What tracker should I choose?

[4regt4]

The Marco Polo is nice and the arrow pointing the way is handy, but, biggest drawback is range is pretty limited. You need to see the general area of where to rocket is and then start walking toward it. Your range is like 300 yards (or less) once the rocket is on the ground.

I may start flying both in the same airframe for redundancy. The thing I love about the Eggfinder is it transmits the no joke lat and long of your rocket, you just have to figure out how to get there. Marco Polo is just like a beacon you have to walk to. You don’t know exactly where it is, but as you get closer the signal increases until you find it.

Practically speaking in our area either work well, but, if you have dreams of flying Black Rock and 30,000 foot flights, the Marco Polo isn’t going to cut it.

Hmmm.... At a Brothers, OR launch in May, I had a rocket drift 5000ft (close enough to a mile), and my Marco Polo had a signal after it was on the ground. It would come and go as I moved around, but worked well enough. What surprised me a bit is that the signal strength was better from inside the car as we drove to it. I.e. - No signal if I stepped out of the car, but had a signal inside. It appeared that the signal was being reflected off of the hood, as the signal strength was considerably greater driving in the direction of the rocket, less signal when we had to turn and was no longer pointing the receiver over the hood. Only downside to the recovery was having to crawl under a couple of barbed wire fences.

The previous month I had one land in roughly the same direction, but "only" 3500ft away. Had a good signal all the way.

Hans.

 

[TRWXXA]

I’m currently torn between the Marco Polo or the Featherweight. I saw a bunch of folks using the Marco Polo but I like all the other metrics the featherweight has

If you can keep a rocket in sight, and need something to lead you to it when it disappears in the corn, beans, trees or shrubbery, then a Marco Polo will do just fine. If you plan on going to altitudes where losing sight, and having the rocket drift beyond visual range, then you need to step up to a radio DF, or GPS based system.

 

[JeffB]

If you can keep a rocket in sight, and need something to lead you to it when it disappears in the corn, beans, trees or shrubbery, then a Marco Polo will do just fine. If you plan on going to altitudes where losing sight, and having the rocket drift beyond visual range, then you need to step up to a radio DF, or GPS based system.

I ended up picking up a Marco Polo. Even when I get a GPS setup going, I think the Marco Polo would be a nice simple backup to have on hand

 

[4regt4]

I ended up picking up a Marco Polo. Even when I get a GPS setup going, I think the Marco Polo would be a nice simple backup to have on hand

And don't worry about "out of sight". I've had a usable signal on a Marco Polo at a mile away. Helps a lot if you have the general direction, as the receiver has a better chance of getting a lock if you are pointing it in roughly the right direction.

Hans.

 

[secretagent]

Just going to chime in here with another round of praise for Cris and Eggtimer products. I have a $15 iron, bad eyesight, and shaky hands and I still have a whole fleet of Quantums, Apogee Deployers, Quarks, and WiFi switches I regularly fly with. The only time I ever had trouble Cris quickly replied to my email with how to fix the problem (bad solder joints).

(Note I also have Featherweights, and those are fantastic products that I recommend to everybody. But they don’t meet the “no iPhone” criteria listed.)

 

[John Kemker]

Just going to chime in here with another round of praise for Cris and Eggtimer products. I have a $15 iron, bad eyesight, and shaky hands and I still have a whole fleet of Quantums, Apogee Deployers, Quarks, and WiFi switches I regularly fly with. The only time I ever had trouble Cris quickly replied to my email with how to fix the problem (bad solder joints).

(Note I also have Featherweights, and those are fantastic products that I recommend to everybody. But they don’t meet the “no iPhone” criteria listed.)

Amen!

I have a bit more expensive soldering iron, but about the same eyesight and hands. I managed to install one of the driver chips on my Quasar backwards. Cris sent out not one, not two, but FOUR new ones (two of them because I jumped the gun on saying the first two hadn't arrived before I checked the mailbox!) and he didn't charge me even postage. GREAT support and great products.

 

[TRWXXA]

And don't worry about "out of sight". I've had a usable signal on a Marco Polo at a mile away. Helps a lot if you have the general direction, as the receiver has a better chance of getting a lock if you are pointing it in roughly the right direction.

Hans.

It also helps range if you hold it up over your head (still keeping it horizontal), wait for the beep, then bring it down to see where the arrow is pointing. Yes, even a couple feet of height can really extent the reception range -- especially if the tag is lying on the ground.

If it's hanging in the top of a tree, you'll probably have outstanding range.

 

[Glasspack]

If you want a simple transmitter with directional antenna, I use LL Electronics falconry trackers. At least rockets don't get back up and fly away
XLF-6 has a range of about 5 miles on the ground. https://www.radiotracking.com/
Larger rockets will fit GPS trackers.

Rocket Junkie ... The radio tracker from them does require a HAM License correct ??

 

[Glasspack]

John,
for whats its worth I have a BRB900 and was super worried for my LVL2 launch as I was getting anywhere from 8 to Zero satellites locked while waiting for my flight. I have NO other way of tracking it so I just had to go for it. So far Each flight with that BRB900, the coordinates it sent back, took me RIGHT to my rocket. using my Android phone APP "Back Country Navigator".

My LVL2 flight at Bong Rec Area, landed a mile from the pad, inside a forest of trees...........NO Way i would have found that model with out it !!
What ever you decide ....Test and test again ......... trust the science and designers !

 

[Rocketjunkie]

Rocket Junkie ... The radio tracker from them does require a HAM License correct ??

Depends on frequency. I use the 216-220 MHz GSM band. No license required.