Bob Space

The things that change in this hobby. I grew up thinking chemically-treated tissue paper wadding was the way to protect recovery systems from the hot products of the ejection charge. It’s still in all the model instructions and starter sets and all.

But it seems that very few clubs like tissue wadding. In fact, large clubs ban tissue wadding and mandate the use of cellulose insulation as wadding. This is a building material made mostly from shredded newspaper, with chemical fire retardants added. It’s apparently easier and more reliable to handle, and it biodegrades much more quickly than tissue. Also, when it falls from the sky into turf, it disappears! (From sight, anyway.) It has the colloquial name “dog barf” in the rocketry community, but it doesn’t really resemble anything I’ve ever seen a dog throw up. Which is just as well.

I bought a bale (yes, bale) of it yesterday. Apparently this is enough to last a medium-sized lifetime of rocketry. All for $12 plus tax. And the clubs that mandate its use sell it to the barf-deprived at several dollars for a gallon bag. There’s a nice racket (and still far cheaper to the consumer than tissue).

I’ve put most of the bale into a big green storage tub. The rest is in a cat litter bucket for taking to the range. Seems like that’s how I’m organizing most of my field supplies these days: cat litter buckets. But, what the hey. Buy seven bucks of cat litter, get a free four-gallon bucket with lid. Too bad the Mantis pad won’t fit into such a thing. I’ll have to dig up a disused sports bag for that one.

Meanwhile, most of my paper wadding (and I have a lot) will get donated to the 4-H afterschool program. Along with an LED bulb and a couple of easy-to-build rocket model kits.

Now we just hope tonight�s thundershowers don�t render the range an icky-sticky mess for the morning.

So here’s the story. At the beginning of the year, Quest introduced the Q2G2 igniter, a gorgeous little apparatus with long INSULATED leads and a really aggressive kick for ignition. The insulation eliminates 90% of igniter failures, the very energetic ignition takes care of most of the rest, the lead length makes them ideal for cluster applications … just a wonderful new design.

But the instructions say “DESIGNED FOR USE WITH THE QUEST 9V LAUNCH CONTROLLER.” And they mean it. If you try to use one with an Estes Electron Beam launch controller, the igniter will fire when you push the Safety Key in for your circuit test. There’s about 185 milliamps of current flowing during that circuit test, more than enough to set off the Q2G2.

So somehow you need to reduce the current flow if you want to use Q2G2 and an Estes controller. This usually involves replacing the lamp bulb with an LED, a buzzer, a resistor, or some combination of the three. It also tends to involve substantial kitbashing, soldering, etc. — skills which I do not have. Fortunately, I found another solution: LED Bulbs.

An LED Bulb is an LED, with current limiting resistor and with polarity-shuffling bridge circuit, wrapped in a traditional lightbulb chassis. They are very much the rage with car buffs who are swapping out older, harder to find incandescent bulbs for long-lived, low energy consumption LEDs. LED Bulbs work perfectly well as replacements for the light bulb in the Electron Beam controller: they give good light, they don’t run the battery down as quickly, AND they limit the current flow so that the controller becomes safe to use with all Estes and Quest igniters (and maybe even other brands of igniters and electric matches).

DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with Super Bright LEDs in any way except as a customer. I receive no discounts or other compensation for this endorsement. The bottom line is, Super Bright LEDs has the best prices I’ve found on LED Bulbs … $1.98 for the part plus $5 (minimum) shipping/handling per order is WAY worth it to me to avoid the aggravation of learning to solder or not being able to use my equipment in some configurations.

SECOND DISCLAIMER: This solution in no way invalidates Quest Aerospace’s statement: “Please note that since [Q2G2 igniters] are very low current igniters (120ma fire current), some model rocket launch controllers can set them off during continuity tests. Be sure to test your model rocket launch controller, by connecting an igniter to your controller before inserting it into the model rocket engine (motor) to make sure it does not prematurely activate when you insert your safety key and/or when you perform a continuity check.” So … if you try this solution, TEST it yourself first! I decline all responsibility for outcomes good or bad if you take my advice. Isn’t that lovely? Hmm?

I bought “white” replacement bulbs, but they’re available in blue, green, red, amber … and ultra violet (“black light”), though what good that does in this application I have no idea. The amber draws the highest current … at 21 milliamps. The rest are all under 20 milliamps.

The products are here. The basic bulbs are the BA9s-[] LED bulbs, where [] is the code letter for your color. The 4-LED bulbs are just overkill, and the “wide view” bulbs actually have less field of view than the basic bulb. Select the appropriate operating voltage for your launcher — 6V for the Estes Electron Beam or “E”, 12V if you have an older or more robust system like the old Estes Solar with external power clips.

I’ve fitted all the Estes launchers for the 4-H Club with these, and they work splendidly for me. They stand a little taller than the old glass bulb, but it’s a sturdy solid-state component so it should put up with the knock-about in your range box. And you can bet I’m going to use these in any future home-made launch gear.

As reported by the Groknard, I’m now ready for folks who might want to playtest my EZFudge rules extensions for Star Trek (original series). Drop me a line at nvdaydreamer (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll send you the package.

C’mon, you can do this! The core rules are only 16 pages. The Final Frontier add-on is only 16 pages. And I’m throwing in more paper toys than you can shake a Horta at.

… to my dear friend Gary, with whom I grew up and who relocated to the Pacific Northwest a couple years back. We don’t see each other often, but our bond of common interests, attitudes, and lunacies never wanes.

Have a sweet one, bro’. Life’s pretty darn good, really.

Yup, continuing to finally activate features that have been available to me for three years … I have a Gallery installation running. It currently has 10 pics of indifferent value. See for y’self at Seen Around The Manor

Yup, Hart County (KY) 4-H Team 3 cracked the top ten in the Team America Rocketry Challenge finals this year! 98 teams attended at Great Meadow, in The Plains, Virginia, to test themselves against each other for over $60,000 worth of nifty scholarships and other awards. (Congratulations, of course to the winners from Madison, WI. Between the Mallards, John Kovalic, and this, Madison can’t get any cooler.)

This year’s challenge, if you forgot, was to put a raw egg positioned sideways (long axis perpendicular to flight axis) to 750 feet and return it unbroken in 45 seconds. 8 first round flights were disqualifed for payload breaks. Most of the flights took place on F and G motors, but there were brave souls using E, and clusters of D, motors as well. After the first round of flights, the top 20 performances were given a second flight. The top ten after two flights got places 1-10; the other ten were placed 11-20 based on their first flight scores only. 1 egg went bye-bye during the second round. (Their time suggests a recovery system failure.)

Congrats to all the teams. What will the goal be next year? We’ll find out this fall. http://www.rocketcontest.org is the place with the news.

Yep, it’s ketchup time again. What goes on, then? Well, finally turning on the yard sprinkler system, now that it looks like frost and snow really are finally out of the picture. Lawn feeding, overseeding, edge trimming. More fence repair. The rocketry projects.

Bowling night went well. Broke 100 in the first game. In my middle game I bowled a scratch 165, the second best game of my life. Third game, yeah, a little tired and disorderly, only 95 (good finish, though). Fairly typical pattern for me, which I hope will improve as my stamina and awareness do.

It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to manage a third cinema viewing of Star Trek. Too many other things to do, and my excuse (aka eldest child) isn’t sufficiently interested to be a valid alibi. Ah, well. DVD will be along in the fall, and you can bet I’ll snare a two-disc collector’s edition if such is marketed.

EZFudge: Final Frontier will not incorporate specific rules for the alternate timeline, or for starship construction and combat. Yes, I’m just that lazy. And no one’s pounding on my door demanding to playtest, so I don’t care. (I’ll include links to the stuff that would have inspired my starship rules and leave it at that.)

I’ve finally levered the family into the digital age: our household activity planning calendar has moved online. I’m actually starting to make more use of the software tools that are free as part of our hosting package. Maybe I’ll even fire up the photo gallery soon.

Last week I came up with a neat way to do my rocketry log stuff: I designed a PocketMod. Records will now move from the one-per-model pocket folders that I was using to a single pocket sheet protector which can carry the PocketMod sheets, instructions, and etc. content. And (so far) everything then fits into a single binder. Probably need to make it a zippered binder so things don’t fall out so readily if it gets upside-down…

I still haven’t been out to check the dry lake launch site, but we’re pencilling for a demo launch event on the 30th. I’m making good progess on the projects I want to fly: one model completed, two more to do (and only one of those needs paint, and it’s a half-rocket — the booster for the Astra), and four launch controllers to modify for better utility and safety. I’m hoping I can make this as simple as replacing the incandescent bulb with an LED bulb assembly.

That’s enough for now!

(possibly the last for a while, at least in this venue)

As observed by David Gerrold in the mid-70s, Star Trek (1966-69) was never about the future — it was about contemporary men dealing with contemporary issues in futuristic costume. That was explicitly one of Gene Roddenberry’s goals, since he couldn’t get meaningful discussion past the censors when it was clothed in everyday attire. (Is that metaphor entirely threadbare now? Not yet? Okay.)

Abrams & Co. had an intent to update the costume for Star Trek (2009) … after all, lots of us have real fliptop communicators these days. But what sorts of contemporary issues or universal values were sitting underneath?

I’m thinking: very little. That’s not a dig … this film had so much on its plate, its a miracle that it hit as many good notes as it did. You could make the argument that this film is saying something about friendship or destiny or both. Honestly, though, the film tore along so quickly that it didn’t even allow for quiet individual character moments, let alone discussion of the eternal verities.

I hope the next film can come back to that, and leaven the action sequences with our characters showing their thinking, expressing their internal conflicts, and generate let us get into the characters a little more, rather than just looking at them.

The next film also needs to get back to a smaller scale of story. Every movie cannot be about saving Civilization As We Know It. Even Jack Bauer gets a day off now and then. You could make a good case for the classic Star Trek story being “helping someone else in spite of themselves.” (Another one is “meeting a godlike force,” but that one’s so overused I can’t imagine anyone going near it for years.) So it’s time to let the Enterprise and her merry crew bring enlightenment to some wrong-headed culture … and learn some things about themselves (and us) in the process.

So, not only did I succeed in getting into the opening day audience for Star Trek (which wasn’t all that crowded at mid-day), I did it TWICE (again busy but not packed in prime time), something I’ve never done with any film. Why? Because my first thought on leaving the theater was “Wow.” and the second was “How do I get my best friend (aka The Lady of the Manor) to see this?”) It worked out that the only time available for such a thing was last night, so after a scant fifteen-minute turn around from work for her, I hauled her to the movie theater.

She liked it, too, and I was able to share some of my observations and glee with her afterward.

I want to go back to my three points and tag up. (One teeny spoiler at the very end.)

Social circumstances. It turned out that a co-worker and his wife and his father decided at the last minute to see the film, at the same showing I was going to. I was able to expeditite their ticket purchase and enjoy their company before and during the show. That was nice. I’ve never ever liked being alone in a crowd, even a crowd of friends, so thank you Chad, Michelle and Dan for being part of this experience with me.

When I got home, there was e-mail waiting from a friend in Brooklyn, NY who wants to hash over the movie with me. Looking forward to that, RG, whenever we get the time.

Starships and the Symbology there-of? Well, I was right about the new model: it films very well. I’m amused that the disc section seems to be all corridors and the engineering section seems to be all pipes. I’ll give this a passing grade, but not more, because any romance with the starship (Pike gets a couple of good lines) was totally sacrificed in the name of keeping the plot going.

Family? Again, passing grade. The film starts with a few relationships established, builds the fouindations for several … it can’t really do more than that. The next film should have them as a good working team. I don’t ever think this crew and this audience can have the experience that will generate the family sensation (which I sense is tied to the repetition experience inherent in television production). And, on the local level, I got my interested family to see it, so I still have that to share.

Did I like the movie? Oh, my, yes. Is it a perfect movie? Oh, heck, no. Ebert’s already thrashed the science, some of my other friends have complained about the coincidence level. Some complain about the camera work. I lament the weak science (TOS often tried hard to keep the science sensible without drowning the audience in babbly details the way later shows did), but the rest is not worth getting worked up about. Minor flaws and all, it’s still a rip-roaring picture and a fine addition to the Star Trek library.

Is it My Trek? No, and we knew it wouldn’t be. But it’s a Trek I can cheerfully ride along with.

What will this mean for EZFudge Final Frontier? I don’t know. Since I’ve received scant replies from playtester/reviewers, and since some characters (in game terms) would have quite different write-ups between the “Prime” and “K25″ timelines … I don’t know. (Sorry about that spoiler.) Suggestions welcome.

I told you I was shallow.

I wrapped up the last post on that note because, frankly, I thought I’d gone on long enough and it seemed like what everyone would expect said. And then, working on some dishes in the kitchen, I realized what the Starship really meant to me (in addition to those other things):

Family.

I’m not going to rehash my entire life story, or my feelings of borderline abandonment. And I certainly have no lack of family in my life at present. But if the new Star Trek movie cannot convince me that these characters are at least on their way to becoming the crew-family we know … then I won’t be able to buy it, whatever else happens.

If that happens, it’s okay. I’ve still got my (now abbreviated) collection, and my Remastered DVDs. Other people can make the voyages with the new crew, and I wish them well.