Where can I mount a GPS other than the nose cone?

[MrNightStand]

So I have a Featherwight GPS and I'm wanting to mount it to a Darkstar Jr.. Issue being that I've already Epoxied the nose cone bulkhead in place and I don't have the parts to do any modifications to the nose cone between now and the next month or so because I am transitioning between jobs but I have a launch this coming Saturday.

What are my mounting options? My main tools are limited to a drill, file, and the rest of the basics but I have no spare parts (bulk heads or otherwise). I've considered putting it in a makeshift case, attaching and tethering it to the shock chord and wrapping it in a parachute protector but I'm not sure if that'll work. Thanks yall

 

[SolarYellow]

If you're considering eventually replacing the nose cone bulkhead, I'd just drill a 1-in hole in it with a hole saw. Go to your local Hobby Lobby or anywhere else that sells rockets and get the cheapest BT-50 kit they have. Use a chunk of its tube to make an ebay. Make it long enough to hold the GPS and battery, plus some bubble wrap or other padding type material. You can use a motor mount centering ring to white glue cardboard on the upper end, and use the engine retainer clip, held to the tube with some wraps of tape, to hold a plug in the bottom end. You can make this plug out of the base of the nose cone, or just carve it out of wood, or if there's a coupler, a second motor mount centering ring, or something like that in the kit, glue some cardboard to it and use that. When you have all that sorted, epoxy the ebay into the hole you drilled in the nose cone bulkhead.

 

[MrNightStand]

Would the hole in the bulkhead compromise its strength, especially since 1" would be removing nearly half?

If you're considering eventually replacing the nose cone bulkhead, I'd just drill a 1-in hole in it with a hole saw. Go to your local Hobby Lobby or anywhere else that sells rockets and get the cheapest BT-50 kit they have. Use a chunk of its tube to make an ebay. Make it long enough to hold the GPS and battery, plus some bubble wrap or other padding type material. You can use a motor mount centering ring to white glue cardboard on the upper end, and use the engine retainer clip, held to the tube with some wraps of tape, to hold a plug in the bottom end. You can make this plug out of the base of the nose cone, or just carve it out of wood, or if there's a coupler, a second motor mount centering ring, or something like that in the kit, glue some cardboard to it and use that. When you have all that sorted, epoxy the ebay into the hole you drilled in the nose cone bulkhead.

 

[cerving]

^^ This. ^^

Works great with almost any nose cone, be sure you have enough room for the battery, though. Also, after you drill the 1" hole for the BT50 mount but before you glue it in, drill a few small holes so you can loop some Kevlar through the bulkplate for use as a shock cord retainer. Tie it off, then glue in your BT50.

 

[DerRedMax]

You say you epoxied the bulk head to the nose cone. I'm assuming you mean the coupler? If so, here is a solution that will work in this video using Mach 1 Nose cone av bay. Use to be Badass Rocketry.

Here’s a direct link to that video. https://video.wixstatic.com/video/7...3ZCPKkfA9rVsCW9Odat_rMpTRNtxTUikTxgzdx0ENdHpk

 

[MrNightStand]

[deleted]

 

[MrNightStand]

You say you epoxied the bulk head to the nose cone. I'm assuming you mean the coupler? If so, here is a solution that will work in this video using Mach 1 Nose cone av bay. Use to be Badass Rocketry.

Here’s a direct link to that video. https://video.wixstatic.com/video/7...3ZCPKkfA9rVsCW9Odat_rMpTRNtxTUikTxgzdx0ENdHpk

I epoxied a coupler and a bulkhead. The Darkstar Jr kit has a bulkhead that goes onto the nose cone coupler with an eye bolt in it as an attachment point for shock cord and the main chute if you're using dual deployment

 

[mtnmanak]

Quite some time ago, I stopped mounting my FeatherWeight and Eggtimer Mini Trackers at all. I created a bunch of body tube/coupler tube holders that have plywood bulkheads glued on the ends with a loop of kevlar threaded through the holes in one of the bulkheads. The tubes are held together with plastic rivets. Put your tracker and battery in the tube, install your rivets and quicklink it via the kevlar loop to your shock cord. I like to connect it to my drogue shockcord so it is out of the airframe at apogee and has unfettered transmitting power through descent. It probably takes me about 5 minutes to make one of these, notwithstanding the time to cut the plywood bulkheads. Picture below is with 38mm tube/coupler from LOC, but, with a smaller battery, you could probably squeeze it into a 29mm tube.

 

[Buckeye]

Quite some time ago, I stopped mounting my FeatherWeight and Eggtimer Mini Trackers at all. I created a bunch of body tube/coupler tube holders that have plywood bulkheads glued on the ends with a loop of kevlar threaded through the holes in one of the bulkheads.

Quick and easy for sure, but I would suggest a more weather-resistant tube. Around here, landings in muddy farm fields, standing water, drainage ditches, etc. are pretty common.

 

[mtnmanak]

Quick and easy for sure, but I would suggest a more weather-resistant tube. Around here, landings in muddy farm fields, standing water, drainage ditches, etc. are pretty common.

Great point - I generally don't fly much in places where it is likely to land in water, so I have not yet had to deal with that issue since I started building them out like this. I think this would protect the electronics if it were thick mud or just wet ground, but certainly not if it was in standing water. Then again, if you put your electronics in a nosecone or ebay and those land in standing water or the rocket is made from cardboard, it probably won't help anymore than this config does. I haven't tested it, but maybe this config will float on top .

The main benefit is being able to switch between different rockets. I usually have 3 of these setup for each launch. 2 with separate Eggtimer minis set to different freqs/ids and one with a Featherweight in it. With a decent size battery, they can almost stay on for the whole weekend, so all I have to do is clip/unclip. By having more than one, I can have multiple rockets completely prepped and I have backups in case I should break one during a flight/landing.

 

[Hobie1dog]

You say you epoxied the bulk head to the nose cone. I'm assuming you mean the coupler? If so, here is a solution that will work in this video using Mach 1 Nose cone av bay. Use to be Badass Rocketry.

Here’s a direct link to that video. https://video.wixstatic.com/video/7...3ZCPKkfA9rVsCW9Odat_rMpTRNtxTUikTxgzdx0ENdHpk

He talks too fast. What is the name of the company?

 

[mtnmanak]

He talks too fast. What is the name of the company?

That's Ian Dalton from Badasss Rocketry. Badass merged with Mach 1 rocketry a couple years ago, but that was short lived and Ian left them abruptly. It appears Mach 1 retained the majority of Ian's IP, so they basically now sell all the Badass rocketry gear on their website under their brand.

Ian had a pretty robust set of videos on Youtube, but most of them are gone now: https://www.youtube.com/@badassrocketry2168/videos