Eric Jimenez
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- Joined
- Feb 28, 2019
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Hello! I am new to this forum but not new at rocketry. I searched around the site but just could not find something like this. Pardon me if I might have missed it or if its the wrong place to post this.
After investigating the different methods of tracking for my level 2 rocket, I came to the conclusion that there wasn't any cheap GPS trackers readily available. All I could find was trackers in the $200 to $400 range. Any cheaper than that yielded sim card trackers which is something that is not preferable. Knowing this I just decided to make my own. I built a 915 MHz tracker for under $50 and it worked beautifully albeit a bit bulky. It went in a 4 inch bay so that wasn't an issue. The rocket landed about 6000 ft away (very windy morning) and the tracker pointed straight to it.
After my little adventure I wondered if I should make and sell cheap GPS trackers for people since I couldn't find any. So my questions are: would anyone be interested? Is it even a good idea? What would your ideal price be? Has anyone come across a GPS radio tracker (915 MHz) for under $100, maybe under $50 too?
I was thinking of having a super basic tracker, and a "fancy" tracker.
The basic tracker would just include a small (could fit in a 29mm) transmitter with an altitude sensor, and a handheld receiver with a small screen that prints out the coordinates, signal strength, altitude, distance and bearing of the rocket in relation to the handheld unit.
The fancy tracker would have the same transmitter with a bigger antenna. The "fancy" handheld receiver will have the same features as the basic but with a much bigger screen (touch capable) and Bluetooth for phone connectivity (thinking of having a satellite view of the location of the rocket). The housing for these would most likely be 3D printed out of ABS or PETG.
After investigating the different methods of tracking for my level 2 rocket, I came to the conclusion that there wasn't any cheap GPS trackers readily available. All I could find was trackers in the $200 to $400 range. Any cheaper than that yielded sim card trackers which is something that is not preferable. Knowing this I just decided to make my own. I built a 915 MHz tracker for under $50 and it worked beautifully albeit a bit bulky. It went in a 4 inch bay so that wasn't an issue. The rocket landed about 6000 ft away (very windy morning) and the tracker pointed straight to it.
After my little adventure I wondered if I should make and sell cheap GPS trackers for people since I couldn't find any. So my questions are: would anyone be interested? Is it even a good idea? What would your ideal price be? Has anyone come across a GPS radio tracker (915 MHz) for under $100, maybe under $50 too?
I was thinking of having a super basic tracker, and a "fancy" tracker.
The basic tracker would just include a small (could fit in a 29mm) transmitter with an altitude sensor, and a handheld receiver with a small screen that prints out the coordinates, signal strength, altitude, distance and bearing of the rocket in relation to the handheld unit.
The fancy tracker would have the same transmitter with a bigger antenna. The "fancy" handheld receiver will have the same features as the basic but with a much bigger screen (touch capable) and Bluetooth for phone connectivity (thinking of having a satellite view of the location of the rocket). The housing for these would most likely be 3D printed out of ABS or PETG.