of this thread.
Let's forget about the book unless the OP brings it up again and let him research the info suggested in Post #2.

Have a nice day. :smile:

billspad said:

Use Advanced Search on this forum and search for "test stand". You can also find useful information here.

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Thanks for the suggestions, Bill. I may be back with more questions; I appreciate your patience and willingness to help.

cecil

chris m said:

My .02 Dan 's book are waste of time . Not usefull in any launches unless you fly by your self and get your own waiver . It would be great if you could build motor cases out of pvc and be able to fly them . But a Cato would be bad . Pvc does show up on x rays .

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I've seen these warnings elsewhere. Thanks for the cautionary note. So what material do you use for motor casings if you build from scratch?

Gerard,

Does anyone ever use PVC motors at NAR or TRA events to your knowledge? It seems odd that books concentrating on the use of PVC are still in print, unless there are a lot of loners out there, which there may be.

cecil

KennB said:

Remember, the OP only mentioned the book for an item at the end of it that mentioned the static test stand...the subject of this thread.
Let's forget about the book unless the OP brings it up again and let him research the info suggested in Post #2.

Have a nice day. :smile:

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Kenn,

I see why you have your rank.:wink:

cecil said:

Gerard,

Does anyone ever use PVC motors at NAR or TRA events to your knowledge? It seems odd that books concentrating on the use of PVC are still in print, unless there are a lot of loners out there, which there may be.

cecil

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The closest anybody has come to that is a PVC fuel grain (inside an aluminum casing) in a hybrid. A PVC casing would never meet NFPA 1125 requirements so you'll never see one as a certified motor. And I'm almost positive that TRA would not allow it as a research motor.

There are plenty of loners out there. Just search YouTube. Some are entertaining and some are frightening.

cecil said:

Gerard,

Does anyone ever use PVC motors at NAR or TRA events to your knowledge? It seems odd that books concentrating on the use of PVC are still in print, unless there are a lot of loners out there, which there may be.

cecil

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First I want to say, I don't like sugar motor and it's unsafe to use PVC to build one. I was just mentioning that shrapnel is not a problem in a CATO situation if you are at safe distance, but at close distance when you install an ignite as example, it can be very dangerous. It's just that the Xray CATO urban legend is not true,

I'm also interested to build a static stand, but it will be to experiment with Hybrid motor, and may be some GOX motor, that will stay at static test level as it's too complicate to integrate GOX in a real rocket. I don't plan to have direct view of the motor, but use a camera instead, and since I'm in a remote area shrapnel are not a problem, but in any case to answer your question, I will never be close to someone with a sugar motor PVC or not.

Play safe with Sugar, we have a tread of someone who burn himself, you don't need an explosion to get burn with sugar, melted sugar is very dangerous if you get in contact with it, it's DAM hot and stick on the skin.

cecil said:

Gerard,

Does anyone ever use PVC motors at NAR or TRA events to your knowledge? It seems odd that books concentrating on the use of PVC are still in print, unless there are a lot of loners out there, which there may be.

cecil

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Cecil, I would check out Loki and tru core for ex motors and get into the research section in this forum

chris m said:

Cecil, I would check out Loki and tru core for ex motors and get into the research section in this forum

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Thanks, chris. I'll follow up on these references.

cecil