MERLIN - FORTH FLIGHT

Lining up this rocket for a next 4th flight. Will have the radios with BT dongle on board and Nexus 5 test. just a low flight with streamer. Radio will be packet in booster.

Update 06/10/2020 - Made the charges Main and Streamer, also packed the main chute and rolled it in the chute protected and rolled the chock cord around it so it sits snug and slides in really clean in the upper bay. id the same with the streamer, rolled the protector around it and rolled the chock cord really thigh around the bundle so it slides real good in the booster. I guess I'm going to do this more so I have more space. Next is install the charges and finish the prepping when the weather improves on the field for the Saturday launch. Charging all the electronics also.

Update 06/11/2020 - Stratologgers tested. All good above 9.0 V.

Update 06/12/2020 - We are GO for launch, so I installed the charges, installed the streamer, dog barf around top and bottom, lots of room for the radio on top and the TAGG. Charging the two GO PRO like camera's, Phone Nexus 4, BT Dongle, Tagg. Car all loaded with my equipment and rocket. Tested the sled and phone space in the Av Bay, Had to adjust the set screw a bit. Motor installed, with two O-Rings, one extra top and one extra bottom. Grease applied. Spacers 75mm - 54 mm installed, Motor in rocket. Checked batteries on both Go pro camera's and the little video camera. Just a reminder, The setup is as: The radio will be taped on the chock cord in the booster on the same line as the streamer, TAGG and Gopro camera, that will be a hell of a *instrument* line !!! Indeed I do not have space for the radio in the nose cone for this rocket. This will be just a test.

Update 06/13/2020 - LAUNCH DAY - While driving the weather did not look good, lots of dark clouds and some drizzle on my way to the field. On the field there was just a low wind and dark clouds in the distance, Didn't feel like launching, so I kept everything in the car and enjoyed the other launches for a while, But around 11:30 AM the sky opened up and more and more blue patches came visible, despite those dark clouds in the distance. So I prepped my rocket in a hurry and missed the next launch rack, that went fast and I took the next launch setup. I taped the radio and dongle on the booster chock cord with some bubble wrap plastic for some protection. Also the TAGG and little GoPro camera were taped with electrical tape on the same chock cord. Prepping went smooth and Nexus 4 activated and blue tooth and radio communication were all working great, Very good and loud signal. The temperature of the phone only went up to 103 F very slowly, so the new software really did a great job keeping the phone cool. All activated and connected, the igniter was a really kiddy look like one bt I gave it a go any ways, I expected a much more better igniter with those 54 mm motors.. Was planning to ask Bernie for a dipped ignitor but no, just wanna launch for now... Rocket pointed straight up, winds were calmer and still those dark cloud hanging in he east gave me a bitter feeling. But OK, rocket went straight up with a RED flame, nice view !! Streamer came out at APO, with a bit of a delay because it was wrapped in the chock cord and really tight but al came out smooth, will try this set up more often. Radio broadcasted fine and clear, I even recorded this conversation. Sun was out this time and the view was great seeing that streamer in the blue sky. The rocket landed nice on the field, N of the launch pads, easy recovery. Have on board video but I think the GoPro inside the booster did not record, I guess I switched it on, or not ??? Still have to download the data, But my guess is that the rocket did not go 3300 feet, it was much heavier with all the equipment. Happy that I did this experiment again.

By watching all the bogus videos, I realized that the Launch video is in two parts ??? Yedp two part, part I and part II, published.

Update 06/14/2020 - Checking the stratologger data, and yes the simmed date is so close with the actual results !