It was a banner day at Spaceport Rocketry Association's January launch... (lots of pics and vids)

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Orien

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Weather: High of 71, max windspeed was 6 mph, clear skies all day

Everything from A to M class motors flown. Dozens of cert flights. Many student projects. Just an outstanding day for rocketry.

As many of you know, my journey to L2 was rocky:

Attempt one - FAIL (shred on a K675)
Attempt two - FAIL (don't ask)
Attempt three - FAIL (I don't have to explain myself to you)
Attempt four - SUCCESS!!!!

The L2 rocket was a fiberglass 2.6" Madcow Pike XL with a redundant dual deploy avionics bay from SMT Designs. I used a CTI J-285 to 4191'. Perfect flight and recovery.
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Third flight for me: Reloaded the Pike with a CTI 6-grain XL J420 for a full send to 7000' and punched through the sound barrier.
 
bschultz32 said:
Orien: I'm impressed by the quality and clarity of the video. What video camera did you use?
Bob Schultz
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I'm getting those million-dollar shots with a $40 808 #32 keychain camera screwed and velcroed to the side of the rocket. The still photos are just video frames (1080p). This camera is low-profile and aerodynamic and doesn't require a shroud or anything. Just hit record and send it!
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Orien said:
I'm getting those million-dollar shots with a $40 808 #32 keychain camera screwed and velcroed to the side of the rocket. The still photos are just video frames (1080p). This camera is low-profile and aerodynamic and doesn't require a shroud or anything. Just hit record and send it!
View attachment 500224View attachment 500225
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Orien: I just ordered one from Amazon. I figure for less than forty five bucks including tax, how can I go wrong? Thanks for the recommendation.
Bob Schultz
 
bschultz32 said:
Orien: I just ordered one from Amazon. I figure for less than forty five bucks including tax, how can I go wrong? Thanks for the recommendation.
Bob Schultz
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They work best with either Class 4 or Class 6 MicroSD cards, believe it or not. Might want to order one of those, too. Send me a PM when you get it and I'll walk you through the formatting (easy).
 
Haven't watched the vids yet but those stills are awesome. Miss flying at Spaceport's rocket ranch/jungle. Heard they lost access for a bit glad they are back. Congrats on the L2
 
mjennings said:
Haven't watched the vids yet but those stills are awesome. Miss flying at Spaceport's rocket ranch/jungle. Heard they lost access for a bit glad they are back. Congrats on the L2
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The first two flights landed in the "jungle". I never would have found the Firestick without GPS. I've learned that east and north are good landing areas. Southeast, south, and west are trouble. I wasn't all that impressed with the field either until I went to the Fort Myers site. Yikes.
 
If the current launch site is in the same area as it was 20 years ago, and it looks like it is, the SRA launch site is a good one! I attended my first high power launch, and made my first L1 attempt (ended in failure) there in August 2002, right before I moved back to the Seattle area from Brevard County.
 
Orien said:
I'm getting those million-dollar shots with a $40 808 #32 keychain camera screwed and velcroed to the side of the rocket. The still photos are just video frames (1080p). This camera is low-profile and aerodynamic and doesn't require a shroud or anything. Just hit record and send it!
View attachment 500224View attachment 500225
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is the 808 #32 compatible with the NR16setup software?
I have 3 808 #16 , that still work, when these die I will use my RunCam 4k..
what is the web link for the 808 #32 ?

thanks
 

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Orien said:
I'm getting those million-dollar shots with a $40 808 #32 keychain camera screwed and velcroed to the side of the rocket. The still photos are just video frames (1080p). This camera is low-profile and aerodynamic and doesn't require a shroud or anything. Just hit record and send it!
View attachment 500224View attachment 500225
Click to expand...
here is my million -dollar shot for my level 2 cert flight with a 808 #16 wide angle lens
 

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Is this the club that used to hold the Winter 3 day launch on a sod farm in the middle of sugar cane country? I drove south for a whole bunch of those before they lost the sod farm back to sugar cane after the housing market drop after 2008. Sad.....

Brad
 
RocketRev said:
Is this the club that used to hold the Winter 3 day launch on a sod farm in the middle of sugar cane country? I drove south for a whole bunch of those before they lost the sod farm back to sugar cane after the housing market drop after 2008. Sad.....

Brad
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No, they moved to Dreyer Park and a 1500 foot waiver. I remember those sod farms. It was down in western Palm Beach County off of Southern Blvd. Flew there when I was a lil' Mach. Even certed L1 with a T.H.O.Y. Falcon on an I 211 in 1997.
 
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Yeah the photos match the road lay out from Palm Bay FL. It's a subdivision that was started in the early 70's. All the roads are there but when the Apollo / Shuttle gap happened the developer had no one to sell to. There is a canal that runs on the West side and I heard stories of raft recoveries. The side farm was where they did Winter Nationals, that was down closer to Miami.
 
That was a really cool launch on Saturday, temperature around 70, sunny, almost no wind. There were over 100 launches, over a dozen cert flights, and lots of good company.

The SRA launch site in Palm Bay is now the best field in Florida, one of only two sites in Florida where L2 and L3 flights are possible. The other is the Tampa Tripoli site near Plant City. The Fort Myers Tripoli site near Labelle, mentioned above in post #20, was closed earlier this month due to new home construction nearby. The NEFAR site near Bunnell, a great place on a sod farm, was closed a couple of years ago. As mentioned above, the big FSA site at Roth Farms in sugar cane country was shut down before I got into rocketry 5 years ago, and the club now flies at Dyer Park in West Palm Beach, nothing bigger than L1 motors allowed. The Broward and Homestead clubs (both A-G motors only) have not had any launches since the start of the pandemic.
 
Orien said:
They work best with either Class 4 or Class 6 MicroSD cards, believe it or not. Might want to order one of those, too. Send me a PM when you get it and I'll walk you through the formatting (easy).
Click to expand...
@Orien could you make a thread in the electronics and software forum with the setup info? Your video and stills look great.
 
Pretty stark contrast between the CTI Classic and White propellants. This is the 6-grain XL J420 Classic:

Screenshot (250).png

And this is the 5-grain J285 White:
Screenshot (246).png
 

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