From: jack@rml.UUCP (jack hagerty)
Newsgroups: rec.models.rockets
Subject: Re: Changes to FAQ
Keywords: FAQ
Date: 13 Oct 92 06:29:47 GMT
Reply-To: jack@rml.UUCP (jack hagerty)
Organization: Robotic Midwives, Ltd.

In article <1992Oct12.141548.25338@rsd0.rsd.dl.nec.com> buzz@rsd.dl.nec.com (Buzz McDermott) writes:
>
>            NOTICE OF CHANGE IN THE FORMAT OF THE R.M.R FAQ
>
>The r.m.r FAQ will be undergoing a major change beginning with the 
>November posting.  Jack Hagerty (jack@lll-winken.llnl.gov) has been kind
>enough to assume some of the FAQ responsibilities.  

Yeah, like I know what I'm doing :-)

First off, my address is better written jack@rml.com (the above will
probably get here, though).

>    FAQ.payloads    (all new) will include information on cameras, video,
>                     telemetry, and other payloads

This is the one I've stepped into by virtue of having written a summary
on camera payloads for Buzz last week. Right now, it consists of just
film and video camera payloads in a sort of digest format. I'll attach
it at the end so you all can see what I've got so far.

What I really need is some input on the different types of payloads
you all would like to see covered and some examples (preferably 
documented and or published in a reference available to other netters).

Here's what I have so far. Please note the holes where I need help
with names, etc.

- Jack


-----------------------------

Camera Payloads - [Note: this section is new to the FAQ. Any corrections 
or additions greatly appreciated. Send them to jack@rml.com]

Cameras are the most often flown payloads (after eggs and bugs :-)
because they hit us where we live. No other payload lets us see the
flight from our rocket's point of view. Some of the products and
techniques that have been tried and/or are still available are:

1.0 Commercial Cameras (chronological order):
	
1.1 Camroc - The first purpose-designed rocket camera. Designed by Estes and 
   sold from 1965 to 1974. A marvel of simplicity, it was patterned after 
   several homebrew cameras of the early '60s (see 2.1.1). It was simply a 
   cylindrical body that held the film topped by a hemispherical nose that 
   was flattened off to accept the optical window which the forward facing 
   lens looked through. One shot per flight on "Astropan 400" (Kodak Tri-X) 
   cut into a 1 1/2" dia. round negative. Easy to process at home. Extremely 
   valuable on the collector market.

1.2 Cineroc - Estes' second foray into camera payloads, the Cineroc was *much*
   more sophisticated than the Camroc. This was a full bore 8mm movie camera 
   crammed into a package not much bigger than it's predecessor (although 
   more aerodynamic). The lens looked aft via a hooded mirror and it shot 
   ~15 sec worth of flight time at 2X speed (30 sec projection time) on 
   Super 8 Ektachrome 400 color film housed in a custom cartridge.  Intro-
   duced with much fanfare in 1969, it lasted only 5 years before its plug 
   was pulled in 1974. 

   The official reason for its early demise, still lamented to this day, was 
   that the small electric motor it used went out of production. However, 
   in a conversation with Mike Dorffler (the designer) he revealed that the 
   product was killed by a combination of events that occurred over a very
   short (2 month) period in early '74: the motor went out of production,
   Eveready stopped making the tiny "N" batteries, Kodak changed the formula 
   of the film which couldn't be accommodated by the custom lab doing their 
   processing and, the coup de' gras, a technician dropped the mold for 
   making the custom lens.

1.3 Astrocam 110 - Another Estes product and something of a combination of the 
   previous two. Reverting to the still format, the Astrocam was designed 
   around a stock 110 cartridge. It took multiple shots per roll of 400 
   speed color print film, but still only one frame per flight. The lens 
   looked out through a hooded mirror (like the Cineroc) but this time looking 
   forward (like the Camroc). Image quality was marginal due to the plastic 
   lens and small format, but the film can be developed anywhere (although the 
   prints are reversed). A very long lived product, it lasted from it's 1979 
   introduction until early 1992, and literally thousands are still in use.

1.4 Other commercial camera payloads - California Consumer Aeronautics (San 
   Diego, CA) sells a very small Super 8 movie camera suitable for HPR 
   payloads, but it's not a ready-to-fly system. Cotriss Technology (San 
   Jose, CA) specializes in rocket photography, and sells a complete HPR 
   still camera system (including rocket) called the Observer. Hans Schneider 
   (Plainsboro, NJ) runs a rather crude ad in the _Tripolitan_ offering an 
   HPR based B&W video broadcast system (including rocket) for a hefty $385.
   Note: I have had dealings with none of these companies. Proceed at your
   own risk. Address and phone info in the "address" section.

=============================

2.0 Homebrew cameras and techniques:

2.1 Still Cameras 

2.1.1 Historic - The intensity of interest in camera payloads can be seen by 
   how early they were flown. According to Stine (Handbook, 2nd Edition) 
   the first documented camera payload was flown by Lewis Dewart in 1961. 
   Lewis simply strapped a tiny Japanese novelty camera to the side of a model.
   The shutter was tripped by the nose cone separating.  Shortly after that, 
   Dennis Guill upped the sophistication by taking the shutter and lens of a 
   similar camera and mounting it on a plastic tube that just fit inside a 
   rocket body tube with the lens facing forward. It used sheet film cut into 
   a circular negative and the cocked shutter was released by a lanyard (a 
   shoelace!) at ejection (sound familiar?). It was an aerodynamic nightmare,
   but Estes saw enough promise to develop it into the Camroc.

2.1.2 The present wealth of lightweight, autowind cameras on the market makes
   it relatively easy to design a sequence camera that shoots a whole roll
   of film on a flight. A crude-but-effective setup was developed by Peter 
   Alway and described in Vol 3, No 2 issue of _T-5_ (the HUVARS newsletter). 
   Peter took a cheap autowind 110 camera and came up with a simple arrangement
   of a motor, a stick and some bits of wire to repeatedly trip the shutter.
   This setup was flown on an "E" motor.

2.1.3 A similar, but more sophisticated, system was detailed in the March/April
   1992 issue of AmSpam. Steve Roberson made his design HPR based to give him
   power to boost a high quality 35mm camera to significant altitudes. He took 
   a relatively expensive Olympus autowind camera and triggered it with a very 
   solid (but simple) cam-and-lever mechanism. A nice feature of this camera is 
   that it automatically rewinds the film into the can at the end of the roll 
   which would enhance its survivablity in the event of a crash. A tribute to 
   Steve's design and flying skills is that the camera and rocket were retired, 
   intact, after 22 High Power flights (H & I motors).

2.1.4 A recent variation on this theme was flown by Bob (I forget the last name)
   at NARAM 34 last August. He had found a brand of compact 35mm camera which
   comes equipped with "sequence" mode (i.e. it keeps shooting at ~1 fps as 
   long as the shutter is pressed). Additionally, the shutter is electronic so 
   that all it takes is a contact closure to activate (no more moving parts). 
   Bob had switches at several places on the rocket to trigger the camera 
   either as it cleared the launch rod, or at payload separation. He also used 
   a recovery harness to keep the lens pointed at the ground during descent.

2.1.5 Another very involved HPR camera project by Ray Dunakin was covered in
   four parts (and counting) by _The Tripolitan_ over the first 4 issues 
   of 1992, but is too involved to even summarize here.

2.1.6 Several r.m.r readers have announced projects to convert cheap film-box
   cameras into payloads, but none have posted their results yet. One
   ambitious soul (name please!) is even attempting to add film advance/shutter 
   trip mechanism to make a sequence system. We'll keep you posted.

2.2 Movie Cameras 

2.2.1 Historic - The first model rocket movie camera was flown by Charles 
   and Paul Hans and Don Scott in 1962. A heavy spring-wound Bosley 8mm camera
   was crammed into a payload section and lofted by an early "F" motor. The 
   story is still recounted by Stine in the most current edition of the 
   Handbook. (Note: Paul Hans currently works for ISP/Aerotech).

2.2.2 Due to the greater difficulty of adapting a movie camera, and relatively
   easy access of Cinerocs, not too many homebrew movie cameras have been 
   flown, compared to still cameras. I'd be happy to include documented 
   examples here, if you send me the references.

3.0 Video - This is a brand new area with much work going on, but little success
   to report. There are two ways of returning video from a rocket: record and 
   broadcast. 
   
3.1 Record - Following the lead of film cameras, attempts have been made to
   fly stripped camcorders (using HPR, obviously!) to record the flight on 
   board. Video tape recording, however, is a very delicate technology and the 
   accelerations encountered in rocket flight jiggle, dislodge and otherwise 
   move the tape all over the recording heads in a disruptive manner. To date, 
   *no one* has made this system work.

3.2 Broadcast - Broadcast video has had more success, but complicates the 
   process by adding a whole new technology. While the components that ride 
   in the rocket have no moving parts, you must add transmitters and antennae 
   to you vehicle, plus receivers and recorders to your GSE.  License-less 
   video broadcasting is allowed by the FCC, but the power limitations raise 
   more problems. Omni directional broadcast antennae are easy to track, but 
   the signal strength drops off *fast* (inverse square law).  Directional 
   antennas concentrate the signal, but require that you track the rocket, or 
   hope that it doesn't go too far off course! The HUVARS group is working on 
   this technology, and the _Tripolitan_  is promising an article on it RSN :-)


=============================================================================
||Jack Hagerty, Robotic Midwives, Ltd.                 jack@rml.com        ||
||Livermore, CA		           NOTE! New, improved address! ^^^        ||
||(510) 455-1143	            (old ones will still work)             ||
||-------------------------------------------------------------------------||
|| October '92 - Congress overrides President Bush's veto of               ||
||                     the cable industry regulation bill                  ||
|| November '92 - Viacom raises rates (5th time in 5 years)                ||
=============================================================================
Newsgroups: rec.models.rockets