Featherweight gps

[Joey Draney]

I just purchased a featherweight tracker and I have heard different methods of mounting it. I assumed you could just mount it in the av bay with the altimeters but I had seen some People that were going through a lot of trouble to mount the gps to the shock cord. For reference my rocket is a 3 inch fiberglass dual deploy kit. I used a thin wood board and cut it to use as a sled. I’ve got 1/4-20 All thread holding everything together. If I can mount it to the sled that would be fine and I wasn’t quite sure why I would do it any other way.

 

[tsmith1315]

There's really no right way. For example, it may be easier to transfer between rockets if it's tied to the shock cord.

Some rocketers have multiple sets of electronics and leave them in place, while others have to move them around.

The sled and sleeve from Lab Rat make it pretty tempting to try a shock cord mount, it looks pretty simple!

https://www.labratrocketry.com/sleds-and-mounts

 

[Voyager1]

Best place to instal a GPS tracker is in the nosecone. Many people use the mounting kits from vendors like LabRat Rocketry and install them in nosecone avbays from vendors like MAC Performance.

There are several threads in the Recovery and Electronics sections of the Forum discussing this topic.

 

[kitchw8436]

Here's my setup on by 3" fiberglass rocket in the nose cone. I designed this mount to be easily transferable between rockets.

 

[Crazyrocket]

I do both. On some of my bigger rockets, I use the nose cone. For others where modification is not possible, I use a 29mm tube (I think that was the size, it was just big enough for the GPS), glued an end cap on one end and have a removable cap on the other. I then just duct tape it to the shock cord. It's not pretty, but I had the pieces laying around.

 

[David_Stack]

I believe that a lot of modelers avoid installing in the avionics bay in those instances where metal all-thread is used. The presence of those materials has been reported to have a detrimental effect on the ability of the Featherweight to acquire GPS and also to transmit back to the ground station.

 

[Handeman]

I have my MissileWorks T3 mounted on a small board and the LiPo battery taped to the opposite side. Since I have to recharge the battery often, I don't want it in an av-bay.
I have a tube with end caps that it fits in and gets taped to the shock cord with electrical tape. Most of my newer rockets have a tube in the nose cone the sled slips into. Between the nose cone mods and tube, I can fly it in any of my HPR.

 

[Joey Draney]

Thanks for All the suggestions! I think I like the idea of putting in a small tube taped to the shock cord. Will any old tube work or is there any thing specific I should use? Has anyone had any trouble with the tape coming undone?

 

[Joey Draney]

I also thought of (and I’m sure this has been done before) putting just the antenna through a drilled hole in the fiberglass av bay lid in the drogue side and that way the all threading won’t be in the way of the signal but I thought that it would however be right next to the eye bolt for my shock cord which is also metal. Would this cause too much interference or would this work?

 

[Crazyrocket]

I use either electrical tape or duct tape. I like the duct tape as it is wide and I can put tape over the entire length of the tube to ensure that it won't fall off the shock cord. Good luck!

 

[Handeman]

I use electrical tape. About 5 or 6 wraps at each end.

I was only using 2-3 wraps originally, but got one back where the tape broke at one end and was half tore through on the other. Never had even a small tear with 5-6 wraps.

 

[Joey Draney]

Thanks for the suggestions! I’ll be testing it out in about a week!

 

[jbr]

I printed a sled and put it in a pvc tube to protect it

 

[pathtouch]

29mm body tube seemed about as snug as I could go and it was also the smallest I had laying around.

 

[Adrian A]

I believe that a lot of modelers avoid installing in the avionics bay in those instances where metal all-thread is used. The presence of those materials has been reported to have a detrimental effect on the ability of the Featherweight to acquire GPS and also to transmit back to the ground station.

That hasn't been my experience. The long-range example cited in the Featherweight Tracker's user's manual (which got packets from 145,000 feet range with just the standard omnidirectional stub antennas on both ends) was literally duck-taped to a 1/4-20 threaded rod that went down the middle of the nosecone. As long as the GPS antenna (large ceramic square) is facing outward away from the threaded rods, you don't need to worry about threaded rods affecting the performance.

My av-bays with trackers usually look like this:

 

[Joey Draney]

This is what I’ve got so far. I’ve got exactly a week till launch, should I just put some bubble rap around the tracker and battery and put it in there? Or does anyone have any quick suggestions of things I could use around the house

 

[dvdsnyd]

There are plenty of people who will mount their GPS units to their shock cords very simply on a plank of wood, wrapped burrito style in a nomex blanket.
Some bubble wrap or foam would likely be just fine.

 

[waltr]

Yep, I made a tube with end caps to out GPS Eggfinder into. This has two ring on the tube that retains a largish tie wrap onto the shock cord. Works great for 2" Bt's and up and easy to move amount different rockets.

I've had three flights this year at MDRA where I lost sight of the rocket. GPS walked me right to it for easy recovery but a long walk.

 

[G_T]

Goes in tube in nosecone. THRP-1.

Gerald

 

[Joey Draney]

Goes in tube in nosecone. THRP-1.

Gerald

I’d like to make one to go in the nose but most of my rockets are head end dual deploy.

 

[G_T]

So is mine. Check out the THRP-1 thread if you want to see how I'm doing it.

Gerald

 

[tfish]

On 54mm.. everything in the nose cone..dual deployment via cable cutter and deployment sack.




Tony

 

[Joey Draney]

On 54mm.. everything in the nose cone..dual deployment via cable cutter and deployment sack.

View attachment 581800
View attachment 581801

Tony

Nice set up! Are you just using thin plywood for the board? I can confirm electrical tape has been Mach certified through VERY scientific tests.

 

[tfish]

I use 1/4" poplar..from home depot. DuBro 2/56 Allen head wood screwd and stand offs made from very small silicone fuel tube. Yes tape works..the above items make for quick easy STEM..electronics bays..



Tony

 

[highflyer1968]

That hasn't been my experience. The long-range example cited in the Featherweight Tracker's user's manual (which got packets from 145,000 feet range with just the standard omnidirectional stub antennas on both ends) was literally duck-taped to a 1/4-20 threaded rod that went down the middle of the nosecone. As long as the GPS antenna (large ceramic square) is facing outward away from the threaded rods, you don't need to worry about threaded rods affecting the performance.

My av-bays with trackers usually look like this:
View attachment 581530

So you say putting it in the av bay has always worked for you. That's good to know. It would save me a lot of work as I would have to open up my plastic nose cone to put the tracker inside.

 

[Adrian A]

So you say putting it in the av bay has always worked for you. That's good to know. It would save me a lot of work as I would have to open up my plastic nose cone to put the tracker inside.

Also, the Featherweight GPS phone app gives you information on both the GPS and LoRa performance, so don’t have to take my word for it, you can see how it performs inside vs outside the av-bay.

 

[cwbullet]

I use 1/4" poplar..from home depot. DuBro 2/56 Allen head wood screwd and stand offs made from very small silicone fuel tube. Yes tape works..the above items make for quick easy STEM..electronics bays..

View attachment 582091

Tony

Tony, did you make that "eye-nut" yourself?

 

[Starfire73]

@Adrian A - I'm wondering... is there any reason my Featherweight Tracker couldn't be mounted upside down? It fits best the way I'm setting up my 4" LOC av-bay, to mount it with the antennae pointed down instead of up.

• Does it matter?
• Is the signal about the same?
• Can it handle the same g-forces in an inverted position?

 

[Adrian A]

It does

@Adrian A - I'm wondering... is there any reason my Featherweight Tracker couldn't be mounted upside down? It fits best the way I'm setting up my 4" LOC av-bay, to mount it with the antennae pointed down instead of up.

• Does it matter?
• Is the signal about the same?
• Can it handle the same g-forces in an inverted position?

It can be mounted in any orientation, and the signal strength would be about the same.

 

[kitchw8436]

Just flew this 29mm mount last weekend. Had to cant the mount slightly so the antenna would fit up the center of the nose cone. Worked great.



Lovin' my Featherweight.

- WAK