As a ham radio operator I was thinking about nabbing a AP510 APRS tracker. About $120.
https://www.sainsonic.com/ap510-apr...th-thermometer-tf-card-support-aprsdroid.html
It's only 100 grams without the case.
The next Byonic Micro-Trak at $200. Here is a comparison of several.
https://www.tracksoar.com/tracksoar-comparison/
Michael
I'm waiting for someone to report on flying a Tracksoar in a rocket. A couple folks said they bought them. I am not willing to risk $200.00 on a device designed to fly in a sedate gas balloon. My concern is whether or not that tiny GPS receiver antenna is going to perform in a high dynamic and perhaps spinning rocket flight. An optimal 2 meter Rf antenna can be a bit long and anything shorter is a compromise. A balloon at 100k' can tolerate a less than desirable antenna setup. It's an APRS setup so Ham radio it is.
The Sainsonic is a transceiver so buy two and one can be a receive station for a bluetooth link to an Android or WinBlows tablet tracking program. Of course APRS rigs (D72/74, VX8GR,FT1DR) can track and the AP510 is tunable so the national 144.390 APRS frequency doesn't have to be used. One doesn't have to P/O the APRS police for high rate tracking that
could tie up the digipeaters if the PATH statements are incorrectly set on 144.390.
Problem with the AP510 is the learning curve setting it up is high but there is a helpful Yahoo group and an online video to get the software to work. It's not for the faint of heart.
I saw a fellow report here he was flying with one over a year ago and loved it. Would lend itself to a larger rocket due to size, I'd say 3 or 4 inch diameter with a long nosecone. 1.1 watt output would really help with the range and decoding.
Higher power Rf trackers can dork deployment electronics so be forewarned. NAR article in Sport Rocketry reported with converted 2 watt Garmin Dog trackers on the MURS band
(~150Mhz) locked up a few deployment alitmeters. They can shutdown, recycle, deploy charges at inopportune moments so it's best to mock up with contained bare ematches
and turn everything on and let the rocket sit for an hour. If nothing untoward happens you're likely good to fly.
Several years back at MWP a 2watt dog tracker shutdown two Adept 22 altimeters in a 16 foot tall project that went in ballistic sight unseen. I was there and had helped mix and pack the
the O motor 3 weeks before. Later, builder created another rocket of the same design and tried to use two new Adept 22's but separated them something like 3 feet from the tracker.
I had a cow when told it wasn't being tested before flight. I strongly suggested an all up ground test. Guess what? With the ground test (Thank God!) same darned thing happened! Both altimeters shutdown and locked in a couple of minutes. Flier got different electronics but next time had a motor casing failure. Rocket went up the rail when the aft end of the casing blew out and several of the 6 inch flaming motor grains fell out as it went up the rail and flopped off the end. The fire consumed the rocket
AND the launch trailer! Was the fourth firing of the casing with a solid graphite nozzle and the repeated heat stress on the aft end of the casing turned the aluminum brittle. A shame as the case was a work of art. Retrospectively we didn't realize
at the time an all phenolic or phenolic nozzle holder with a graphite throat might have been more appropriate.
One other thing with the AP510. Might want to wrap some tape around the top mounted push button momentary On/Off switch after turning the device on
to fly in a rocket. The switch is lightweight and probably won't be affected by G forces all them much. In order for a switch push to turn it on or off, it has
to be held down for several seconds in order for the action to be carried out. That helps prevent an inadvertent shutting off of the device. A few wraps of tape
around the switch should help secure it well enough. I'd fly one of mine if I had a big enough rocket. Kurt