PVC Pipe for electronics mounting

[ActingLikeAKid]

Had a thought and I'm thinking this is either brilliant or stupid. Possibly both.
I was thinking about options to mount my Eggfinder in a rocket. The body has plenty of room for it (3" diameter); Problem: Traditional ebays with allthread have a lot of metal in them; that can mess with an Eggfinder's range. I was just thinking about creative ways to have it so that I could prep the rocket (relatively) quickly. Here's an idea I had:
1. Make a "sled" out of a piece of 1.5" PVC pipe with a threaded end. This would be a piece of PVC that was cut in the middle to expose the eggfinder for easy access.
2. Glue a threaded ring or cap to the bulkhead of the rocket. (for bonus points, it's secured with the back end of the eyebolt)
3. Glue a centering ring into the payload tube where the eggfinder goes.

Rocket prep time comes, procedure is:

1. Connect EF battery and confirm function.
2. Slide pvc pipe with EF on it through centering ring and screw it in place snugly.
3. Put nosecone on top of payload section and secure with rivets.
4. Fly.

 

[Bat-mite]

Try it, take pictures and let us know how it goes!

 

[les]

PVC pipe tends to have a lot of static electricity - just beware ESD damage to the Eggfinder

 

[ActingLikeAKid]

Thanks for the input. Was thinking about it; new plan is to just build a more traditional sled, glue that to a coupler, screw it to a plug. Pics when it's done.

 

[OverTheTop]

The advantage of allthread is the strength end-to-end so you can tie your rocket all together. Doesn't matter too much for nominal deployment, but any sub-optimal deployment (there are lots of those!) puts an enormous strain on the harnesses and intervening parts. Keeping everything together is important to limit any ballistic bits.

If the sled is not part of this structural chain then no worries. PVC has a habit of shattering when stressed.

Alternatively to allthread you can use custom bike spokes which are only 2mm diameter if you don't want much metal in the area. If you go for titanium (about $7 each) then breaking strain is around 280kg (over 600 pound!). Stainless steel will be cheaper. Spokes are cut to custom lengths as required and then the thread rolled on. Ring around to your local bike shops to find them.

Remember to consider non-nominal deployment in the system design of the rocket .

 

[snrkl]

I’ve taken to building eggfinder mini bays into my nosecones - I’ve used it on my L1 bird and the bird I’m hoping to use for my L2 also:

See it in my most recent build - the NC bay starts on post #51..

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/new-102mm-project-chimichunga-i.145203/page-2#post-1805807

 

[Dad Man Walking]

Posted this to another thread just a few minutes ago...

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/another-eggfinder-tx-mini-sled.142466/

The Tx Mini will fit into a 24mm motor tube. We 3D printed a sled to fit into the tube, and the plan was to hang it from some part of the recovery harness. We never flew the it in the tube though...the Estes closure added too much bulk for some rockets, and the 3D sled works fine just taped directly to the shock cord. We cover wrap the sled in masking tape, then use duct tape to tape that to the shock cord.