Kframe
Well-Known Member
When I was a kid our family's "launch controller" was literally a knife switch screwed to a piece of wood that we'd hook to the car battery in our Plymouth Volare.
It worked, just like the Estes controllers I've used more recently. But I've seen custom ones people have built and I've always wanted to make my own that was 'secret agentey" and cool like something from The A*Team or MacGuyver or the original Mission: Impossible tv show. About twenty years ago I bought a safety toggle because it was cool and on clearance and I've been waiting for the perfect project for it, and now I've found its place.
I built this controller with an ammo can, some 1/8" aluminum plate, parts sourced online, the igniter leads from the Estes Pro Series controller and various parts I had on hand, including the safety toggle.
Main criteria that it be self-contained with storage for the igniter wires, 12v and rechargeable with automotive chargers like the Battery Tender, and heavy duty so it will handle hard use and bumps and stuff. Oh, and it had to look cool.
I came up with a design I liked on foam board so I could use that as a template for the aluminum plate.
I ended up moving around a couple of the components but this laid out the basic geometry of the design.
Then I ordered the rest of the parts and picked away at this on evenings over the past couple weeks as parts arrived and time allowed.
Next I punched centers and drilled pilot holes.
I forgot to take pictures of step-drilling the holes, but here is the panel populated (except for the meter hole as I needed to go buy another bigger bit and the store had closed) and the hole for the circuit breaker as that was an afterthought and hadn't arrived yet. The protective plastic film is still on the panel.
At that point I couldn't do more on the panel so I set to work on the enclosure, a 30 cal ammo can.
I masked it with Frog Tape, then gave it a light coat of black to prevent yellow bleeding under the masking.
The top was painted separately, of course.
Then I removed the masking and later applied labels I made with my wife's label maker. The yellow still bled a bit but c'est la vie.
Today the final part arrived, the 20A breaker, and I had the day off so I had the time to wire and complete the controller.
I used a schematic from another rocketry group and modified it for my specific design.
This is the unmodified design.
Here it is complete. The pigtail for charging the battery is hidden in the bottom of the wire storage area at the top of the image.
And if this works, it's a video demonstrating how it all works:
I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out, and I expect it will last me forever and hopefully has the juice for all MPR and possibly HPR needs.
It worked, just like the Estes controllers I've used more recently. But I've seen custom ones people have built and I've always wanted to make my own that was 'secret agentey" and cool like something from The A*Team or MacGuyver or the original Mission: Impossible tv show. About twenty years ago I bought a safety toggle because it was cool and on clearance and I've been waiting for the perfect project for it, and now I've found its place.
I built this controller with an ammo can, some 1/8" aluminum plate, parts sourced online, the igniter leads from the Estes Pro Series controller and various parts I had on hand, including the safety toggle.
Main criteria that it be self-contained with storage for the igniter wires, 12v and rechargeable with automotive chargers like the Battery Tender, and heavy duty so it will handle hard use and bumps and stuff. Oh, and it had to look cool.
I came up with a design I liked on foam board so I could use that as a template for the aluminum plate.
I ended up moving around a couple of the components but this laid out the basic geometry of the design.
Then I ordered the rest of the parts and picked away at this on evenings over the past couple weeks as parts arrived and time allowed.
Next I punched centers and drilled pilot holes.
I forgot to take pictures of step-drilling the holes, but here is the panel populated (except for the meter hole as I needed to go buy another bigger bit and the store had closed) and the hole for the circuit breaker as that was an afterthought and hadn't arrived yet. The protective plastic film is still on the panel.
At that point I couldn't do more on the panel so I set to work on the enclosure, a 30 cal ammo can.
I masked it with Frog Tape, then gave it a light coat of black to prevent yellow bleeding under the masking.
The top was painted separately, of course.
Then I removed the masking and later applied labels I made with my wife's label maker. The yellow still bled a bit but c'est la vie.
Today the final part arrived, the 20A breaker, and I had the day off so I had the time to wire and complete the controller.
I used a schematic from another rocketry group and modified it for my specific design.
This is the unmodified design.
Here it is complete. The pigtail for charging the battery is hidden in the bottom of the wire storage area at the top of the image.
And if this works, it's a video demonstrating how it all works:
I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out, and I expect it will last me forever and hopefully has the juice for all MPR and possibly HPR needs.
