AstroCam 3-Way Drag Races!

[DarenSavage]

Dan and I, and our Cousin John from Cali attended the SCORE launch at Hudson Ranch this weekend with 3 AstroCams (2 AstroCams and my AlphaCam). It was a nice cool day with a light breeze, making for a good day to test my new nose cones on my AlphaCam.

I ordered two AstroCam nose cones from Estes with the idea of modifying them to adjust the camera angles to be able to capture more of the other rockets in flight.

Here's the side view of the stock AstroCam nose cone.


Here's the side view of my modified nose cone with the camera slightly canted out to try to capture more of the view.


Here's the side view of my second modified nose cone with the camera turned 90 degrees, and slightly canted out.


Here's the side by side comparison of the changes I made to get the AstroCam to fit in the nose cone sideways.


The stock AstroCam nose cone on the scale.


And the AlphaCam nose cone on the scale.


Two grams lighter, but as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, so let's get flying!

This is the on-board video of our first AstroCam 3-way drag race. I turned the AstroCam 90 degrees from it's stock orientation, and canted it slightly outwards so the body tube and fins were barely seen at the bottom of the screen. Success!



This is the video of our first AstroCam 3-way drag race shot from the ground. The modified AlphaCam nose cone is slightly more aerodynamic, but also it's 2 grams lighter than the stock AstroCam nose cone. It doesn't sound like a lot, but on a rocket this light, it makes a difference.

I got the hole shot on the launch, but without it, I couldn't have gotten the on-board footage of our AstroCam drag race that I did.

 

[DarenSavage]

Here's some fun screen captures I got from the videos.

Dan added some elongated Estes logos to his AstroCam to try to capture them in-flight, but also to tell the difference between his AstroCam and Cousin John's AstroCam. I caught Dan's AstroCam just after launch.


Dan's AstroCam is seen in the upper left corner, and Cousin John's is just to the right of center. Scott from Estes is seen in the lower right corner in the orange t-shirt.


Cousin John's AstroCam is seen flying past our pit (blue cabana with the green astro turf). Scott is seen with Daren, Dan, and Cousin John standing close by while watching the first 3-Way AstroCam drag race.


These photos show why we use flame-retardant wadding and not toilet paper. Lots of hot chunks flying out from Dan's AstroCam.


More hot chunks and fire!


Lots of hot chunks and fire from Daren's AlphaCam. Very dramatic image!

 

[DanSavage]

Wow! That is kewl video.

I especially love the ejection photos.

In the first shot of my ejection at 11:44:38, you can see the glowing hot embers highlighted against the background of the recovery wadding in the center of the frame.

In second shot at 10:48:11, you can see the still-burning particulate-matter from the ejection charge trailing fire.

The last ejection charge shot stands alone. What an action shot!

 

[DanSavage]

Here's the side view of my second modified nose cone with the camera turned 90 degrees, and slightly canted out.
View attachment 533605

Here's the side by side comparison of the changes I made to get the AstroCam to fit in the nose cone sideways.
View attachment 533606

Two grams lighter, but as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, so let's get flying!

I agree. This new camera mount is fantastic for capturing the all the action.

16g vs. 14g gives me a real-world target weight to shoot for with the 3D printed design.

Thanks again for prototyping these alternative mounts. It really paid off.

 

[DarenSavage]

I agree. This new camera mount is fantastic for capturing the all the action.

16g vs. 14g gives me a real-world target weight to shoot for with the 3D printed design.

Thanks again for prototyping these alternative mounts. It really paid off.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm very happy with the results of the new mounting system.

 

[neil_w]

The repositioned camera looks very good. A 3D-printed nose that replicated that design would be very nice.

One suggestion: Upload your Youtube videos at something closer to normal speed, and leave it up to the viewer to slow it down or pause as needed.

 

[DarenSavage]

The repositioned camera looks very good. A 3D-printed nose that replicated that design would be very nice.

One suggestion: Upload your Youtube videos at something closer to normal speed, and leave it up to the viewer to slow it down or pause as needed.

Thanks, Neil! I agree about the printed nose cone. I shipped my nose cone to Dan. He's in the middle of moving, so it may be a while until he can get to it.

Great suggestion. I'll include both versions in future videos. In the meantime, I combined both the on-board video from my AlphaCam and the ground video I shot of the launch into one video at full speed. Enjoy!

 

[DanSavage]

I like how synchronized the three rockets were when they reached apogee.

 

[DarenSavage]

I like how synchronized the three rockets were when they reached apogee.

I re-watched my ground videos of the drag races, and they were all that way.

I combined the videos I shot from the ground of our AstroCam 3-Way Drag Races. I also added the slo-mo of the launches. Enjoy!

 

[DarenSavage]

I combined the on-board video I shot of our races with slo-mo of the launches. This video has drag races 1-4, including the video of my first prototype nose cone with the slightly realigned AstroCam camera mount as seen in Drag Race #4. My AlphaCam seems to rotate on launch, probably due to a bent tail fin. On the plus side, the rotation helped to capture Dan and John's rockets. Sometimes they flew out of, then back into the frame.



Here's Dan's on-board video of our races with slo-mo. For whatever reason, during Dan's first drag race, the AstroCam's video and audio became un-synched, and the video dropped frames. Go figure. If you watch the slo-mo of the launches, Dan's AstroCam is very stable. It rotates less than two times during the entire launch, which shoots great video.



And Cousin John's combined on-board video of our races with slo-mo. John's AstroCam is stable during the launch and recovery like Dan's.

 

[DanSavage]

That's cool video, Daren.

I like how you can see the yellow igniter plugs being blown out of the rocket motors. In a couple of my launches you can even see ends of the nichrome wire are still glowing red hot.

 

[ed_w]

Thanks for the great videos! (From your other posts, as well as this one.) Now I want to race my Astrocam. I really like your slo mo video. I think you should continue to post both full speed and slo mo versions whenever you have videos to post.

 

[BABAR]

Dan and I, and our Cousin John from Cali attended the SCORE launch at Hudson Ranch this weekend with 3 AstroCams (2 AstroCams and my AlphaCam). It was a nice cool day with a light breeze, making for a good day to test my new nose cones on my AlphaCam.

I ordered two AstroCam nose cones from Estes with the idea of modifying them to adjust the camera angles to be able to capture more of the other rockets in flight.

Here's the side view of the stock AstroCam nose cone.
View attachment 533603

Here's the side view of my modified nose cone with the camera slightly canted out to try to capture more of the view.
View attachment 533604

Here's the side view of my second modified nose cone with the camera turned 90 degrees, and slightly canted out.
View attachment 533605

Here's the side by side comparison of the changes I made to get the AstroCam to fit in the nose cone sideways.
View attachment 533606

The stock AstroCam nose cone on the scale.
View attachment 533608

And the AlphaCam nose cone on the scale.
View attachment 533610

Two grams lighter, but as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, so let's get flying!

This is the on-board video of our first AstroCam 3-way drag race. I turned the AstroCam 90 degrees from it's stock orientation, and canted it slightly outwards so the body tube and fins were barely seen at the bottom of the screen. Success!



This is the video of our first AstroCam 3-way drag race shot from the ground. The modified AlphaCam nose cone is slightly more aerodynamic, but also it's 2 grams lighter than the stock AstroCam nose cone. It doesn't sound like a lot, but on a rocket this light, it makes a difference.

I got the hole shot on the launch, but without it, I couldn't have gotten the on-board footage of our AstroCam drag race that I did.

Great minds……. I put a piece of folded cardboard in the slot to angle the camera out more. I just want enough rocket in the picture for perspective, as set up stock the rocket takes up what seems like 1/3 of the screen.

 

[DarenSavage]

Thanks for the great videos! (From your other posts, as well as this one.) Now I want to race my Astrocam. I really like your slo mo video. I think you should continue to post both full speed and slo mo versions whenever you have videos to post.

You're welcome, ed_w. Everything happens so quickly at normal speed htat we need the slo-mo to really enjoy what happens during the flights.

 

[DarenSavage]

Great minds……. I put a piece of folded cardboard in the slot to angle the camera out more. I just want enough rocket in the picture for perspective, as set up stock the rocket takes up what seems like 1/3 of the screen.

Yup. After our latest round of drag racing, I'm really digging the new camera angle of the AlphaCam nosecone. Like you write, I wanted just enough rocket for perspective, but leaving the rest of the field of vision free. Now I need to address the spinning caused by the parachute.

 

[BABAR]

. Now I need to address the spinning caused by the parachute.

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/spyder-camera-rocket.31670/
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