Tracking Systems to help find lost rockets....

[scottluther1369]

This is a cross post from low power and thought I'd hit up the hi-power guys as well. Please forgive the double post.

Okay, another rocket lost in the field. What do people us for tracking systems. This time is was my daughters rocket and needless to say she's a bit upset at "dad" not finding her favorite rocket. : ) I'm sure I'll find it eventually but are there little beeping type things I can put in the rocket to help locate them? Looking for low cost to mid cost.
thanks!
--Scott<the newbie>

 

[rstaff3]

This would have been the proper place to begin with

 

[teflonrocketry1]

Try a JBGizmo model rocket locator visit:

https://www.rocketreviews.com/reviews/scratch/locator.html

Bruce S. Levison, NAR #69055

 

[GL-P]

An RF locater is a good thing to buy if you find out what works well. We are designing one that works well in testing. May even sell it. Just needs a good receiver. Seems to have like a 3km range.

 

[ssthor]

I use a "personal alarm" for my high fliers. Its a keychain that puts out 150 db when the pin is pulled. Its about $7.00 at radio shack.

 

[r1dermon]

thats awesome ssthor. how big is it? would it fit in a 1" model?

 

[edwardw]

For my bigger models (4") I use an emergency strobe beacon. I picked it up at a local army surplus shop and it will run 24 hours minium. I put it on the shock cord, turn it on and fly the rocket. If I happen not to find it I wait for dark. Our launch site is flat and you can drive about 1/2 to a hill and see all of the launch area. I go up on the hill at dark and look for the flashing light. We don't have trees or shrubs or anything, just 6" tall prairie grass that is sparse so you can always see it. It has worked every time for me.


Edward

 

[ssthor]

The alarm is about 1.75 inches wide and 3 inches tall. This is all inside the plastic casing (oval shape). However, I'm sure one could remove it from the case to reduce the size.

I'm not sure if it will fit into a 1 incher because I kept mine in its case. I think that might be a little snug. Would'nt hurt to check it out.

 

[powderburner]

ssthor,
Have you done any testing yet to learn how long the beeper will operate on a fresh set of batteries?
I am wondering whether the thing would die before I got to it if I had to wade through bushes & obstacles for 30 min? 60 min?

Another thought to anyone out there: what about equipping the (loud) beeper with a simple remote, kind of like an automobile keyless entry, so that I could try to get 'close' to the lost rocket and *then* click my remote to trigger a two or three second beep. (The idea here is to conserve battery life) Could it be done? Cheaply? Fairly light weight?

 

[GL-P]

Another thought to anyone out there: what about equipping the (loud) beeper with a simple remote, kind of like an automobile keyless entry, so that I could try to get 'close' to the lost rocket and *then* click my remote to trigger a two or three second beep. (The idea here is to conserve battery life) Could it be done? Cheaply? Fairly light weight?

A keyless remote from a car wouldn't have enough range tho. The idea is good. Probably need about 1000+ feet to be effective.

 

[ssthor]

I have not performed any dry tests to determine the duration of the battery life. The "alarm" comes with a 12 volt battery and has been used several times without changing. Each flight and recovery time has been no more than 15 minutes each.

My launch site is in the middle of the desert. So, a visual during decent for the most part is all that I need. I use the "alarm" as a back up system to ensure recovery of the hardware. For instance, I had a recent launch with an AT Arreaux on a G-64 that came in ballistic as a result of the shroud lines breaking. I Had a visual on the chute the whole time, but realized that the rocket was not attached after the chute significantly lost its altitude. Bummer! So, I hopped on the bike and rode towards the sounding "alarm." I recovered the rocket and hardware with zero structural damage. Pretty amazing!