Arpak
Well-Known Member
Howdy! I've been lurking the forums for a bit and figured its time to start being a contributing member of society.
Quick background on who I am to put a story to the avatar, my name is Patrick Cavanagh and I'm currently a senior Computer Engineer at UT San Antonio. I'm the VP of our rocketry club, which is competing in the current Spaceport America Cup, and our mentor is Jim Jarvis. We bug him a lot
I've been toying with modifying a Zephyr kit from Apogee to do my bidding, my main intention with it currently is to try to get a dual deploy system out of the single airframe break using a tender descender. I *think* its similar to a HED but slightly different, anyhoo thats a topic for another thread once I work out the kinks in it (read: get it to deploy the main at the right time for a change). Well a few months ago the monthly AARG launch was pushed back and it gave me 2 weeks of free time to stick on a Runcam Split and a 600MW 5.8G VTX into the nosecone. I tossed around the idea for a bit mostly because of the ABSURD price of keychain cameras compared to their sorta garbage quality. Also the club had one to spare Photos following.
Here's what the camera shroud looks like, its 3D printed and set to fit inside of the nosecone included with the Zephyr, some 4in long boy. (Next time I'll print it in white )
Here is the same shroud but with the Runcam Split sensor installed
Here is what the shroud looks like installed into the nosecone, I scuffed the paint up a bit getting the cut on the nosecone right but atleast I didn't make the hole massive. (Shoutout to using one of Jim's various techniques, in this case using socket head screws to hold body sections together. Works like a dream!).
Here is what the airframe looks like fully assembled. I did the same flight on an I500 before and after the shroud and only lost about 30ft in altitude, which is nearly a rounding error (or it hit a cloud).
As for the electronics inside the nosecone, well the first time I set it up in kind of a hurry and didn't put too much effort in the sled. Let's call it a proof of concept. Shown from left to right is the inside of the camera shroud and the video cable running to the PCB, the PCB stack for the runcam as well as a Power Delivery Board normally used for drones to deliver a clean 5V to the camera and the full beans to the VTX, attached with the classiest ziptie handiwork is the 500MW 5.8G China special VTX (It does the job), and not shown but velcro'd to the backside of the right panel is a 3S lipo. This assembly was bolted to the extra length of threaded rod sticking out of the bulkhead between the nosecone and the avionics bay.
This approach didn't stick long (1 launch to be exact). It was a pain to get the bolt in between the two sections of wood, and attaching the video cable with it flopping around required like 4 hands. I recently got a new 3D printer and wanted to take it for a spin by creating a triangular panelized sled that mounts to the bulkhead from a bolt on the top. The benefit of each panel being separate and bolted together lets me modify each panel separately, which helped with prototyping immensely. Maybe someday I'll print it in one piece to avoid the weight of the bolts, but once I'm more confident in the layout itself.
Here is the first CAD up of the sled. Slight things have changed here and there (mostly fitment and ease of access things), but the overall idea is sound. It prints in 4 pieces, the 3 panels and the top triangular retention piece (this is where the bolt goes through). One panel holds the PCB stack, one holds the VTX and a PCB arming switch (with a longer screw and chewed up threads at the end to hold it in - got that one from lurking posts), and the last panel holds the battery. (More in next post, hit the image limit).
View attachment gBcTtYL.mp4
Quick background on who I am to put a story to the avatar, my name is Patrick Cavanagh and I'm currently a senior Computer Engineer at UT San Antonio. I'm the VP of our rocketry club, which is competing in the current Spaceport America Cup, and our mentor is Jim Jarvis. We bug him a lot
I've been toying with modifying a Zephyr kit from Apogee to do my bidding, my main intention with it currently is to try to get a dual deploy system out of the single airframe break using a tender descender. I *think* its similar to a HED but slightly different, anyhoo thats a topic for another thread once I work out the kinks in it (read: get it to deploy the main at the right time for a change). Well a few months ago the monthly AARG launch was pushed back and it gave me 2 weeks of free time to stick on a Runcam Split and a 600MW 5.8G VTX into the nosecone. I tossed around the idea for a bit mostly because of the ABSURD price of keychain cameras compared to their sorta garbage quality. Also the club had one to spare
Photos following.Here's what the camera shroud looks like, its 3D printed and set to fit inside of the nosecone included with the Zephyr, some 4in long boy. (Next time I'll print it in white
)Here is the same shroud but with the Runcam Split sensor installed
Here is what the shroud looks like installed into the nosecone, I scuffed the paint up a bit getting the cut on the nosecone right but atleast I didn't make the hole massive. (Shoutout to using one of Jim's various techniques, in this case using socket head screws to hold body sections together. Works like a dream!).
Here is what the airframe looks like fully assembled. I did the same flight on an I500 before and after the shroud and only lost about 30ft in altitude, which is nearly a rounding error (or it hit a cloud).
As for the electronics inside the nosecone, well the first time I set it up in kind of a hurry and didn't put too much effort in the sled. Let's call it a proof of concept. Shown from left to right is the inside of the camera shroud and the video cable running to the PCB, the PCB stack for the runcam as well as a Power Delivery Board normally used for drones to deliver a clean 5V to the camera and the full beans to the VTX, attached with the classiest ziptie handiwork is the 500MW 5.8G China special VTX (It does the job), and not shown but velcro'd to the backside of the right panel is a 3S lipo. This assembly was bolted to the extra length of threaded rod sticking out of the bulkhead between the nosecone and the avionics bay.
This approach didn't stick long (1 launch to be exact). It was a pain to get the bolt in between the two sections of wood, and attaching the video cable with it flopping around required like 4 hands. I recently got a new 3D printer and wanted to take it for a spin by creating a triangular panelized sled that mounts to the bulkhead from a bolt on the top. The benefit of each panel being separate and bolted together lets me modify each panel separately, which helped with prototyping immensely. Maybe someday I'll print it in one piece to avoid the weight of the bolts, but once I'm more confident in the layout itself.
Here is the first CAD up of the sled. Slight things have changed here and there (mostly fitment and ease of access things), but the overall idea is sound. It prints in 4 pieces, the 3 panels and the top triangular retention piece (this is where the bolt goes through). One panel holds the PCB stack, one holds the VTX and a PCB arming switch (with a longer screw and chewed up threads at the end to hold it in - got that one from lurking posts), and the last panel holds the battery. (More in next post, hit the image limit).
View attachment gBcTtYL.mp4
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