Fat Boy=Cam rocket

[BigL]

I have chosen my Estes Fat Boy to be the recipient of my new Pinhole On board wireless video camera. How will I be able to shield the 9 volt battery and wires from the ejection gasses and stop it from falling out during that phase? I plan on using velcrow to attach the cam so that I cam switch between side and rear views. How high will the Fat boy + pinhole cam & nine volt battery go on a C6-5 or C6-7? Will it go high enough so that I will be able to get a nice shot of the neighborhood?

 

[pinter75]

I looked at using a Big Daddy to loft my camera, Found out that it is too small and the ejection gasses could cause severe damage to the camera.

I also looked at using C's to power the rocket cam and the RockSim results were dissapointing. I ended up building a custom booster powered by D's - this gave enough boost to lift the whole lot to a decent height.

Here are a couple of pics from a D powered flight.

Pic 1 (HUGE size - dial up beware)

Pic 2 (also HUGE)

Let us know if you do fly on C's how high it goes.

Steve.

 

[seo]

How much does the camera weigh and where in the rocket are you going to mount it?

I did a quick run on Rocksim and a stock FB on a C6-3 or 5 will reach about 320 feet. The problem is that on a C6 the stability margin is 0.3 to 0.6 depending is use the Barrowman equations or the Rocksim equations. The CG is about 7.2 inches from the nose, if you could mount the camera in front of thr CG it should increase stability. Putting it in the nose cone would help the most.

If you can tell me how much weight you're goingto add, I can run it again and give you the predicted altitude.

Scott

 

[rkt2k1]

Did you ever consider doing a 24mm engine mod on the Fat Boy and placing the electronics in the nose cone?

 

[Prowler901]

I believe that I have the same wireless pinhole camera that BigL has. I just weighed it on my scale. Camera and 9V battery come in at 2.4oz (68gm). I'm going to be scratch-building the booster and sustainer for mine. Should prove interesting.

Regards,
Todd

 

[BigL]

Prowlers weight sounds about right. I plan to velcrow the cam to the side of the rocket like this: From Boostervision.com

This is what the cam looks like up close.

 

[Prowler901]

Yup, that's the same one I got.

Regards,
Todd

 

[BigL]

Where did you order yours from Prowler? How do you plan on mounting the camera?


Is it possible to convert the Fatboy to 24mm after I constructed it with an 18mm mount? How can I install the battery in the nose cone?

 

[BigL]

Originally posted by pinter75
I looked at using a Big Daddy to loft my camera, Found out that it is too small and the ejection gasses could cause severe damage to the camera.

I also looked at using C's to power the rocket cam and the RockSim results were dissapointing. I ended up building a custom booster powered by D's - this gave enough boost to lift the whole lot to a decent height.

Here are a couple of pics from a D powered flight.

Pic 1 (HUGE size - dial up beware)

Pic 2 (also HUGE)

Let us know if you do fly on C's how high it goes.

Steve.

Wow Pinter, can you sell me one? That is the best solution!

 

[Prowler901]

I got mine off of e-bay from a guy in New Jersey.

Hmmm.... well the plan goes something like this. I'm going to build a payload section from BT-60 tube about 5" long. The camera and battery will be mounted inside. I'll have a mirror on the side of the payload section so that the camera will be looking down at the ground. I want to cut a cylinder out of stryofoam that will fit inside the payload tube. In that styrofoam core I'll carve out sections to mount the camera and battery. And, I'll eventually be installing one of those mini-altimeters as well.

To put the battery in the Fat Boy's nosecone you'll have to cut the bottom closure of the NC off. Then pack the battery in there in some way so that the vertical acceleration of liftoff doesn't cause it to come out.

Regards,
Todd

 

[seo]

If you add 2.4 oz of weight about in the center of the nosecone, the altitude on a C6 drops to about 234 feet.

The stability increases to about 1.5 - 1.7.

24 MM sounds like the way to go.

Scott

 

[BigL]

Whoa, those specs make me want to use a different type of rocket. Can you sim the Quest EZ- Payloader with the cam attached please?

 

[scsager]

Originally posted by BigL
I have chosen my Estes Fat Boy to be the recipient of my new Pinhole On board wireless video camera. How will I be able to shield the 9 volt battery and wires from the ejection gasses and stop it from falling out during that phase? I plan on using velcrow to attach the cam so that I cam switch between side and rear views. How high will the Fat boy + pinhole cam & nine volt battery go on a C6-5 or C6-7? Will it go high enough so that I will be able to get a nice shot of the neighborhood?

I like this idea and think a slightly modified Fat Boy would work nicely. I happen to have an un-built FB that I picked up from Walmart for $8.88 so I just might try this project at some future date.

Mods would include...

1. Replace stock motor tube with 24mm BT-50 & cut centering rings to fit.

2. Replace motor clip with longer Estes "E" motor clip.

3. Replace shock cord with something at least 6' feet long.

4. Replace launch lug with 1/4" dia size or rail buttons.

5. Cut off the base of the nose cone exposing the full inside of the NC to be used for payload.

6. Make a removeable plywood bulkhead that fits inside the NC.

Mounting the camera payload in the nose keeps the short rocket stable. The removeable bulkhead gives a solid place to mount the battery and keeps everything safe from ejection.

Using commonly available Estes E9's this sim's to 500' feet.

An Estes D12-3 & adapter sims at 300' feet - Use a D12-5 and you might be able to launch & recover in your own back yard.

AT SU E30 will put it up about 850' feet.

-Scott

 

[n3tjm]

Is the $100 Boostervision.com is asking for it a good price, or is there a cheaper place to get one?

 

[WiK]

Originally posted by n3tjm
Is the $100 Boostervision.com is asking for it a good price, or is there a cheaper place to get one?

Try this thread.

 

[Stymye]

will these work?


https://order.harborfreight.com:9100/EasyAsk/harborfreight/results.jsp

type "camera" into the search box

 

[Stymye]

nevermind
it looks like they are all AC powered

 

[pinter75]

Wow Pinter, can you sell me one? That is the best solution!

Honestly, it is easy to build your own. This particular one used a Big Bertha nose cone, some card tubing and Balsa fins. It flew perfectly and the only thing that ever gave me trouble were Estes chutes.

You could buy a Big Bertha, make the motor tube accept a D size motor, make a new stage to hold the cam and battery (you don't want hot gass near that CCD/CMOS chip) and off you go Also use RockSim to ensure that your GG and CP are ok.

I have found that keeping the body tube dia. as close to the dia. of the components you are stuffing inside, helps the rocket fly straight up. If you have a 9V battery on one side and the camera velcroed to the outside this could cause stability problems. Also have you considered adding a cowling around the camera to help with overall streamlining?

I have started a new thread on my latest PenCam rocket. All this cost me about $60 (not including motors).

The new SKYeye thread

Also have a look here and Here (check projects)

Also have you thought about cutting off the power plug and wiring directly to the 9v Clip? That may save a bit of weight and space.

Steve C.

 

[slim_t]

just my 2 cents:

I launched my stock Fat Boy with a locator beacon attached to the nose cone eyelet one day and it arced over like a rainbow.
Still a decent flight, and fair recovery, but you could see the big difference just a little extra weight made. It was on a C6-5.
The beacon was one from pratt hobbies and I figure is of similar weight to your camera. I'd go with at least D power if I were you.

slim

 

[pinter75]

A video of a wireless camera rocket with sound - cool!

A bit more boost than a C6-5 ;-)

Steve.

 

[maddogdelta]

I think another issue is stability. I tried to put a small parachute girl in mine (it was a give away from a ms conference. She was wearing a polo shirt and had some cat 5 cable hanging like a six shooter from her hip!) and it tipped over right away. Parachute girl was unharmed, since she only had 20' to fall after ejection.

One solution I haven't seen yet here is to buy a second fat boy, and use the extra bt as a payload section. Use the extra nose as a tube coupler/block and now you have a big, stability enhancing (sp?) payload section to put your camera in. Then use 18mm d/e composites (can we get those yet?) or use a 24mm motor mount to increase the power, without necessarily decreasing stability.

Come to think of it, I might try that myself. Fat boys are cheap at wally world!

 

[BigL]

Originally posted by pinter75
Honestly, it is easy to build your own. This particular one used a Big Bertha nose cone, some card tubing and Balsa fins. It flew perfectly and the only thing that ever gave me trouble were Estes chutes.

You could buy a Big Bertha, make the motor tube accept a D size motor, make a new stage to hold the cam and battery (you don't want hot gass near that CCD/CMOS chip) and off you go Also use RockSim to ensure that your GG and CP are ok.

I have found that keeping the body tube dia. as close to the dia. of the components you are stuffing inside, helps the rocket fly straight up. If you have a 9V battery on one side and the camera velcroed to the outside this could cause stability problems. Also have you considered adding a cowling around the camera to help with overall streamlining?

I have started a new thread on my latest PenCam rocket. All this cost me about $60 (not including motors).

The new SKYeye thread

Also have a look here and Here (check projects)

Also have you thought about cutting off the power plug and wiring directly to the 9v Clip? That may save a bit of weight and space.

Steve C.

I want a Camera roc that can take pics as well as video, and the pinhole is only going to feed video, and only to my TV/ VCR without a PC converter. I would end up messing the whole project up, I dont know how to use the pencam + timer and I would definitly mess up on the paint job. I need to find someone to make me one for $100 + shipping.

 

[pinter75]

You could just go and spend $149 on a pre-made one: https://www.nanorocketry.com/eyeinthesky.html

SteveC

 

[BigL]

Thanks for the link Pinter. Looks like I will buy from them. The Fat Boy just died so that project is scrapped.

 

[pinter75]

Can I have your booster vision then ;-)

hehe

Steve C.

 

[BigL]

Trade me the SkyEye for it and it's yours But of course, that paint job+ construction time is worth more than $99.