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- Oct 2, 2018
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A member of the Rocketry Fanatics facebook group posted a DIY launch pad made from an old satellite dish. This got me thinking about what I could do with our old dish mount, so I got to work.
I started by removing the dish from the corner of the house and then I removed the dish portion, as I didn't plan on using it. I kept all the related hardware.
This is what I started with:
I actually did modify the dish arm. I cut the elbow off with a sawzall and kept the longer of the two pieces to use as the upright. I then stuck the straight piece into the mount to joint the two brackets.
A cool feature of these brackets is that I can adjust the angle for multiple uses and storage.
Next, I cut down the front lip of the old dish holder and dremmeled the edges down smoth. I installed a block of wood underneath which I drilled to accept 1/8 and 3/16 rods and they're held in place by the set screw 10-32 bolts you see. The wood was drilled and tapped and threads CA hardened. They should hold up for awhile.
The wood block is held in place by two screws through the old dish holder.
This is how it sits with with the 3/16 rod and blast shield in place.
The angle will be slightly different, which is a good thing, when the rail is mounted to the old receiver mount. I drilled the blast shield for 1/4 bolts and reused the dish mounting nuts and button-head bolts.
So now I have a great bracket for launching all of my collection from low power all the way to high power when I go for my L1 cert next season. Next up on this build will be making the folding feet, installing a 1" rail, and making sure it is stable enough to handle an H motor rocket.
I started by removing the dish from the corner of the house and then I removed the dish portion, as I didn't plan on using it. I kept all the related hardware.
This is what I started with:
I actually did modify the dish arm. I cut the elbow off with a sawzall and kept the longer of the two pieces to use as the upright. I then stuck the straight piece into the mount to joint the two brackets.
A cool feature of these brackets is that I can adjust the angle for multiple uses and storage.
Next, I cut down the front lip of the old dish holder and dremmeled the edges down smoth. I installed a block of wood underneath which I drilled to accept 1/8 and 3/16 rods and they're held in place by the set screw 10-32 bolts you see. The wood was drilled and tapped and threads CA hardened. They should hold up for awhile.
The wood block is held in place by two screws through the old dish holder.
This is how it sits with with the 3/16 rod and blast shield in place.
The angle will be slightly different, which is a good thing, when the rail is mounted to the old receiver mount. I drilled the blast shield for 1/4 bolts and reused the dish mounting nuts and button-head bolts.
So now I have a great bracket for launching all of my collection from low power all the way to high power when I go for my L1 cert next season. Next up on this build will be making the folding feet, installing a 1" rail, and making sure it is stable enough to handle an H motor rocket.