Miss Riley Owner/Builder Thread .

Wally Ferrer said:

I believe it's screw activated, so you would provide for keeping the switch screw in, adjusting the length appropriately. Switch side on the mains side, the tube remains connected to that end of the e-bay with rivets as well. Releasing the switch turns off the electronics is my observation.

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Wally Ferrer said:

From SMT's site:
The actual switch is a single pole double throw style and can be wired to turn electronics on or off when installing the arming screw.

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I was trying to figure out how you deactivated the switch once you activated it - I didn't realize the switches were spring loaded until now. So, yeah, missing something obvious - thanks for the replies!

Nothing is obvious, until it is...

from the manufacturer - me... the switch handle is pushed in with the arming screw and is used to turn the electronics on - positive retention. As you back off the screw, the switch handle returns to its normal off state. My comment regarding it being a single pole double throw is correct and someone could use the switch in either normally open or normally closed. For bay applications with live charges, you would want to use the normally off state and install the arming screw to arm your electronics. Feel free to call if you want to discuss the issue.

Best regards 206-794-1881 SMT Designs

SteveThatcher said:

from the manufacturer - me... the switch handle is pushed in with the arming screw and is used to turn the electronics on - positive retention. As you back off the screw, the switch handle returns to its normal off state. My comment regarding it being a single pole double throw is correct and someone could use the switch in either normally open or normally closed. For bay applications with live charges, you would want to use the normally off state and install the arming screw to arm your electronics. Feel free to call if you want to discuss the issue.

Best regards 206-794-1881 SMT Designs

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Thanks, Steve - i just needed to figure out that the switch was spring loaded, and it all made sense. I had a bad case of “failure of imagination”...i am planning to use the switches in the normally opened state.

FWIW, i love the sled design, well done!

jmuck78 said:

Thanks, Steve - i just needed to figure out that the switch was spring loaded, and it all made sense. I had a bad case of “failure of imagination”...i am planning to use the switches in the normally opened state.

FWIW, i love the sled design, well done!

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Thank you! I am glad you like the design.

Of note, I don't actually use the word sled anymore. In order to keep things organized, the "sleds" that hold the devices are carriers and platforms. The tray (the part that looks more like a sled) holds the carriers, platforms, and battery carriers. You can change devices and batteries without drilling any new holes...

I'm taking an Estes Executioner and turning it into a Miss Riley (just changing the fins and paiting it like a Miss Riley). Would one of you kind souls give the the measurements of the fins so I can scale it down right? I could just eyeball it but I would like to be more accurate than that.

Here is my OR file for Miss Riley. Hope this helps.

Tobor said:

Here is my OR file for Miss Riley. Hope this helps.

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Super, thanks!

Sooooo, long time no post.

I decided it was time to move this bird to the finish line, as I would to get this ready for MWP 18. One issue I never realized existed is the way the SMT AV sled is assembled for flight. It requires very long wiring within the AV-Bay, from the 2-piece end cap to the carrier/tray, to allow removal/installation of said end cap.

Don't get me wrong, I really like SMT's design. I just figured there had to be a way around this issue.

And here is what I came up with.



I used a Dremel to cut out parts of the upper plate of the cap so the plate can be removed without having to disassemble and remove the charge cups. The removed pieces of the plate are still used to maintain proper height of the charge cups.

With this mod, only two nuts need to be undone to allow removal of the entire sled assembly from the AV-Bay. It's an ugly hack but it works.

I will email Steve (owner of SMT Designs) to show him my mod of his sled and place an order for a custom print of my mod, so I can make my sled pretty again...

Edit: Now on to completing the wiring.

That is the one thing I didn't like about Steve's design , although it isn't that big of a deal, it is more time consuming. I made longer leads for mine and that helps. Funny you brought this thread back up, as I just finished prepping #66 for our 2 day launch "Buc Blast" next weekend. If everything works out, I'm going to bump up to a 4gr motor from the 3gr on its first flight.

SteveThatcher said:

I do actually... they are all on my How Tos page, but the last time I tried to link on here to the docs, I wasn't able to do that. I am also not a sponsor here, so I can't advertise the availability of documents on my products technically except on what I think of as a supporting message responding to a question. If I could afford being a sponsor, then I would have posted in the vendor forum regarding docs and products (even vendor posts are lost on the volume of messages in my view).

https://www.smtdesigns.com/store/rocketry-how-tos

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I'm finally getting around to looking at my AV Bay for Miss Riley. Steve, the links in the webpage you not above have no pictures. They do not render when you bring up the webpage for a specific set of instructions. It would be very helpful if the pictures were fixed or if all instructions were provided as PDFs as some of them are.

Mike Haberer said:

I'm finally getting around to looking at my AV Bay for Miss Riley. Steve, the links in the webpage you not above have no pictures. They do not render when you bring up the webpage for a specific set of instructions. It would be very helpful if the pictures were fixed or if all instructions were provided as PDFs as some of them are.

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Hi Mike,
Not sure if you are aware of the pics on (This Post).They were very useful when I assembled my AV Bay.

Thanks. I saw them when I read this thread in 2019 and forgot about them. Now on my hard drive...

So how about it folks/ anyone flown their Riley lately ??
Im thinking my 3rd flight at our May launch will be on a 5 grain Gorilla motor ,

Unfortunately, my path to dual deploy has been slow. I'm not going to build and fly MR until I have DD down pat...

Mike Haberer said:

I'm finally getting around to looking at my AV Bay for Miss Riley. Steve, the links in the webpage you not above have no pictures. They do not render when you bring up the webpage for a specific set of instructions. It would be very helpful if the pictures were fixed or if all instructions were provided as PDFs as some of them are.

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The pictures still don't render on the webpages...

I FINALLY got a maiden flight on #42 at ROCStock this weekend. The weather was perfect and the flight was awesome on a CTI I175 !

Hello I have always wanted one of these. Does anyone know where I could get one for a reasonable price?

Young Man said:

Hello I have always wanted one of these. Does anyone know where I could get one for a reasonable price?

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You might try posting in the for sale/wanted forum to see if anyone has a kit they would be willing to sell. This was a limited edition run and they all were sold as far as I know.

Swany said:

You might try posting in the for sale/wanted forum to see if anyone has a kit they would be willing to sell. This was a limited edition run and they all were sold as far as I know.

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Thank you I will try that

Young Man said:

Hello I have always wanted one of these. Does anyone know where I could get one for a reasonable price?

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Rocketman just had a sale. It might still be on.