Electronics for each rocket

[Dave A]

Well GLR is still around maybe it can make a comeback!

I called Ed probably 6 years ago. He had no more Slimline AV parts and was not planning to make them anymore.
FWIW, I had a hard time getting the end plates to stay centered and seal. I bought AL bulkplates and had my machinist turn a step on the both to fit the tubes. I tried screw terminals on the end caps but that was hard to keep them clean and keeping continuity.
I went to the 2-connector male plugs and cables sealed with heat shrink.
I just make a bunch of charge cups with female leads, Plug in the cup and fly in a short period of prep time. I hoard those cheap coat hangers with the cardboard tubes. They make nice charge cups, just gorilla-glue small pieces of 1/4" dowel in one end.
I quick layer of elec tape around the cupholder down over the wires and I can re-use the connector plugs.
OBTW, I have migrated to 1 single cup, 2 igniters & plenty of BP. 0 failures of any deploy since then. My logic is the BP won't fail but an igniter can. I am flying a lot of 4"-6" rockets that way.
ALL 6" or bigger have the Missleworks WRC2 remote control with 2 cups (for main backup).
I have it on a common bulkplate that bolts in with 1 wingnut on any of the nose cones. I call that my....the damn-main-is-coming-out system

 

[AAge]

My preference is a all-in-one bay that I can put it any rocket, use different altimeters and batteries in.

Here is my tracker bay

View attachment 364619

 

[AAge]

Steve, your tracker set up looks great. Did you build that or purchase?? I'm looking for equipent that can facilitate diffrrent mfgs. Do you have any ideas?

 

[Andrew_ASC]

I have a nosecone designed around a Telemini V3 for a 24mm MD scratch build it’s set up so I can transfer it to another rocket as needed. I have a TeleGPS that I can transfer from rocket to rocket. I only have two HPR rockets built so I don’t have the problems you guys have. The SAAB RB 05A I prefer to fly it no electronics on H’s. There’s a third rocket L2 dual deploy Sandhawk awaiting a build thread. Then there’s the college SEDS teams that get new electronics every semester for each L1 MD multistage. I’ve tried printed av bays on multistages for college comps. They add mass.

 

[Handeman]

I did DD for my L1 cert rocket that had about 1.85" ID in the av-bay. The next 3" and 4" rockets I built could use the same sled and I would swap it.
Even though I could swap the sled, I ended up building separate sleds and getting altimeters for the other rockets so I could prep the night before and fly instead of all the setup at the field.

I've settled on Perfectflight because they indicate battery voltage as part of their startup and I have several already. I've found they constantly report battery voltage 0.1V below what I read on my DVM. Since I don't bother downloading flight data much, I put a new Duracell 9V battery in the av-bay and leave it sealed up until the altimeter indicates it's down to 8.9V. That is usually 3 seasons.

I also only build new DD rockets every couple of years so considering the cost of everything else going into the rocket, it's not a significant additional cost to get a new altimeter or two for each build.

 

[Handeman]

got some kind of error and got a duplicate post...

 

[SteveThatcher]

Steve, your tracker set up looks great. Did you build that or purchase?? I'm looking for equipent that can facilitate diffrrent mfgs. Do you have any ideas?

I actually make them for sale. I support any mfg a flier needs if I don't have it. You can take a look at smtdesigns.com/store. Contact me if you have questions.

 

[MoreCowbell]

Each rocket has its own avbay and electronics. Not the cheapest solution, but it greatly simplifies prep.

I do have shared GPS trackers, though: One each for 38mm, 54mm, 75mm, and 98mm+ diameter rockets.