This gallery contains 61 photos.
About a year ago I designed a micro altimeter for fellow FAI rocket competitors but due to some other commitments I didn’t get it finished. Recently I revived and finished the project, however I got surprised by the global chips shortage. Therefore I decided on making micro altimeters […]
This gallery contains 38 photos.
After I made the GSM-GPS tracker, I’ve realized that the cell coverage is usually not available at sites where rockets are being launched. For a while I’ve been thinking of making an independent from the cellular network tracker for rockets, planes etc. With the LoRa SX1278 chips this became an easy task. TRANSMITTER Transmitter part […]
This gallery contains 11 photos.
This is a new GPS-GSM tracker based on my previous designs. The tracker has many similarities and some major improvements. Now it can be used not only for tracking with SMS messages but also in real-time through GPRS data communication. – The power supply input is limited from 3.3v to 4.1v – i.e. a standard […]
This gallery contains 15 photos.
For a while a wanted to make my own flight recorder similar to the commercial altimeters but with my own requirements for functionality. In addition it needed to be visually appealing and functional in the same time … After some thinking about the design and functionality the idea for the MINI FLIGHT RECORDER was developed […]
This gallery contains 12 photos.
This micro altimeter is based on the original MAV ALTIMETER with BMP280 barometric sensor – it is virtually the same, except the pressure sensor which was replaced by MPL3115A2 and the hardware ID was removed, leaving only the software ID. This altimeter is extremely light – about 0.35gr and with the battery it weighs less […]
This gallery contains 12 photos.
This micro altimeter was developed by request of a friend (vega) in order to assist the competitors from the Bulgarian National Association of Rocketry (FAI Spacemodeling) during their training rocket launches. This altimeter is extremely light – about 0.35gr and with the battery it weighs less than 1 gram. The BOM for the altimeter is […]
This gallery contains 9 photos.
I made a small program that will help you hide and make harder to modify strings inside code. The idea was borrowed from the following project Small String Obfuscator which is for C++ only. However I am using VB.NET thus I had to write a new string obfuscator for VB.NET. The idea of the obfuscator […]
This gallery contains 12 photos.
I have an old 3D printer from XYZ (Da Vinci 1.0) which I purchased some years ago but actually haven’t been using it and I am only on my third cartridge. Last week I wanted to print something and I had a cartridge with about 20m left in it and I needed only 5m. Suddenly […]
This gallery contains 3 photos.
Sometimes Load cells get damaged and the bridge is no longer balanced. This in turn leads to large voltage offset which limits the full scale measurements or worse makes any measurements impossible. An easy way to check the bridge resistance is with an Ohmmeter. The following schematic shows how to do it. Just an approximate […]
This gallery contains 31 photos.
Update Note: As mentioned the SD card should be 2GB or less and formatted as FAT16. Due to addressing restrictions the SD card should contain only one partition, created as PRIMARY PARTITION with no unallocated space before the partition. Please note that some SD cards come with partitions, created as logical partitions and need to […]
This gallery contains 12 photos.
Disclaimer: This information has purely educational and scientific intend. Often Potassium nitrate is not available or is too expensive so I decided to describe an economically viable way of synthesizing KNO3 from cheap and available resources. The process is not difficult, requires no specialized chemicals and the yield is excellent. Oversimplified description would be: Calcium […]
This gallery contains 44 photos.
Large area Platinum electrodes or catalysts are often needed if you are interested in chemistry and science. Unfortunately large area Platinum mesh or foil are extremely expensive for the corresponding weight, the same is valid as well for Pt coated materials, not to mention their higher wear and the fact that they simply don’t work […]
This gallery contains 13 photos.
his DAQ schematic is a new improved version of my old ROCKET THRUST STAND SMALL DAQ SYSTEM. The small changes that I made are as follow: A small PPTC fuse was placed at the input to limit the current drawn from the battery in case of short circuit The 5v excitation voltage is buffered now […]
This gallery contains 6 photos.
This is a slightly modified version of the UV APOGEE DETECTOR v2 and the purpose was to make a very small UV apogee sensor that will work with 3.7v LiPo batteries and will fit even in a tiny rocket. The components were chosen so that the circuit works at low voltages – as low as […]
This gallery contains 31 photos.
On few occasions when I was making some equipment for oxidizer synthesis I needed to make spot welds but didn’t have the welding apparatus for that. So I decided to make for myself. After some research in internet on this topic I finally made a spot welder from an old microwave oven transformer. SCHEMATIC AND […]
This gallery contains 11 photos.
REMOTE CONTROLLED ROCKET LAUNCH FIRING SYSTEM There are numerous out of the shelf solutions for remote rocket firing however I found that they are either too expensive or lack some futures that I prefer they had, so I decided to make my own. This device is based on the Microchip’s MRF49XA chip and works in […]
This gallery contains 12 photos.
I finished this laser wall trigger for my HIGH RESOLUTION AND ACCURACY CHRONOGRAPH. The purpose of this device is to generate the trigger start and stop impulses for my chronograph as soon as an object disrupts any of the laser beams. So if I have two laser walls (with one or more laser beams on […]
This gallery contains 8 photos.
This barometric apogee sensor was built as more reliable rocket apogee sensor than the UV sensor while still keeping the things as simple as possible … nevertheless this barometric apogee sensor is quite universal and could find different applications in the amateur rocketry. The specifications are: – barometric apogee detection – high noise immunity through […]
This gallery contains 6 photos.
Update Note: As mentioned the SD card should be 2GB or less and formatted as FAT16. Due to addressing restrictions the SD card should contain only one partition, created as PRIMARY PARTITION with no unallocated space before the partition. Please note that some SD cards come with partitions, created as logical partitions and need to […]
This gallery contains 7 photos.
Note: The 10 Hz version is described here. Update Note: As mentioned the SD card should be 2GB or less and formatted as FAT16. Due to addressing restrictions the SD card should contain only one partition, created as PRIMARY PARTITION with no unallocated space before the partition. Please note that some SD cards come with […]
This gallery contains 11 photos.
This small flight computer is the same computer as my MINI FLIGHT COMPUTER (BREO N) but it has a front panel that allows for it to be mounted not only inside the rocket but also on its fuselage. In some cases this might come handy where payload section of the rocket can be assembled home […]
This gallery contains 4 photos.
Based on my previous GPS-GSM tracker I also had a design for smaller tracker with mini SIM card and direct 3.7 Li-Po power supply that has been waiting for its turn to be assembled. This is the same tracker design as my previous tracker with the following differences: – the power supply input is limited […]
This gallery contains 16 photos.
This GPS to GSM tracking device is a new project that I recently finished. This tracking device was specifically developed for tracking amateur rockets or high altitude balloons. Basically the tracker sends the current coordinates and status by SMS and in the same time it is capable of receiving and executing commands through SMS. The […]
This gallery contains 8 photos.
Update Note: As mentioned the SD card should be 2GB or less and formatted as FAT16. Due to addressing restrictions the SD card should contain only one partition, created as PRIMARY PARTITION with no unallocated space before the partition. Please note that some SD cards come with partitions, created as logical partitions and need to […]
This gallery contains 26 photos.
Today I made some modifications to this is a new project for a GPS to FM radio tracking device for rockets i.e. the V2. The initial design lacked the antenna impedance matching circuit which caused problems with the end amplifier. Also I increased the possible choices of frequencies, see the table further down. Now instead […]
This gallery contains 5 photos.
In order to synthesize chlorates and perchlorates in the home lab it is always good to have a way to regulate the current flowing through the electrolyte. Because the load is purely resistive the simplest solution is a small PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) regulator. So I decided to make my own. The schematic is very […]
This gallery contains 10 photos.
I wanted to test some cheap load cells but I didn’t have a dedicated instrumentation amplifier (IA) therefore I made a small PCB for the occasion. The schematic is very simple and allows me to use the PCB with two different single supply IA – INA122 or AD8422. The power supply is a simple AMS1117-5V […]
This gallery contains 13 photos.
This is a project is for chronograph that was purposely build for a good friend of mine to be used for accurate measuring of high speed processes. The main characteristics of this chronograph are: two separate timers minimum measuring time of 850 nano-seconds maximum measuring time 10 seconds resolution of 100 nano-seconds 80 nano-seconds timing […]
This gallery contains 20 photos.
After I made my main DAQ system (ROCKET THRUST STAND DAQ SYSTEM WITH GLCD) I decided to make something smaller, less sophisticated and more energy efficient. So after some thinking about what functionality should I have and how much energy efficient the system should be I came with the following device: DAQ system Description: […]
This gallery contains 8 photos.
Update Note: As mentioned the SD card should be 2GB or less and formatted as FAT16. Due to addressing restrictions the SD card should contain only one partition, created as PRIMARY PARTITION with no unallocated space before the partition. Please note that some SD cards come with partitions, created as logical partitions and need to […]
This gallery contains 28 photos.
Update Note: As mentioned the SD card should be 2GB or less and formatted as FAT16. Due to addressing restrictions the SD card should contain only one partition, created as PRIMARY PARTITION with no unallocated space before the partition. Please note that some SD cards come with partitions, created as logical partitions and need to […]
This gallery contains 11 photos.
This small flight computer is the same computer as my MINI FLIGHT COMPUTER (BREO M) but it has two more powerful MOSFET transistors instead of the small ones I used on BREO M and the mounting holes are 4 at the corners instead of 2 in the middle which makes it much easier to solder […]
This gallery contains 16 photos.
This is another old project that I just finished – a flight computer with programmable outputs. This flight computer is based on my small digital barometric altimeter, the small accelerometer and the UV apogee sensor. This flight computer has excellent functionality with 4 high current outputs and the possibility for installation on the outer surface […]
This gallery contains 10 photos.
After I some time I found free moments to finish an old project – a flight computer with programmable outputs. This flight computer is based on my small digital barometric altimeter and the small accelerometer. Despite the modest dimensions of the device – only 60x15x15 millimeters – it has excellent functionality. The main characteristics are: […]
This gallery contains 32 photos.
This is a joint project between me and –vega- (Yordan) for making a very small thrust stand that will be used for testing Jetex and Rapier like motors. Those motors typically have burn time between 12 to 20 seconds while producing thrust in the grams range. DAQ System: The electronic part of the project is […]
This gallery contains 14 photos.
One thing is for sure – rockets always come back to the ground, however sometimes we are not sure where they landed. Currently there are many tracking devices on the market, but they are either too expensive, too bulky or require special radio equipment which is often not available to everyone. So started this project […]
This gallery contains 20 photos.
I found on Ebay very nice, small 12v 23A battery holders for PCB mounting style and decided to fit the SMALL DIGITAL BAROMETRIC ALTIMETER just on the back of the holder. So basically this is the same schematic as the SMALL DIGITAL BAROMETRIC ALTIMETER, however I moved some of the connections to different MCU pins […]
This gallery contains 41 photos.
I’ve had a very basic DAQ for thrust metering that needs to be connected to a PC. So I decided to make something more sophisticated and robust and most important standalone DAQ system for thrust metering… When I designed the DAQ system I wanted it to have the following characteristics: – 8 test capacity with […]
This gallery contains 24 photos.
I had few MEMS accelerometers around and thought it would be nice idea to be able to measure the acceleration during the rocket flight. Why is it good to know the acceleration – well it is fun to brag about how many g’s you rocket experienced :). Of course I had more scientific intentions: […]
This gallery contains 17 photos.
Once the “larger” altimeter with LED display was done I decided that it would be great if I had even smaller and lighter altimeter that I can use in small model rockets. So I designed this small altimeter which is entirely based on the one with LED display however it is missing the display. […]
This gallery contains 39 photos.
This is an old project which I have been deferring for a while because I lacked time to finish it. Also I was missing a reliable way to verify the altitude calculation algorithms. Now I finally found some time and a way to test it… Before I start describing this altimeter here’s some basic physics […]
This gallery contains 14 photos.
Although the UV Apogee Detector 1 is completely functional after number of tests done in Bulgaria by -VMK- and vega and in Argentina by a_centaurus some things worth improving came to the light: 1. vega mentioned that the indicating LEDs (red and green) are not bright enough in a sunny day and instinctively one might […]
This gallery contains 23 photos.
Basics: There are two main principles that this device is based on – the Earth’s albedo (reflection coefficient) and the fact that LEDs can generate current from light. The further described device works by measuring the Earth’s albedo. This reflection coefficient is being determined as the ratio between the energy reflected from the Earth’s surface […]