Caliber ISP - Level 2 build

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To save weight I am not using BP wells. I am using paper and tape and basically making electric firecrackers. Normally, I use copper plumbing ends, but for this, I didn't want to add the 2 oz. that those would weigh.

That will certainly save weight! I found a "black powder" I think will suffice, hodgon fffg but sulphur free. I will be trying some small trials tomorrow with wells and maybe work up to a few shear pin trials.

Thanks for the info! I might need to use the tape method some day.
 
I drilled up the av bay and installed three rivets, mounted the stratto on the board and am ready to wire it up for drilling ports and doing trials! I also repaired two other rockets that zippered in some heavier winds at the last launch! A productive day indeed. Pictures later!
 
It is coming together. This is my very first av bay. What guage does everyone use for their wire? I do understand tinned stranded ends are recommended for these altimeter connectors and not solid wire.

I will definitely use the higher quality 9v connector I got from the apogee peeps. Frys electronics is now almost a ghost town for small parts. They did have 9volt connectors but they all used vinyl covered connectors and the nice one is a durable plastic covered connector.
 

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Looks like you are on the right track so far.

I recommend using zip-ties to secure your 9v. Very strong and easily replaced
Thanks!

I think I plan to install the 9v with zipties and vertical support board glued to the av board-still working it out. I sent my eggtimer tracker and wifi switch to be built. I just dont have that kind of experience with soldering...yet. Some of the solders I worried about connecting with neighboring solders. They are CLOSE on some of the boards.

Once I have the tracker and switch I will feel better about trying higher altitude. I might get her maiden flight in about a week if the orders arrive.
 
With and without a switchband payload (riveted payload).
 

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BP charge testing tomorrow! I have seen the Pratt hobby version of bp charges and will do something similar but have my own screw cap style micro centrifuge tubes. Will this cause any unwanted shrapnel effect? I may try the masking tape method. I don't want to tear or rip my cute or Nomex blanket.
 
ok. The sealed screw cap style centrifuge tubes (plastic) that I have worked very well under a steel bucket for my match test but it was more like a firecracker. I made the matches using telephone wires with soldered nichrome but no pyrogen for the first trials. The .5 fffg powder packed with dog barf, popped loudly under the steel bucket I used for safety and I uncovered well shredded/broken plastic bits of the centrifuge tube. I think I will modify the cap to something else-the screw cap tube worked almost too well-it popped like a firecracker. Is this what we want the DD wells to do? Perhaps a masking tape bundle really is better.
 
I am going to spend some time looking at other electronics bays from members in my club before finalizing mine at our next launch and ask a bunch of questions. The Caliber is ready to fly single deployment at this point but I will update with more pictures once the switch band bay is complete. The above test using centrifuge tubes with caps created a lot of plastic shrapnel that I'm sure would cut the Nomex blankets. So I am going to try a different method-I have some old aluminum bearing spacers that make perfect sized wells for DD and can be drilled. They are just aluminum tubes with heavy walls but I would need to create a base of some sort.

I am curious, Who has the altitude record for a Caliber ISP?
 
So thank to my club memebrrs and all THEIR hard work on their own rockets I was able to gather a lot more GOOD information on how to approach my av bay and charges. We have a level 3 in our club who has stellar electronics and he helped me the most! He showed me how he used his nosecone to house the main chute and it is fired out of the nose cone (had had an instance where the chute got blown into the nosecone and didn’t work) so he reversed the charge location to behind the chute at the top of the nosecone firing out. I am very appreciative of those who are much more experienced helping people like me. One of the main reasons I love this hobby-people WANT to help you! Anyway-I still have a bit of work on my bay before I can test shear pins. It is much easier though once you understand how it is supposed to go together. I will update once I have more pictures of completion to show.
 
Looks like I might have an "I" motor or two in from a past order for our next launch! I am ready to give the Caliber some Level 1 flights at low altitudes to learn about how my Strattologger...logs and works. I won't be using any charges this time around as I had a recent work trip keep me from this project but I can still use the altimeter against another brand altimeter for data results comparison! This will help me tune in the Cd for this rockets level 2 motor flights later in the year. I like to be closer to accurate on flight estimates in Rocksim, I can just feel better about motor choices!
 
Okay! Here is the Caliber ISP's launch pad pic (sorry, video is too large right now). The motor used was simulated using Rocksim 9. The flight was near perfect in every way. I used the jolly logic chute release with just a main parachute and no drogue, a first for me. It was a little nerve racking waiting for the chute with no drogue but it went well.

using the jolly logic alt2
Altitude: 3096 ft
Top Speed: 389 mph
Burn Time: 2.34 seconds
 

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Post your video to YouTube or vimeo and post the link here. It will show a preview pane.
This is my Caliber on a long burn research I85 (38/720 case).
Like this:
 
Eggtimer Tracker, Eggtime wifi switch and lcd display kit are now assembled thank to Connor! This weekend I will install the tracker in the switch-band. I need to put the lcd display and battery pack (all assembled!) into the box and that wont be hard at all-those solders he did though-wow! That still looks tough even after watching videos of people making it look easy. I am glad I used Connor for the building! Thanks Connor! Highly recommend!

The switchband I have has brass rails on my altimeter board instead of cardboard-will this affect the tracker? I can just build another one using non-metal parts if needed.

I'll have to post the launch video (from above) this weekend when I have a little more time to decipher my youtube password-been a while since I have used it.
 
Post your video to YouTube or vimeo and post the link here. It will show a preview pane.
This is my Caliber on a long burn research I85 (38/720 case).
Like this:

Thanks for the tip!

My Caliber ISP in an I215-14 redline!

 
So after countless attempts everything did not fit the way I wanted on the original switchband kit. That is fine because as it turns out I am handy like the rest of you hobbyists out there so I made a new one with updates.

The original sled in the bluetube av bay kit has brass rails. My tracker needs to have as little metal around it as possible for the antenna to work so I used the same cardboard tubes we get with HPR igniters for the sled. I used waterproof wood glue to attach them to my new sled made from 1/4” “lite-ply” - still lighter than the normal 1/8” stuff ;) by about 50%. This presented a minor challenge with the nylon corcuit board standoffs not reaching through the sled. I tapped the holes for the standoffs with a new micro tap set I had gotten from amzn months back.

Once I had the design I thought would work I added an upright wall to add more real estate to the sled :) I have a wifi switch that will go opposite the altimeter but am keeping it simple for first tests. Anyone used a wifi switch with a strattologger?

Anyway here it is:
 

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Okay!

I have achieved L2 with this Caliber ISP! It was a tough road but after a second attempt I managed to pass both my written and flight test. This rocket is a very strong build. I am glad I took the time to learn HPR builds better first before taking on a level 2 project and flight. My Caliber ISP (3lb 7.3 oz) flew well on a J425-14 with no modification to delay. I used a JLCR with motor ejection and two altimeters and an eggtimer tracker. The flight and recovery was awesome and it touched down softly (Red 48" chute) when my JLCR opened at 500ft from ~4800ft. No damage to fins, nosecone or the booster tube. No zipper etc. Such a good flight. I have to thank LOC Precision for having awesome kits.

I hadn't planned on using a 38mm J (or an adapter for the aeropack) but good advice resulted in a near perfect flight. My stratto logged (171ft) because I did not reset it at the pad...I think. I didn't remember to arm the ALT2 so I have no real flight data yet but my rocksim9 results have been "stellar" to say the least. Seriously, if you put in the time to get your model correct-it is very accurate and adding motors to the database was easy, for me. I like to support things that work well for me - rocksim9 works very well.

I can't wait to fly this again!
 
Okay!

I have achieved L2 with this Caliber ISP! It was a tough road but after a second attempt I managed to pass both my written and flight test. This rocket is a very strong build. I am glad I took the time to learn HPR builds better first before taking on a level 2 project and flight. My Caliber ISP (3lb 7.3 oz) flew well on a J425-14 with no modification to delay. I used a JLCR with motor ejection and two altimeters and an eggtimer tracker. The flight and recovery was awesome and it touched down softly (Red 48" chute) when my JLCR opened at 500ft from ~4800ft. No damage to fins, nosecone or the booster tube. No zipper etc. Such a good flight. I have to thank LOC Precision for having awesome kits.

I hadn't planned on using a 38mm J (or an adapter for the aeropack) but good advice resulted in a near perfect flight. My stratto logged (171ft) because I did not reset it at the pad...I think. I didn't remember to arm the ALT2 so I have no real flight data yet but my rocksim9 results have been "stellar" to say the least. Seriously, if you put in the time to get your model correct-it is very accurate and adding motors to the database was easy, for me. I like to support things that work well for me - rocksim9 works very well.

I can't wait to fly this again!
Congrats on the successful cert - welcome to L2!
 
Hey, congrats! And yeah, I'm continually impressed when simulations come so close to real flight performance. What are you going to launch for your next flight?
 
Probably the same exact flight, I want the altimeter data too! I will have to travel for anything over a J since it would break our 6500 ft waiver. A white lightning K185 and K250 sim nicely. :rolleyes:
 
My stratto logged (171ft) because I did not reset it at the pad...I think.

Reset it at the pad?

Are you saying it was active before you loaded the rocket at the pad? Since you mention a chute release, I'm hoping this wasn't a deployment altimeter
 
Yes, at the pad. Nope-just an altimeter. I dont have the charge wells built yet so I just use it for altitude. I still have a wifi switch to install once I am ready to start using charge deployment. I like to keep it simple so only the jolly logic chute release and/OR engine deployment are used for now. Good looking out-I know not to have charges armed before getting to the pad.
 
I did finally get around to soldering in the data logger for the tracker though. I definitely need a better soldering iron but it worked:
 

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The data logger on the tracker worked perfectly-I did not have to do anything except plug in a chip and I was recording ALL the data whenever it was on and tracking satellites. Figuring out how to import it properly into google earth has proved to be difficult but I will eventually figure it out. Mainly it is just a LOT of data because it was on for a while-it will record everything until the power is off so on recovery I will be shutting it off before walking back. It will be interesting to see how close to apogee it recorded.

The J425-14R flew amazing and I received two sets of data but will provide the one I believe to be most accurate (alt2 hangs on a kevlar string and is not mounted). The strattologger recorded perfectly when I used the correct battery.
4937 ft alt
593 mph

Landed about .5 miles away and within our field.

This has been my favorite HPR build to date and cannot wait to fly it again! Next up: LOC's HyperLOC HPR build
 
J425 redline...yeah!
 

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So with the extra at home time I have had I went ahead with modifying the nosecone of the caliber to accept a payload and hold the eyebolt for recovery. I have never flown this rocket dual deploy since the nosecone was cut open and just empty with shear pins holding it on to the forward tube.

I had seen a few videos of adding nose cone weights and drilling the nose cone with a lateral wooden dowel installed so I took it a slightly different route:

I didnt have dowels so i cut some aircraft ply to sandwich together as a rectangular dowel and installed a rail-button weld nut into it before gluing into the nosecone-this left a nice place for a single all thread to hold the hand-cut bulkhead onto the nosecone and plenty of room for a payload inside plus the bulkhead will have the eyebolt for recovery. I will be pouring 2 part foam to fill about 25% of the total nosecone. Just enough for a little weight and to hold the dowel nicely so it shouldn't break free from the location.
 

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I finally made a mistake with this one. Flew an I215 redline and I forgot to arm my JLCR on an engine ejection with the JLCR set to 500ft deployment. My redundancy has always been to use an oversized Nomex blanket as a temporary streamer/drogue to slow things down. Good thing I did. I am also glad it was a low altitude flight. It was our clubs first launch since Covid started (and very limited) and I took my time during prep and one person asked me one question during prep and I scatterbrained/squirreled and missed the power on step. I even turned on my tracker and altimeter in the switchband. I am making a checklist for each rocket and switchband and using a physical checklist so this shouldn't happen ever again. My rocket survived...a lot. It could have flown right away again. I recalculated just to be sure and it hit the ground all at about 56 MPH. There is a slight separation at the fin root rear where the fillet of rocket poxy gave at the cardboard ever so slightly and the payload crunched just slightly to need replacement, ✅. The shear pins survived and held the nosecone in place. I use 2 part, 5lb density foam in my HPR fin cans like an old schooler and I know it is mostly overkill but it makes me feel good about almost any motor choice (Warp Nine :confused:...maybe) but it also seemed to help with crash survival. Damage photos to follow. Repair Photos to follow those. It fell from about 2654 ft., harness stretched out nicely and fell to flat desert 400 ft safely away from our flight line and any people.
 
Ugh, sorry to hear that happened, but it sounds like the rocket fared very well. That's not much damage for coming in that fast!
 
Thanks, I have to say it was quite embarrassing as I have had a 100% recovery success rate in HPR so far with our club. Lesson learned.
 
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