Help - recommend (audio) tracker for 29mm min diam.

[Salvage-1]

Got my Blackhawk nearly finished, its setup for dual deploy, but I am now getting to the point where I want to be able to find it again after it does the up and down part.

Does anyone have any ideas for an audio tracker in this? I am planning on sticking a lot of tracking powder (talc) in the main parachute section, so that at 600ft I will get a nice visible PUFF of smoke and powder. That should get someone at the launch to spot it and give the general direction, but, since we have LOTS of sagebrush in our desert, I will still need some help finding this when I get close.

I have tried a couple of rape alarms, which are ear splittingly loud, but I cannot get one to fit inside the 29mm tube.

Do any peeps out there have an idea?

 

[Dr. Quigley]

Maybe if you put a speaker on the rocket itself and utilized the tube as a cabinet... lol... (though 29mm tube probably wouldn't do much...)

I *do* know non-polarized piezo buzzers (the kind found in alarm clocks, microwaves, and such) will generate a somewhat loud sound if an alternating current (square wave) is applied across the pins. This requires some sort of controller, like a 555 timer, but it might be a fun weekend project depending on whether you like electronics as well...

 

[Disaster_Guy]

Honestly with the blackhawk I would be more looking to put an RF tracker in it than an audio one. With that said, I recently build a simple buzzer for my Gizmo simply using a piezo buzzer from radio shack, 9V battery, and a 1/8" headphone jack. You would obviously want to use a lipo or similar (smaller) battery to fit the airframe as well as a smaller buzzer than the one that I used but the concept is very simple. The headphone jack has 2 contacts that are open when a plug is inserted and closed when the plug is removed. Use this as a pull pin to pass the current to the buzzer.

 

[blackbrandt]

Also, the altimeters that beep out altitude also help you track

 

[JDcluster]

Not unless you are standing next to it.
Depending on where you fly; the native birds may sound just like your altimeter and or beepers.
Try a tracker meant for tracking birds.

Isn't the Black Hawk a CF rocket?
If so, the signal will be shielded by the CF air frame. You won't get much of a signal until after deployment.


JD

Also, the altimeters that beep out altitude also help you track

 

[dixontj93060]

You might take a look at the EasyAs beacon from Whooshtronics. It has both a 315/433MHz radio transmitter (think you have to order 315MHz if you aren't ham licensed) and a 90db siren. The width is 24mm and can work with a small 2-cell LiPo so should fit in a 29mm airframe.

 

[troj]

Try the Pratt Hobbies MicroBeacon -- works very well.

To give you an idea, at LDRS while hunting down someone's rocket, we found a MicroBeacon that had fallen out of a rocket -- two of us heard it from at least 100 feet away, and it was down in a row of potatoes.

-Kevin

 

[blackbrandt]

Try the Pratt Hobbies MicroBeacon -- works very well.

To give you an idea, at LDRS while hunting down someone's rocket, we found a MicroBeacon that had fallen out of a rocket -- two of us heard it from at least 100 feet away, and it was down in a row of potatoes.

-Kevin

I might want that for my 2-stage.

 

[JPVegh]

+1 on the Pratt Microbeacon, small, loud and reasonably priced.

 

[Salvage-1]

How far away can you hear the Pratt from? I need something that I can hear about 50ft away.

 

[troj]

How far away can you hear the Pratt from? I need something that I can hear about 50ft away.

I've heard them from several hundred feet away. It's not loud, but it's a sound that gets your attention.

Years ago, I had a Fat Boy I flew on 38mm motors. On one of its flights, I went off searching for it. I had all but given up when I was walking down a gravel road, into the wind, so I had the sound of gravel underfoot, as well as the wind in my ears. I heard something "wrong", so I stopped and listened, and looked in the direction. Off in the distance, a couple hundred feet away, I could see the pink parachute.

-Kevin

 

[Salvage-1]

ARGGGGHHHH

just had a mate come around with a couple of his mini trackers. We also tried my BRB900. It seems that NONE of the signals will pass through the tube!! Well, Carbon Fiber and Metallic paint really screwed that idea up. The only other way I can think of is to have the trackers pulled out of the tube with the kevlar cord, but, I have been advised NOT to do this due to the snap shock that any tied on items will suffer.

So... back to audio tracker.

Question... is the 38mm version CF or is it "something else". Has anyone tried one with a tracker inside?

 

[BLKKROW]

ARGGGGHHHH

just had a mate come around with a couple of his mini trackers. We also tried my BRB900. It seems that NONE of the signals will pass through the tube!! Well, Carbon Fiber and Metallic paint really screwed that idea up. The only other way I can think of is to have the trackers pulled out of the tube with the kevlar cord, but, I have been advised NOT to do this due to the snap shock that any tied on items will suffer.

So... back to audio tracker.

Question... is the 38mm version CF or is it "something else". Has anyone tried one with a tracker inside?

I heard RF will go through the nosecone. Have you tried that?

 

[CarVac]

Tie the radio tracker securely to the shock cord so that it comes out at apogee.

 

[Disaster_Guy]

ARGGGGHHHH

Question... is the 38mm version CF or is it "something else". Has anyone tried one with a tracker inside?

The 24 & 29 are CF. The 38 is FG from what I recall. As for RF tracking, even if you do not have signal while it is in flight, if you are able to have the antenna exposed upon ejection you should be getting signal out then.

 

[blackjack2564]

If ya do it like this there will be no problem. Tape transmitter with antenna sticking into NC. on the shockcord. You will get a perfect signal entire flight. [24 & 29 they are carbon, NC is graphite]
38mm is carbonite .[ black graphite infused fiberglass.... NOT carbon] there are no issues with trackers and these.