So let's say you, um, hypothetically got your rocket tangled in a 350,000 volt transmission line 94 feet high...

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Orien

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... it might look something like this:Oh this sucks.JPG

Assuming the power company would have it down by Tuesday, how worried would you be about the following:

1. RRC3 in av bay
2. JLCR exposed to the elements.
3. Mobius 808 #32 camera exterior mount.
4. Interior Camera with exterior lens.
5. Marco Polo transmitter in the payload section.

I'm just curious because surely no stupid schmuck is going to fly into 20 mph winds with these 1000' from the launch site.
 
If you talked to the power company, make sure they know it'll short phase to phase if they energize the line. Once they do, big pop and transformers get mad and let out magic smoke.
 
Hmm....get out your wallet.
One member did that and they wanted something like $9k as I recall for the recovery.
Including the downtime for the transmission charge.
I'm sure the member in mind will read this and clarify if I'm remembering wrong.....

Talk REALLY NICELY to the power company
 
The rocket isn't spanning +/- power lines or it would be burnt to a crisp already, so no power is going through the airframe, so the electronics shouldn't be affected. The shock cord is non-conductive. The AV bay is sealed, so it's contents should be OK. I would contend that rain is your main enemy. None of the electronics are waterproof and if the airframe is cardboard, it doesn't like to get soggy.

You must have a nice power company. At one of our sites we have high power lines running straight down the center of our field. Our President won't call the power company because ComEd has bitched at us in the past when we called; he doesn't want to risk losing our field because ComEd raises a stink. We leave rockets on the power lines as decorations. It's a good lesson in not launching rockets in 20MPH winds within 1000' of high power lines. (We literally launch within 200' of ours, no choice. It makes you pay attention to the winds and makes a JLCR a priceless component in the range box.)
 
The winds were almost due south about an hour before the launch. Then they shifted to the southwest and I frankly had my hands and brain full and didn't really notice. And those were gusts, but still 12-15 mph sustained. The JLCR was set for 500' - he lowest I'd ever set it. Flight went to 4000+ on an I540 with practically zero weathercocking.
 
At our launch we used to do north of Flagstaff, Arizona a rocket was hung on I believe 750KV lines a mile and a half from the launch site. The power company came out to get it down so it would not be an attractive nuisance. No charges, The crew said they take rockets, kites, cats, kids out of wires and off poles all the time.
We fed them lunch, let them push launch button. Crew leader gave me his card and said to call him direct next time.
 
At our launch we used to do north of Flagstaff, Arizona a rocket was hung on I believe 750KV lines a mile and a half from the launch site. The power company came out to get it down so it would not be an attractive nuisance. No charges, The crew said they take rockets, kites, cats out of wires and off poles all the time.
We fed them lunch, let them push launch button. Crew leader gave me his card and said to call him direct next time.

That sounds more like FPL here (Florida). They sent a truck out late in the day, but it wasn't big enough. I had already left because they told me on the phone it was going to be early week before they could get a truck big enough there. Fortunately, a club officer was there and they exchanged info. He lives nearby and will retrieve it when they call him. Which is a blessing being as I live 90 minutes away. I need to do something nice for the crew for sure. This isn't your standard bucket truck they're sending.
 
It's been 15-ish years since someone draped a rocket over the lines at the HPR site I go to. When it happened, the lines were not energized so no problem. Called the power company and they said it'd be a few days to get it down. Next day they powered the lines up to 875k and even nylon shockcords become conductors at that voltage. Shorted the phases to each other and popped the substation. Power was out for 2 towns for most of the day. Power company billed the club +$50k because of it. Insurance covered all but our $2k deductable.

You'd better hope they don't power the lines up because if they do, all the electronics will be toast (maybe literally) and they may bill you for any damages.
 
It's been 15-ish years since someone draped a rocket over the lines at the HPR site I go to. When it happened, the lines were not energized so no problem. Called the power company and they said it'd be a few days to get it down. Next day they powered the lines up to 875k and even nylon shockcords become conductors at that voltage. Shorted the phases to each other and popped the substation. Power was out for 2 towns for most of the day. Power company billed the club +$50k because of it. Insurance covered all but our $2k deductable.

You'd better hope they don't power the lines up because if they do, all the electronics will be toast (maybe literally) and they may bill you for any damages.
Well, I asked the supervisor point blank if I can expect any charges and fees and he said "No".
 
It's been 15-ish years since someone draped a rocket over the lines at the HPR site I go to. When it happened, the lines were not energized so no problem. Called the power company and they said it'd be a few days to get it down. Next day they powered the lines up to 875k and even nylon shockcords become conductors at that voltage. Shorted the phases to each other and popped the substation. Power was out for 2 towns for most of the day. Power company billed the club +$50k because of it. Insurance covered all but our $2k deductable.

You'd better hope they don't power the lines up because if they do, all the electronics will be toast (maybe literally) and they may bill you for any damages.
The lines are powered up. When the wind would make it slide down the wire it sounded like sizzling bacon.
 
The lines are powered up. When the wind would make it slide down the wire it sounded like sizzling bacon.
If that's the case, I'd assume anything with a circuit is gone. Hope for the best but I wouldn't trust any of it as a primary device any more.
 
You will have a good story to tell over this!

Perhaps use a conductive recovery harness next time. It would short across the lines then blow itself open, breaking the harness and allowing the rocket to fall to the ground. You could then run away with the rocket and nobody would know what caused the glitch. Harness would gave to be short enough so you couldn't touch it if it was snagged over the wires though :eek: .

Or perhaps try to not get it stuck next time ;) .
 
Don’t you hate it when that happens.
 

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Haven't had a rocket land on a power line yet. I did have one rescued by tree trimmers who just happened to be several trees down as they were making their way around the park. They only do this one day out of the year. I returned hours later when they reached the tree and gave them energy drinks as payment.

IMG_E7207.JPG
Avoid the obvious OSHA violation in the bucket truck...
 
nothing wrong there. Move on.
He just (oddly) likes to wear his fall arresting gear under the hi-vis jersey.
 
Damn. Almost 24 hours later and my baby is still out there swaying in the breeze like some trussed up hussy. I'm thinking rescue mission...
 
Damn. Almost 24 hours later and my baby is still out there swaying in the breeze like some trussed up hussy. I'm thinking rescue mission...
It once took 4 days to get Dale's rocket down and Gary's 2 days later. They retrieve at their convenience, not yours!
 
Do NOT try self rescue!! Even if the line is not energized, there could be a static charge or an induced current of several KV.
 
You will have a good story to tell over this!

Perhaps use a conductive recovery harness next time. It would short across the lines then blow itself open, breaking the harness and allowing the rocket to fall to the ground. You could then run away with the rocket and nobody would know what caused the glitch. Harness would gave to be short enough so you couldn't touch it if it was snagged over the wires though :eek: .

Or perhaps try to not get it stuck next time ;) .
A gentleman at the launch told me a friend of his had a remote controlled release mechanism on his shock cord for just such a scenario. Personally, I'm just going to take steps to be more situationally aware. The launch angle was too steep, conditions had changed between launches 1 and 2, I could've used the range finder in my golf bag to check distances (instead of "those are kinda far, I think), and other miscues. I mean, this thing drifted over 700 yards with a main that didn't open until 600 feet.

I'm pretty embarassed by it, frankly. But maybe a gut-punch 4 flights into my new rocketry pursuits will make me a wiser and safer flyer.
 
Do NOT try self rescue!! Even if the line is not energized, there could be a static charge or an induced current of several KV.
Of course not. The absurdity of my statement was for humor only. I don't even like standing underneath those things.
 
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If that's the case, I'd assume anything with a circuit is gone. Hope for the best but I wouldn't trust any of it as a primary device any more.
Those lines are intended to be always powered up. We typically didn’t even open them when there were fires in the area, but sometimes heavy smoke could become a fault path. They’re a chief source of revenue to a utility companies and we tried for uptimes of better than 99%. But if there were any fault current (phase to phase or phase to ground or phase to neutral) protective relays would operate. Those would be reclosers usually, so they would try three times to close in to the fault to clear it and then lock open. In that case a transmission crew would be there shortly. Common causes of faults would be eagle scat (it’s stringy and sometimes crosses a couple phases), Mylar metallic strings on those Mylar balloons, sticks dropped by eagles while building nests, and cracked or shot ceramic insulator bells.
Being that close I would agree that there could be problems in the electronics. I would test them well before reuse or possibly even send to the manufacturers for examination.
 
That's a good thing. It's been quite a few years but I remember a pretty popular guy on the forums here tried to recover a rocket on power lines, and he died trying.
Yeah, unfortunately, what seems obviously absurd to a person when writing something can be taken as gospel by some people. After all, it’s on the Internet so it must be true.
 
That sounds more like FPL here (Florida). They sent a truck out late in the day, but it wasn't big enough. I had already left because they told me on the phone it was going to be early week before they could get a truck big enough there. Fortunately, a club officer was there and they exchanged info. He lives nearby and will retrieve it when they call him. Which is a blessing being as I live 90 minutes away. I need to do something nice for the crew for sure. This isn't your standard bucket truck they're sending.
Be glad and happy they will do it and no charge. Because it does cost $$ to send a crew, truck and fuel for a private citizen's property. I have no idea what power companies NJ would do.
 
Can't quite tell from photo angle, but it looks like it's hanging from one line of typical three-phase AC power lines (there are only a couple high voltage DC "intertie" lines in the US).

Just a bird on a wire. It's electrically isolated.
 
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