- This topic has 55 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 17 years, 6 months ago by
Mike Bennett.
Mike Bennett.-
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mule
Thanks Adrian.
I really appreciate the pictures.
GregAdrian
Greg, you’re welcome.
Warren, I agree that it would be better for people not to fly transmitters for rockets that stay in sight. But any motor larger than an A can be sent out of sight, given a sufficiently efficient rocket. Designing efficiently is what makes rockets interesting for me. If I had been more successful at prevailing upon Greg Clark to make a skinnier BeeLine, I’d be flying a tracker in rockets going for D, C, and maybe B club records, because that would be the only way to find them, short of making a streamer or chute a lot bigger than it would otherwise need to be.
mule
Warren,
I can understand a need for concern. However, I would like to toss some thoughts out on this.1) If there is that much of a variance on the transmitter frequencies when they are supposed to be on a fixed frequency, I would consider someone’s equipment faulty. I can’t see how they can vary as much as you have stated. We are talking about a pretty wide bandwidth here and they can’t be auto tuning themselves…. If this is the case, I would be embarrassed to sell a product that worked that poorly. I would look more to someone’s yagi tuning. If it’s not set close to the frequency it’s supposed to be picking up, then YES I can see it getting interference from another Tx.
2) It doesn’t appear to me that there are actually that many people running transmitter systems. Adrian was the first person in 3 launches that I saw with a transmitter. So, again, it appears to me that there is no problem yet. I can definitely see a need for dialog in advance though. You know better than I would how many people there are, so I’m going to defer to you on that one. I do think that recognizing there could be a problem in the future and taking steps like the board and posting who is planning on Tx launching is good planning.
I personally want to run a beeline in my Black Brant. It’s not a dual deploy, it has a 38mm motor tube and can go well beyond my eyesight. It has a 24″ vented chute, so it does come down fast. But, I really would take offense to someone telling me I can’t track it. That’s not saying I wouldn’t be the first one in line on a board or making sure someone knows I will be tracking it at a particular launch. It’s just the principle of the matter. In the club setting, it could come off as the big boys in the club telling the little guy they aren’t good enough to play with the cool toys. I’m not talking for myself, but others in making that statement. I do not know most of you, I am not a member of this club yet, so I really don’t like to tell you guys what to do. This is just my opinion and I hope you don’t take offense to me posting this.
I’ve had a long very stressful day, so I tried to say this the best I could without being condescending….. I hope it worked…. 😯
Anonymous
Many perspectives to be mindful of here, and many valid points. I will say that there are indeed times we have had issues with multiple transmitters stepping on each other. MHM and other similar launches will amplify that.
This gets further complicated if we have tightly controlled high altitude windows. Heck, right now, we don’t have ANY windows, so that may be a moot point. But if that does happen, when you gotta go, then you gotta go 8) In other words, waiting around may not be a luxury.
Hopefully the doggie collar thing will address all these issues. Glad to see there is some interest in flying out of sight!
JW
Warren B. Musselman
Don’t take me wrong – I’m far from talking about the “big boys” telling the “little boys” what cool toys they can play with – sorry if it sounded that way. I am far from a “big boy” myself – I just do the website and think too much about potential difficulties.
Until VERY recently, there were only a couple guys using transmitters and we all know one another – coordinating was relatively simple and even then we occasionally had some issues. With what sounds like more than a couple new transmitter users added to the mix, we have to have some way of coordinating so we don’t step all over each other. That’s all I’m saying.
Warren
Mike Bennett
2) It doesn’t appear to me that there are actually that many people running transmitter systems. Adrian was the first person in 3 launches that I saw with a transmitter. So, again, it appears to me that there is no problem yet. I can definitely see a need for dialog in advance though. You know better than I would how many people there are, so I’m going to defer to you on that one. I do think that recognizing there could be a problem in the future and taking steps like the board and posting who is planning on Tx launching is good planning.
At Oktoberfest last year there where at least 15 people that used transmitters that I know of all in the 433 MHz range. Those are just the ones I know about and I am sure there are more. As more and more people push the envelope with there rockets and bigger motors you are going to see more and more issues and cross talk between transmitters. Some people have commercial transmitters and some are home made. I happen to have made my own at 433.92 MHz but because everyone uses that frequency I also have one at 418 MHz.
I believe that for the bigger launches we need to really announce the use of transmitters a little better to help people who are already using them.
Also Mule you had mentioned earlier that some transmitters broadcast outside the bandwitdh range may not be entirely true. The problem is usually the filtering on the radios (scanners) that most people use that is the real problem. Even with the more expensive scanners because most of them are designed to scan such a wide range of frequencies, the filter systems can’t really work 100% on every frequency so you get bleed through add crossover. Just my two cents.
mule
Warren/Mike.
I hope I didn’t come across as a snot…. It’s so hard to post on a board and not be taken wrong.Since I haven’t been to a large event, I have such a limited exposure that I really have nothing to go on. I am in full agreement on precautions and being ready. It’s just good leadership!
I made an assumption that appears to be wrong. I personally own transceivers, I have never owned a scanner. So, I was not aware of their Rx issues. For about $20 more I bought a Yaesu VX-3 from HRO (dual band $189), so naturally, I assume someone else would do the same thing. I shouldn’t assume anything. Sorry.
On a side note, I thought I read that Adept was going to offer transmitters with differing frequencies. It looks like that ought to be a trend for the future if you ask me, it’s more marketable IMO.
That being said, I think I will leave this conversation to you guys before I end up strapped to a rocket at the next launch……
Greg
Mike Bennett
Greg don’t sweat it, no harm done and that is how people learn. As far as transceivers the front end filters are just as bad as scanners otherwise the scanners and transceivers would cost thousands not hundreds.
Hehehehe dude
Warren/Mike.
I hope I didn’t come across as a snot….
Greglook at your avatar
Anonymous
No worries, Mule – everyone (you included) clearly has the club’s best interests at heart. The use of transmitters is indeed a lot more prevalent than it used to be. A smart bunch like NCR will figure it out.
For my part, I hope to be up and down by 9AM Friday morning 8)
Mike Bennett
John I will be there as well. Hope to be LCO if not I will help you out. Also I hope to have our new RMCS with live GPS telemetry out to demo MHM weekend. That is all I can say for now.
mule
Adrian
Anonymous
Warren B. Musselman
Mike Bennett
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