August Meeting Minutes (8/4/2007)
The August 2007 MASA meeting was held on the 2nd at
the Science Museum.
8 people attended the meeting.
- The summer picnic was a big success on July 21.
Attendance was in the high 30's, the weather was nice, and
people had a good time. Over 60 flights were tallied at
the afternoon launch.
- The July 28 launch had beautiful weather and a good turnout
of people.
- The next launch will be on August 25 at Nowthen. The
theme will be Science Fiction & Fantasy rockets. We'll
also have the annual UFO and Comanche-3 drag races.
- The next meeting will be on September 6.
- Meeting topics (and volunteers) are needed for the
September, October, and November meetings!
Show -n- Tell
- Alan Estenson brought along a Semroc Goliath and a Semroc
Aerobee Hi. Both recently completed and flown for the
first time at the July 28 launch.
- Ken Jarosch brought a Quest Courier modified for 24mm
motors. He also brought "Khufu's Pyramid"; he won the kit
at the picnic and just finished building it.
- Tim Barr showed an idea for using the end & cap of a pill
bottle as a motor retainer.
Video Rockets
The topic of the meeting was "video rockets" led by Dwayne Shmel.
Dwayne talked about how he started out with the Estes Oracle
video rocket. He showed a couple videos from his Oracle
flights. After that, he moved up to using the Boostervision
live downlink video system, and he showed some of those videos.
Dwayne brought in the cameras and his handheld
antenna/receiver/camcorder rig. He talked about the types of
cameras and other sources for them than just Boostervision. He
also talked about the various types of antennas that you can use to
improve reception of the signal. Dwayne had prepared handouts
and cd-roms of rocket videos for the meeting attendees.
Download the PDF of Dwayne's handout.
Thanks Dwayne!
Links
http://www.boostervision.com/boostervision/default.asp
http://www.swann.com.au/region/usa/entry/us
MicroCam2 info:
http://www.swann.com.au/s/products/view/?product=347
Antenna source:
http://www.sharperconcepts.net/2.4_ghz_wireless_antennas.php
(Make sure you order a SMA-Male type connector. NOT reverse
polarity.)
http://qdg.sorbs.net/qdgant.htm
Flat patch antennas:
http://www.highgainantennas.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=HG2414
SMA Cables:
http://www.dataaccessories.com/sma.html
Build your own patch antenna:
http://www.rc-cam.com/gp_patch.htm
(Alan Estenson)
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