My quest for an O motor launch.

[Bat-mite]

Congratulations!
Do you plan another flight for Red Glare? I'm hoping to attend and would like to see it fly.

I do hope to fly it on an M3464-LB at Red Glare, probably Saturday when my family can be there.

 

[neil_w]

Great flight! Great camerawork!

 

[Bat-mite]

Wow, you caught the whole flight! Nice! And thanks.

 

[Bat-mite]

I loaded some photos in to an Imgur album, linked here:

https://imgur.com/a/MYIjBjM

Awesome shots. Thanks again!

 

[Buckeye]

A WiFi switch would be a safer alternative to climbing the ladder. Whoops, sorry, wrong thread...

Congratulations. Nice flight. Pretty cool that you saw the whole thing and got it on film.

 

[Theory]

Very nice!

It was an absolute pleasure following this build and I’m very happy the flight was successful

 

[mpitfield]

You're hired!

How the heck you tracked that all the way, and kept it in focus, is beyond me. Whenever I try to video a launch, using my phone, I lose it within the first ten seconds.

John, great flight! I am interested in your data, did the rocket perform as simulated?

 

[Bat-mite]

You're hired!

How the heck you tracked that all the way, and kept it in focus, is beyond me. Whenever I try to video a launch, using my phone, I lose it within the first ten seconds.

John, great flight! I am interested in your data, did the rocket perform as simulated?

Hopefully I'll get some downloads today. At least the RRC3. My BRB900 is having trouble connecting to the dongle thingie.

 

[Bat-mite]

Oh, it outperformed the sim by 2,000 feet. Since it was an EX motor of an untried configuration, we probably got a higher TI than anticipated.

 

[Bat-mite]

Here are three "going up" shots from Jake Felser.

 

[Bat-mite]

 

[Tim51]

That has to be one of - if not the - best flight videos ever posted on TRF.

Superb flight also. Thanks for the thread and congrats to all involved in the project.

 

[Bat-mite]

Grrrr. One thing I forgot to mention ... my AV bay landed in a few inches of filthy water. Stuff got wet. Several hours later when I got home, I cleaned the alts with denatured alcohol.

As of right now, I cannot get the dongle connected to the RRC3. Normally I do it with the battery connected; this time I'm trying it with USB power.

Everything is lighting up, but the connection is not being made. I'll keep working at it.

 

[Bat-mite]

GPS data.



Another angle.



As you could see from the video, the rocket went straight up; but the GPS unit is showing that weird bend that I have identified as "anomoly in data."

 

[Bat-mite]

I think the RRC3 is water damaged. When I hook it up to the dongle, the RRC3 powers up (solid red light), and the dongle flashes, but then it comes back with connection failed. I am going to vacuum test it and see what happens. Also, I will try the dongle with external power, if I can find a 9V hook-up. Getting late, though.

 

[mbeels]

How the heck you tracked that all the way, and kept it in focus, is beyond me.

Thanks! I used a camera with a view finder, which I think is easier for tracking. I also set the camera to manual focus so it doesn't hunt with a plain background.

Here are three "going up" shots from Jake Felser.

Oh my, that flame. It actually reminds me a lot of the P motor that was in Tom's Yellow Submarine, do you know if the motor was the same formulation?

 

[Bat-mite]

Thanks! I used a camera with a view finder, which I think is easier for tracking. I also set the camera to manual focus so it doesn't hunt with a plain background.



Oh my, that flame. It actually reminds me a lot of the P motor that was in Tom's Yellow Submarine, do you know if the motor was the same formulation?

Yes, it was. "Redneck Red," as Bob has named it.

Eyeball measurement puts the flame length at about ten feet.

 

[Tobor]

Awesome flight Bat-mite, big congrats to all involved! Love the Red motor

Btw, if you do not have any Silica gel packets handy, packing a small water logged device in 1~2 cups of uncooked rice can help to draw out moisture.

 

[Bat-mite]

So ... the RRC3 is shot. No data. Scott's Raven seems OK, so I hope he can get a good download.

 

[Bat-mite]

Awesome flight Bat-mite, big congrats to all involved! Love the Red motor

Btw, if you do not have any Silica gel packets handy, packing a small water logged device in 1~2 cups of uncooked rice can help to draw out moisture.

Hey, that's worth a shot!

 

[0011001100]

So ... the RRC3 is shot. No data. Scott's Raven seems OK, so I hope he can get a good download.

Ouch that sucks. I've broken mine too now.

Really nice flight and beautiful pictures!

 

[BradMilkomeda]

Congrats John, it that is an amazing flight! Very well done. I was totally amazed at being able to see it way up their.

I think you need to update your signature with your new best altitude.

 

[mbeels]

Congrats John, it that is an amazing flight! Very well done. I was totally amazed at being able to see it way up their.

I think you need to update your signature with your new best altitude.

Yeah, that rocket at 15,000 feet is like a normal rocket at 1,500 feet. BTW, did they ever find that silent rocket that went in ballistic by the ditch?

 

[BradMilkomeda]

Yeah, that rocket at 15,000 feet is like a normal rocket at 1,500 feet. BTW, did they ever find that silent rocket that went in ballistic by the ditch?

They found the hole; it was right where I pointed. I heard they were there until 7pm or so retrieving the motor case from below.

 

[mbeels]

They found the hole; it was right where I pointed. I heard they were there until 7pm or so retrieving the motor case from below.

Wow.

 

[Bat-mite]

I think you need to update your signature with your new best altitude.

I'll hang on till I know the max velocity, too. Scott said I can download his Raven. Now I'm really nervous.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Thanks! I used a camera with a view finder, which I think is easier for tracking. I also set the camera to manual focus so it doesn't hunt with a plain background

You did a great job!

I need a video camera with a viewfinder. That’s the thing I miss most about “real” cameras.

When you set the camera to manual focus, do you feel like you need to do much focusing during the flight? As the rocket gets further away, do you have to refocus? How about when you change the zoom level?

 

[Rocketjunkie]

You did a great job!

I need a video camera with a viewfinder. That’s the thing I miss most about “real” cameras.

When you set the camera to manual focus, do you feel like you need to do much focusing during the flight? As the rocket gets further away, do you have to refocus? How about when you change the zoom level?

Just set the focus to infinity and leave it there. You won't be zoomed in all the way at the pad and then it will be far enough away the rest of the flight to be in focus. Yes a viewfinder is essential. Trying to see a flip out screen in sunlight is impossible. Unfortunately, finding a camera with a viewfinder is getting hard. The last one cost me $1000.

 

[mbeels]

You did a great job!

I need a video camera with a viewfinder. That’s the thing I miss most about “real” cameras.

When you set the camera to manual focus, do you feel like you need to do much focusing during the flight? As the rocket gets further away, do you have to refocus? How about when you change the zoom level?

Thanks! I really like viewfinders as well.

Regarding the focus, it largely depends. If it is a low power launch and I'm starting closer to the pads, so the camera is focused nearer than infinity, it helps to tweak the focus a bit. But if it is high power and I'm starting far away from the pads so the lens is basically at infinty, it is fine all the way up. You can tell before the launch by comparing the focus of the rocket to the focus of the very distant background. The lens also makes a difference, a longer telephoto is more likely to need focus adjustments. Some lenses preserve focus when zooming, but other lenses don't.

My camera has a digital manual focus assist which makes checking focus easy, it digitally outlines the parts of the photo that are sharpest, as determined by the contrast detect algorithm.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

Thanks! I really like viewfinders as well.

Regarding the focus, it largely depends. If it is a low power launch and I'm starting closer to the pads, so the camera is focused nearer than infinity, it helps to tweak the focus a bit. But if it is high power and I'm starting far away from the pads so the lens is basically at infinty, it is fine all the way up. You can tell before the launch by comparing the focus of the rocket to the focus of the very distant background. The lens also makes a difference, a longer telephoto is more likely to need focus adjustments. Some lenses preserve focus when zooming, but other lenses don't.

My camera has a digital manual focus assist which makes checking focus easy, it digitally outlines the parts of the photo that are sharpest, as determined by the contrast detect algorithm.

Thanks.

I am mostly interested in getting video of high power launches, so I would probably start off at least 100 feet away, more likely 300 feet, or even more. If I’m that far away, I probably would not need to adjust much if anything for the flight, right?

The zoom was really nice. I liked that you could zoom in to a nice tight shot of the rocket on the pad, then back off far enough that you could track it in flight, then zoom back in for the coast and deployment.

Can you tell me what camera you are using?