CHAD staging pix

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SwingWing

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I tried something new today. CHAD staged my 24mm Deuces Wild Pencam roc. The ignition, staging and recovery all went fine, in spite of a fouled chute on the Rocket (Pencam payload has it's own chute) and the camera turned itself off at ejection. When I recovered the camera and saw that it had only taken 12 pictures, (at about 3/second) I thought for sure that the power had been interupted and I had lost the boost pix. to my surprise, I had only the boost pix, and the timer circuit turned itself off at ejection!:D
The images are kinda bland with a boring background, and I still can't seem to get the launch crew in a pix, but the staging pix are cool. You can see that staging does NOT happen simultaneously.
The first pix shows the ignition of booth booster motors, the pullpin cord comes taught at about 1/2 way up the launch rod, and thats where the first pix snaps.
 
In this one, the left motor just staged, but the right one is still boosting.
 
This is the very next shot, less than 1/3 second later and the right motor has completed staging.
There was never a wiggle in the flight path, she flew perfectly stable:)
 
2 pix b-4 ejection, the right motor is still putting out slight thrust, the left motor is all tracking smoke
 
Truely awsome pics, Swin Wing; the snow background is well cool.

Thanks for sharing them with us.

:D
 
Swingwing,
Very cool pictures. I love those flames:D This time of year all your going to get is bland pictures. There isn't much but black and white during winter. Still very cool!!!:cool:
Larry

Oh, by the way Happy Birthday a little late.
 
Now that is hands down some of the coolest rocket photography I've ever seen.

OUTSTANDING !!!

Got to get me one of those !!!
 
oh now THAT is cool! I kinda imagined what it would look like from that vantage point, but it is way cooler than I thought it would be.

thanx!
 
excellent photos..i really did'nt think 24mm motors produced that much flame..
 
I'm used to seeing inflight pics as slightly blurred or grainy. These pics are truly clean and clear. Tnx for sharing SW. Could you post info on the camera you used?

tia...
 
I have a Pencam I picked up for an embarassingly low price.

How did you rig yours?

How do you get it to take pictures in sequence?

How does it start the sequence?

I havn't even taken mine out of the package yet.

I was thinking of a 227% upscale Astron Constellation with a clear payload section for mine.

A 2.217" by 9" clear payload bay should give me plenty of room.

sandman
 
Fantastic pics Swingwing, the CHAD staging gave a great view of the first motors.
 
Those pics are so awesome. Seriously, those are the best onboard pics I've ever seen.
I have a couple pencams waiting for rockets but I never thought of putting them in a DW. Now I can't imagine why I'd put them in anything else, except maybe a Tres.
And the staging, man, that was just too cool.
Sorry to sound like a teenage boy watching Baywatch, but those pics were great. :D

I also have a pencam that takes video. It'd be cool if I could find a way to get video of something like that and then slow it down to see the staging taking place.

Too many ideas, too little time.

slim
 
Originally posted by sandman
I have a Pencam I picked up for an embarassingly low price.

I've got 2 Aiptek PencamII's for about $13 total, Including shipping.


How did you rig yours?
I made up a simple & cheap timer circuit.
How do you get it to take pictures in sequence?

How does it start the sequence?
I have a pullpin system that uses a microswitch embedded in the balsa bulkhead,
I havn't even taken mine out of the package yet.

I was thinking of a 227% upscale Astron Constellation with a clear payload section for mine.

I originally had mine in a BT60 clear payload. now it is in a 2"OD tube looking into a mirror in my 24mm DW upscale
A 2.217" by 9" clear payload bay should give me plenty of room.

sandman


I tried b-4 to explain how I rigged the timer in this thread: https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3155&highlight=Pencam
 
great pictures swingwing!
I hope my pencam rocket does so well.

any of you guys who aren't into building digital electronics check out Rob Nee's web site:

Rob Nee's AYUCR web site

I am using the same pencam as swingwing is.
I built Rob's Pencam controller. Nice kit and Rob is very very helpful.

It's all built and tested, ready to fly as soon as I get a chance.

I also downloaded Rob's software which allows me to use my laptop to set the pencam controller parameters such as delay between pictures, shutter speed, etc.

Once the controller is armed it will not allow the camera to go to sleep on the pad. Every few seconds it cycles the pencam theough the 5 modes to keep it awake. At liftoff a 'gravity' switch makes contact and starts the timing sequence.

For my first flight I have the pencam controller set to take 26 pictures at 1 second intervals. I have the camera payload section rigged so that the camera will be looking down during recovery.

with the $15 pencam, $35.00 kit from Rob and my scratchbuilt pencam rocket that has maybe $15.00 of material in it I have spent about $65 on this rocket.
 
I originally wanted to use Rob's controller. At the time, he used a relay that held the mode switch on the pencam to keep it "awake". Aiptek changed their later model Pencams so that they go tro sleep instantly when the mode switch is held. I have heard that Rob has fixed this prob, but when I was putting my Pencam payload together, he hadn't come up with a solution yet. So I built my own timer.

If you are getting pix of both launch and recovery, 1/second or 3/2 seconds is a good rate. If you have the camera looking down the BT like mine, then most of the good pix are of the boost phase, so a quicker rate is better.
 
Geeezzzz, the more I learn the less I know.

You guys are miles ahead of me. I running as fast as I can, but I think I started a little late! :confused: :)

The pictures are awesome. I'd love to see one of thse set ups in person sometime. I'm more of a hands on learner. I'm not sure I could pull it all together just from here.
 
The pix look great. What I am wondering is where you guys are getting such cheap pencams? Also, what about the Aiptek 1.3 megapix pencams? Any major differences between the 2? (as used in a pencam roc).

Again, those are some great pix!

Weekends
 
I got my cheap pencams off Ebay. Aiptek sometimes sells refurb units on their website.

The 1.3 megapixel pencam has a delay between shots. If you use a 1.3MP you would have to use it in movie mode. I hear the delay between shots in on the order of 3-5 seconds. I guess it meters light and maybe focuses?
The older pencamII is fixed focus/fixed exposure unit. simple, no-delay shots, but only at 640x480 resolution.
 
Well the ol DW aint what she used to be:mad: :(
At todays MASA launch, I put the 24mm DW up on 2xD12-0 CHAD staged to 2xD12-3. It was full up with the camera payload.
Beautiful boost and staging, way up there for such a heavy rocket. Then we heard two ejection puff/fizzes. There was a collective groan and a few "uh-oh's" from the crowd. That 1 pound plus camera rocket was whistling pretty good when it "spacked" into the ground. The camera and timer circuit were literally crumbs.:( The dowels holding the camera rammed forward, splitting the nosecone like firewood. Too bad those pencams have volital memory, we didn't even get any pix outta the deal.:( :confused: :mad:
I guess it's time to dust off that spare pencamm..............:rolleyes:
 
ick!

man, that's gotta suck big time! :(

You should consider another one as the pix from this one were incredible!
 
SwingWing,

Sorry about your loss but thanks for reactivating this thread, since I missed it the first time.

Very, very cool rocket, and great pics.

Hadn't considered chad staging or 24mm-ing my Deuce. Hadn't considered pen-camming one either. All very imaginative "envelope-stretching" ideas for a great rocket. Thanks.

What do you think happened with the ejection?
 
Originally posted by Gus
SwingWing,

What do you think happened with the ejection?

Well, I hate to admit it, but I think my overuse of electrical tape got me. I have had problems with the payload bay/nosecone slipping off the camera guts under chute. I added a wrap of tape around the payload and coupler block. I think the coupling was jammed together tight on boost enough to prevent separation. The Ejection charges prolly sounded weak because they were muffled in the BT. The engines were from a brand new pack. Most of the newer engines lately seem to nearly explode on ejection. :mad:
 
>Well the ol DW aint what she used to be


I saw that flight. It was a shame, but it was also educational in a "watch what happens in a train wreck" sort of way...

I heard the dual ejection charges that didn't eject. It _looked_ as if the ejection went through the nozzles, which is what you'd expect if the coupler was too tight, as SwingWing surmises.

It made a fine whistling sound on the way down, and I was in awe of the debris field. I've been wondering what it would take to safeguard an electronic payload, and I think I've been seriously underestimating the problem.... It hit a hard dirt field, too; it wasn't like it hit the gravel road or concrete or anything....

For what it's worth, the flight was unaminously nominated for the club's prang award, which is a collectible certificate suitable for framing :)

--tc
 
That IS AWESOME!!! Those flames make the motors look like APCP ones!
Congrats
Karl
 
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