MICRO ALTIMETER VEGA SERIES

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 […]

100 mW 433 MHz LoRa 30+ km GPS tracker kit

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 […]

GPS(L80R)-GSM(A6) GPRS/SMS REAL TIME TRACKER WITH REMOTE SMS CONTROL AND CONTROL OUTPUT

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 […]

MINI FLIGHT RECORDER

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 […]

0.3gr MICRO ALTIMETER VEGA (MAV) WITH MPL3115A2

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 […]

0.3gr MICRO ALTIMETER VEGA (MAV) WITH BMP280

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 […]

VB.NET SIMPLE STRING OBFUSCATOR SCRAMBLER

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 […]

XYZ 3D PRINTER CARTRIDGE RESET WITH PIC18F2550

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 […]

HOW TO CHECK LOAD CELL BRIDGE RESISTANCE

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 […]

HIGH SPEED (10 HZ) MINI GPS DATA LOGGER WITH MICRO-SD FOR RC-MODELS AND MODEL ROCKETS

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 […]

MAKING POTASSIUM NITRATE FROM CALCIUM NITRATE AND POTASSIUM CHLORIDE

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 […]

MAKING PLATINUM FOIL AND PLATINUM-TITANIUM ANODES FOR PERCHLORATES / PERSULPHATES

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 […]

DIY SPOT WELDER

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 […]

LASER TRIGGER FOR CHRONOGRAPH

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 […]

BAROMETRIC APOGEE SENSOR FOR AMATEUR ROCKETS

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 […]

MINI PIC GPS DATA LOGGER WITH MICRO-SD CARD AND LIPO CHARGER

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 […]

MINI PIC GPS DATA LOGGER WITH MICRO-SD CARD

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 […]

GPS-GSM TRACKER WITH REMOTE SMS CONTROL FOR 2 POWER OUTPUTS AND MINI SIM CARD

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 […]

GPS TO GSM TRACKER WITH 2 POWER OUTPUTS AND REMOTE CONTROL THROUGH SMS

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 […]

SMALL PIC GPS DATA LOGGER WITH SD CARD

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 […]

PWM POWER REGULATOR

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 […]

TINY LOAD CELL AMPLIFIER

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 […]

HIGH RESOLUTION AND ACCURACY CHRONOGRAPH

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 […]

ROCKET THRUST STAND SMALL DAQ SYSTEM

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:   […]

SIMPLE DIY PIC-MICRO DATA LOGGER WITH SD CARD AND 4CH 12B ADC

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 […]

20K SPS, 12B DAQ THRUST STAND WITH SD MEMORY CARD AND SRAM BUFFER

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 […]

SMALL FLIGHT COMPUTER (BREO N)

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 […]

FLIGHT COMPUTER WITH UV APOGEE AND TEMPERATURE SENSORS (BREO UV)

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 […]

MINI FLIGHT COMPUTER (BREO M)

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: […]

JETEX/RAPIER ROCKET MOTOR THRUST STAND

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 […]

VARIABLE POWER FM RADIO TRACKING

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 […]

MINI DIGITAL BAROMETRIC ALTIMETER

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 […]

ROCKET THRUST STAND DAQ SYSTEM WITH GLCD

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 […]

SMALL DIGITAL ACCELEROMETER

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: […]

SMALL DIGITAL BAROMETRIC ALTIMETER

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. […]

UV APOGEE DETECTOR v2

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 […]

UV APOGEE DETECTOR v1

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 […]