The Thrifty Rocketeer

  The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... Here's a really short tip for those of us low power guys:  So, one of your favorite kit  builds contains an old school crepe paper streamer. The theory is that the ruffles and crinkles in the paper surface will create more turbulence and slow the descent of the rocket through drag. The problem is that the crepe paper is fragile and rips easily.  So what to do if your little roll of flame-proofed paper should shred or float away on the breeze? Most rocketeers will try to replace the streamer with something a little bit more substantial... like surveyor's ribbon or tape.  This comes in many different colors of the rainbow, but you can usually pick up a roll of the thin plastic tape in florescent orange at your local hardware store for under 2 for $5.  If you shop carefully, maybe under a buck! You can run roll 1 to 2 feet, tightly roll it up around a pencil or tight like a home-made cigarette, and attach it to the shock-cord or nose cone

The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... First, I do not speak for the National Association of Rocketry , nor any other major rocketry group. Second, who am I to express an opinion on this short TV series?  Just a knowledgeable rocketeer who has a background in television, as it happens. About a year ago, a producer made overtures to the rocketry community, looking for people to participate in a reality show about making and flying rockets.  Word spread through the various boards and clubs about it, and MOST people turned their backs at the invitation, thinking this was going to be something awful like "Hog Wild" or "Jersey Shore". As it is, some people were attracted, and after a half year or more development, it appears that " Rocket Around the Christmas Tree " is the result.  ( RACT for here on out.) The short series appears to be a short holiday stunt with about three or so "episodes" on a competition theme.  It airs on the Discovery Channel

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... There's a pretty well-known connection between Model Rocketry and Amateur Radio (also known as Ham Radio for short)...and it stems from a very simple problem. When launching model rockets, (and even more-so, High Powered Rockets) you want to get them back. Most of the time, you can see the ejection event, watch the rocket drift back to earth, and have an eyeball on where they land. But all too frequently, something go arey and you loose track of your rocket... either a cloud gets in the way, or it veers off course, or a parachute deploy fails. To locate your rocket, it would be nice if it called to you  electronically or by audio. Some manufacturers will sell an audio beeper, or siren that will sound and direct you to the device, if you can hear it.  Others sell an electronic transmitter or tracker that sends a signal on frequencies that can be heard with a hand-held radio receiver.  Usually, these frequencies are in the Amateur Radio bands,

The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... There are times when two hobbies overlap, or compliment each other.  Today is one of those where rocketry and Amateur Radio combine. A number of Rocketeers place beepers, egg-timers, or locating beacons in their rockets' nosecones or payload bay to assist in the recovery of rockets that go astray. Some of these devices require an Amateur Radio license to operate them in the part of the spectrum reserved for Ham Radio.  As a result, some Rocketers get a license and buy a cheap Ham Radio to track or "hear" the beeping from a small electronic circuit board in the payload. But sometimes it is very difficult to determine just which direction to go looking for your rocket. Let us assume that you have a commercial homing device and you have a hand-held transceiver (HT for short) to hear the signal. Your battery is good, and you know you are on frequency.  You need some method of narrowing the search via a directional antenna or reception.