Crazy Jim's "Punisher-4" new flight video with 4in Fly-away-guides

[blackjack2564]

I use the vent band to tape my switch wire. If you use a switch mounted internally I suppose don't you need it...BUT....When selling a kit, you don't know what the end user will do, & must account for any scenario. Don't need it...leave it off.

.............in other words "it's in the script"....LOL

 

[dixontj93060]

I use the vent band to tape my switch wire. If you use a switch mounted internally I suppose don't you need it...BUT....When selling a kit, you don't know what the end user will do, & must account for any scenario. Don't need it...leave it off.

.............in other words "it's in the script"....LOL

Oh, OK. I understand that.

 

[GRIFFIN]

The band is also going to stop the coupler from getting jammed into the nose with an overzealous apogee charge

 

[llickteig1]

The band is also going to stop the coupler from getting jammed into the nose with an overzealous apogee charge

Who does that?

 

[GRIFFIN]

I do!!

Every time!!

.....And with enough shock cord to bleed off the energy, I haven't had an apogee failure to date.

.........Quick links...that's a whole nuther story.

 

[watermelonman]

Tell me that's not a 75mm hole I see there!!!

If that is a six inch body it has to be at least a four inch motor! Heck maybe five, 130mm?

 

[dixontj93060]

The band is also going to stop the coupler from getting jammed into the nose with an overzealous apogee charge

Well Jason, that's why I had asked originally as the new Wildman nosecones (conveniently) have an internal lip that keeps forward movement from occurring.

 

[blackjack2564]

Wet sanded the spot today with 320.....just a few pin holes in epoxy fillets. Sure was a lot of sanding to get back to them..LOl


Before & after. Ready for full coat primer.

 

[blackjack2564]

1st couple of red light finish coats dry. Starting to look like a"Punisher".:smile:
I'll do the av-bay next.






Got the new Beta GPS units & screw switches. Time to start using them to neaten up my av-bays.
Plus my RRC3's re-flashed for use with the GPS.
1 unit with Bulk-head mount duck antenna & rest with wire.





New base unit has blue tooth-to-phone feature for mapping position OR the newly incorporated [as I call it] RF tracking mode.

After much research & discussion with all the Alpha-testors, J Amos decided to incorporate this brilliant idea. If you have any experience with the RF/Falcon trackers.....Comm-Spec....Marshal...LLD...etc. the transition to this GPS will be stupid simple and seamless.
Newly added "arrows" that will point you "left" ....."right" ......or "straight" head when walking/driving the correct direction!
This will appear where the dd* is on screen, as shown below.



It will also store that information, so if the battery dies on GPS in rocket, or you must come back a day or more later, you can still use "arrow" feature to find rocket, with just the base unit.

 

[Nick@JET]

Very nice Jim - good to see actual pictures of the RTx. As always, sharing your vast experience provides the rest of us with all kinds of knowledge, thanks!

 

[ChrisAttebery]

Looking good Jim!

 

[blackjack2564]

Looking good Jim!

Very nice Jim - good to see actual pictures of the RTx. As always, sharing your vast experience provides the rest of us with all kinds of knowledge, thanks!

Thx guys....I see both your projects coming along quite nicely.
On to the Av-bay.

I'm using #10 threaded rod [3/16th] to gain that extra bit of space.
Holes are threaded so no need for washers & external nylon insert acorn locking nuts.
Eyebolts ground flush to nuts & a drop Of CA to lock in place.

Single hole on each BP for running ejection charge wires.
I now run 2 through 1 hole.
Less invasive to bay.
My new mantra......."simplicity"

 

[blackjack2564]

Being a "twist & tape" kinda guy forever, I'm working on a project that will demand an absolute minimum of wiring in the bay.
It's time to "try" screw switches. Rather than viewing how others have done it, decided to take my own novel approach.

This led to a whole new way for me doing an av-bay. My priorities were:
least amount of wiring
direct route if possible
utilizing 1 hole/route wherever possible for system integrity.
Complete solid sled-BP attachment, so unit could be removed & replaced in an exact orientation.
Fast turn-around time.

I've turned into a "neat-nick" LOL.

I decided to use a 3 inch vent band internally mounted on the sled, which would keep the surface for mounting less than.5 in from the 4in bay. Also will place screw switch right below the vent band holes, so it's easy to arm at pads. No "searching" for them with a screwdriver.



This was a bit tricky as the sled is not dead center and the band had to be!
I used table saw to "slice" 2 grooves from one end & slide the band on. Some thin wedges, & measuring through the vent holes got me centered correctly....... eventually.
On right side of sled, you can see I filled the grooves with epoxy [after getting my proper placement] locking in the internal ring.
All wiring is in place [except for Strato] & is well hidden and very short.

I am also trying to get a perfectly "balanced" av-bay, as spin stabilizing is in the near future. I came damn close by the way!
It contains GPS.....MissleWorks RRC3... 1 9v battery......2 ...3.7 [750mMa ] LiPo's ....2 battery boxes & screw switches & duck antenna mounted on rear BP.
I'm still using a 9v.....just in case & one altimeter will use twist & tape. The 2 MissleWorks items using the screw switches.

I discovered battery box will hold the LiPo's if stacked...... perfectly, eliminating another set of attachment points.




Rear side is mostly clean, here ya see the stacked Lipos and screw/switch mounting. Sled is locked in place with wire ties and unit is removable in one piece. Short, concise wiring routes were taken keeping wire length to a minimum. Key marks for repeatable placement installed.

I took 2 days of re-arranging stuff till the first hole was drilled and screw inserted! As simple as it may look.....it was NOT. LOL
More on how & why I did things on follow up posts after taking needed pics.
:wink:

 

[stealth6]

Hey Jim,
Check out what I've been doing lately on my AV bays - the first is my 3" Punisher, and the second I literally just finished building yesterday:



Look familiar?

s6

 

[bill2654]

That's some weird stuff there. Both of ya'll coming up with the same solution. Spooky...

 

[blackjack2564]

That's some weird stuff there. Both of ya'll coming up with the same solution. Spooky...

Great minds think alike...LOl Charlie get ahold of you about NC?


Stealth.... just glueing a section on the sled or slotting it ?
I ran into some issues with current trickling across the band, my solder pads were sitting on top of "black" glass. turns out it is conductive. [this is old scrap, might have been profusion, not Tim's new stuff] I see your band is narrow and pads hang over end...negating any issues.

Trying to Figure out your duck antenna....it goes to inside....where is GPS mounted. Can you elaborate please?
Did you have same problem trying to configure where every thing went to functionalize correctly?

I'll go into what happened to me a bit later.................

 

[ChrisAttebery]

That's a cool idea.

 

[patelldp]

That design is essentially the scratch version of Landru's 3D printed sleds. He has a good design.

 

[stealth6]

Great minds think alike...LOl Charlie get ahold of you about NC?


Stealth.... just glueing a section on the sled or slotting it ?
I ran into some issues with current trickling across the band, my solder pads were sitting on top of "black" glass. turns out it is conductive. [this is old scrap, might have been profusion, not Tim's new stuff] I see your band is narrow and pads hang over end...negating any issues.

Trying to Figure out your duck antenna....it goes to inside....where is GPS mounted. Can you elaborate please?
Did you have same problem trying to configure where every thing went to functionalize correctly?

I'll go into what happened to me a bit later.................

I use a scrap of BlueTube rather than glass - haven't had any continuity issues. I do just glue the ends down to the sled, no slotting.

What you are thinking you are seeing as a duck antenna is in fact an extension cable. The pictures here show it a bit more clearly, but the actual antenna is outside the AV bay. The cable runs from the GPS unit to a bulkhead mount for the antenna.

On this AVbay, yes it was VERY tricky figuring out where everything would go. This is a super compact bay in a stubby 4" rocket, wherein I needed to take up as little room as possible. Fit two altimeters, two 9V batteries, a big GPS transmitter, and switches on a 4" long sled. I also had to configure the bits outside the bulkhead all along the outer edge so that the forward end of my motor case would fit in between (it comes to 1/8" from the aft AV bulkhead!).

And yes, the switch locations were partly inspired by Landru's 3D sled designs.

here's some pics:



s6

 

[blackjack2564]

Finished up the av-bay this evening:

I had some issues with my 'Saturn" ring for screw-switch locations [3]. I could have placed electronics on both sides of sled, but then hardware holding them in place would have been covered by items on reverse side. I wanted "easy access" for removal & maintenance.
Requiring all mounted on 1 side.
I needed access to the terminal blocks on altimeter & GPS. This required placement where they were exposed on either side of ring so screwdriver would fit.



I wanted switches tight on ring, so I could get them so close to exterior vent holes there would be no need for 'searching' for them with screw driver at the pad when arming.
MissleWorks uses a pem nut and it sticks out a bit.....so I drilled holes to recess them flat against ring.

4-40 hardware used to secure in place.



Battery boxes attached "back to back" so same mounting hardware is used for both. 1 box for 9 volt & 1 box holds 2 Lipo's.
These are mounted on center-line to help balance weight in bay.






Next the assembly is inserted into coupler, where you can see how close inner ring, comes to outer wall.






I pulled the tip out of Sharpie....reached through the vent-band holes and marked where the needed holes should be for switches & drilled & mounted them.....this step is obviously out of sequence. Just wanted to show how I did it.




Ened up perfectly located & easy peasy to turn on & off!
Final look at finished bay with all switches installed & wiring complete.




All that's left is installing recovery gear, finish painting & final pad weight.
I will then check actual CP/CG location for stability and see if I need any NC weight....at this point....I doubt it.
My bay is pretty heavy.

 

[blackjack2564]

Almost forgot....

when marking through the vent band on to inner band after finishing, I had to make a "key mark " on both coupler and bulk plate.
This is for aligning when assembling the bay.
I did not pay very good attention when drilling the vent band holes & they were not perfectly at 120 degrees nor centered.
The switches and holes only align in 1 position...not all 3..... LOL
Much like most of us do our shear pin holes.

 

[ChrisAttebery]

I really like the switch ring. I think I'm going to borrow that idea. I thought I would just use a drill bit through the vent holes to mark the switch locations onto the ring.

Do you think the 3" BT is a bit too tight? Maybe a 3" coupler would be a better fit?

If you use PEM nuts you can mount gear on both sides of your board. You only need one tool too.

 

[BDB]

I just want to be sure of the orientation of everything. The cable for the GPS antenna is going to be pointing aft, into the booster, correct? Are you planning to do anything to protect it from the ejection charge?

I may be wrong on this, but it seems to me that by using the cable, you have effectively extended the length of the antenna, with some of it being outside the bay and some of it inside the bay. And are you worried about interference from the threaded rods interacting with the cable and/or antenna?

 

[blackjack2564]

Do you think the 3" BT is a bit too tight? Maybe a 3" coupler would be a better fit?

If you use PEM nuts you can mount gear on both sides of your board. You only need one tool too.

1. The 3in. worked out absolutely perfect, about 1/4in from ID wall to screw/s.

2. I was going to use the same hole pattern on the GPS and RRC3 to mount them back to back. But to remove one board would mean both. I'm not quite following how the pem nuts alleviate this, I have never used them.
Might you expound a bit, always interested in anything that simplifies a build. One tool?

I just want to be sure of the orientation of everything. The cable for the GPS antenna is going to be pointing aft, into the booster, correct? Are you planning to do anything to protect it from the ejection charge?

I may be wrong on this, but it seems to me that by using the cable, you have effectively extended the length of the antenna, with some of it being outside the bay and some of it inside the bay. And are you worried about interference from the threaded rods interacting with the cable and/or antenna?

1. Yes...aft into booster. Actually I have it outer edge of BP, so it will fit between the outer wall of large M-motor case, and inner wall of airframe. There will only be 1 inch between top of motor and av-bay BP. This may cause big problems with antenna...but testing will show. Using external mount on this, as BP's are aluminum. Another reason I want to be able to easily remove and replace items on the board.
I have another set of G-10 BP's ready to replace the aluminum if need be & another GPS unit with standard wire antenna to replace the current set-up. This rocket is a "test mule" for the GPS units.

2. I will simply wrap the antenna with masking tape, or cover it with a section of tubular nylon, to protect from BP

3. I had same concerns & questions about the cable running through bay & Jim Amos [MissleWorks] assures me it will not be an issue.
I have another 3 in. bay for the smaller Punisher , set up ready to fly with charges installed . [with internal wire antenna]
Powered it up several times and let run from 5-15 minutes.... no problems with any inter-action or firing charges accidentally.
Will do same with this bay. The units mounted on the 3 in, have flown 2x's without issue.

 

[SpaceManMat]

3. I had same concerns & questions about the cable running through bay & Jim Amos [MissleWorks] assures me it will not be an issue.
I have another 3 in. bay for the smaller Punisher , set up ready to fly with charges installed . [with internal wire antenna]
Powered it up several times and let run from 5-15 minutes.... no problems with any inter-action or firing charges accidentally.
Will do same with this bay. The units mounted on the 3 in, have flown 2x's without issue.

The extension cable is shielded and grounded, it does not radiate any signal. Neither do the connectors at either end. All very important otherwise you get RF noise and interference and your antenna looses its effectiveness. Is my understanding.

 

[GRIFFIN]

Just flew my Punisher on an L851 (CTI WHITE) to 14,800 great flight, great rocket.

 

[pnobile]

So u must have been sure the winds were 19.99mph and nothing more? :wink:

Just flew my Punisher on an L851 (CTI WHITE) to 14,800 great flight, great rocket.

 

[blackjack2564]

So u must have been sure the winds were 19.99mph and nothing more? :wink:

Apparently....some...one...that believes that, has never flown in Argonia. That would be a calm day!

Just flew my Punisher on an L851 (CTI WHITE) to 14,800 great flight, great rocket.

Didn't happen less I sees da pictures!!@#$# how's da weather there. It was only 70 today here. Brrrrrr.

Do you happen to have a ready to fly weight sans motor?
Inquiring minds would like to know.

 

[Dwatkins]

Weather today was 21 with 14mph winds, brisk 😉

 

[ChrisAttebery]

Awesome! Did it need any nose weight to balance? How many calibers of stability did you fly it with?

Just flew my Punisher on an L851 (CTI WHITE) to 14,800 great flight, great rocket.