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Alyssa Stenberg did an R&D report on an RC Alternative to the Jolly Logic Chute Release. She developed 2 very clean designs that performed well in testing. The report is available to NAR members on the R&D Report Website under NARAM-58.
Don
Yeah, here's a couple of pics of her first version, which was a bit heavier and longer than the C.R. but fit inside a BT-55. A later version fit inside a BT-50 and IIRC weighed about 10 grams.
Early mock-up of the first one with J.L. Chute Release above
First one packed for flight.
For anyone who does do an R/C Chute release, make sure the receiver is capable of "Fail Safe", so that if it loses signal, it will hold itself to a pre-set position rather than randomly move/jitter the servo. Most would probably want to set the failsafe to NOT release the chute, so if the model flew really high and lost signal then it could fall back down into range of the transmitter to activate it (If the rocket is not going to come down close enough to resume signal, something is wrong as the whole idea is to quickly come down close to the launch area then deploy the chute). Although some super-careful fliers might prefer the opposite, to default to release the chute early in case of signal loss. BTW - pretty much any receiver worth using will re-acquire the signal and respond properly, if it did lose signal on boost.
That said, I am super-impressed with the JL Chute Release. That is a revolutionary device for the hobby, which anyone can learn to use easily, that ranks up there with the Cineroc, and altimeters.
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