BSNW
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2017
- Messages
- 982
- Reaction score
- 634
So I finally put my Marco Polo to use this weekend. In a word, it proved itself very worthy for rocketry use. I first loaned it to a friend who put it in his 5.5" kit on a K600 ex motor. I established a link to the tag before launch and the receiver kept a lock on it all the way up to around 2500 feet and all the way back down. I was encouraged that it maintained the lock between the tag and receiver.
I then put it in my PML Ariel for a slightly higher flight. Unfortunately, it did land in waist-deep soybeans about 3/4 of a mile away. I got in my car and drove to the edge of the field. In doing so I was actually going farther away from the tracker. I momentarily lost signal when I went behind a metal barn, but quickly regained signal when I came out past the building. I had to park my car pretty far away and began to track. All I can say is it walked me right up to the lost rocket. All I had to do was follow the arrow and % signal on the receiver. I would have never found it or taken hours to find it in the beans.....I was elated. I have lost rockets in soybeans and we all know how well they swallow up large rockets!
Talking to a guy at the flight line he told me he loaned his to a guy at a Tripoli-Mid Ohio launch for his L3 flight. He had a GPS and a Marco Polo. Guess he lost signal on both after launch. He looked for hours for his rocket. At long last, it was the Marco Polo that found this guys rocket in a wheat field! I guess he drove up the road a bit until it picked up the signal, then walked up to it.
The Marco Polo transmitter will send a signal for up to 3 weeks....plenty of time to find your rocket in crops, grass, thicket, etc. All I know is it works out of the box and is extremely affordable. A couple guys at the launch told me they are ordering one.
For MOST people this product is more than adequate. It was also very fun to track my rocket.....I truly recommend this tracker.
I got mine directly from Eureka Products, the maker of the Marco Polo. $220 for the complete setup. Easy to use....press 2 buttons and your tracking. Man, it took me losing my Mac-Performance Scorpion in tall grass to make me finally get one...I don't know how I ever launched without one now. The transmitter even can fit in a model rocket.....good times.
Andrew K
TRA 1272 L2
I then put it in my PML Ariel for a slightly higher flight. Unfortunately, it did land in waist-deep soybeans about 3/4 of a mile away. I got in my car and drove to the edge of the field. In doing so I was actually going farther away from the tracker. I momentarily lost signal when I went behind a metal barn, but quickly regained signal when I came out past the building. I had to park my car pretty far away and began to track. All I can say is it walked me right up to the lost rocket. All I had to do was follow the arrow and % signal on the receiver. I would have never found it or taken hours to find it in the beans.....I was elated. I have lost rockets in soybeans and we all know how well they swallow up large rockets!
Talking to a guy at the flight line he told me he loaned his to a guy at a Tripoli-Mid Ohio launch for his L3 flight. He had a GPS and a Marco Polo. Guess he lost signal on both after launch. He looked for hours for his rocket. At long last, it was the Marco Polo that found this guys rocket in a wheat field! I guess he drove up the road a bit until it picked up the signal, then walked up to it.
The Marco Polo transmitter will send a signal for up to 3 weeks....plenty of time to find your rocket in crops, grass, thicket, etc. All I know is it works out of the box and is extremely affordable. A couple guys at the launch told me they are ordering one.
For MOST people this product is more than adequate. It was also very fun to track my rocket.....I truly recommend this tracker.
I got mine directly from Eureka Products, the maker of the Marco Polo. $220 for the complete setup. Easy to use....press 2 buttons and your tracking. Man, it took me losing my Mac-Performance Scorpion in tall grass to make me finally get one...I don't know how I ever launched without one now. The transmitter even can fit in a model rocket.....good times.
Andrew K
TRA 1272 L2
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