[NRVR-Members] Tracking Beacon/System Reccomendations?

[Thomas Tweeks Weeks]

I've heard great things about the Egg Timer units.

I really want to get a 70cm APRS based tracker (like the cool stuff Jordan flies).. But it's a bit pricey for me..  (what's all that hardware go for Jordan.. ~$300?)

For my L3, I did a last minute on-site vendor purchase of a cool little, button cell powered, 216MHz beeper (fox and hound style) that was designed for falcon tracking for around $125:
https://marshallradio.com/north-american-falconry-products/north-american-falconry-transmitters/item/122-scout-transmitter 

It's okay.. you can also get 150MHz MURS transmitters for $70-80.  If you don't want to use a BaoFeng + analog meter (for directional gain fox/hounding).. then you can get a nice little dedicated hand held two element (see com-spec link) + wide beam yagi to get basic a basic bearing.. 

These cheaper analog beeper fox/hounds works pretty well for bare bones directionalityt (as long as your rocket doesn't land in a ditch or dip in the ground, then range is severely shortened ;).  Mine claims to xmit 30 miles.. but I think between 1-3mi is more real world.  

One of our vendors sells sa little 216MHz unti for like $75:
https://www.csrocketry.com/electronics/communications-specialists/tracker-rchp.html
more specs + dedicated receivers:
http://www.com-spec.com/law_enforcement/index.html

Also.. here's a good write up on NICER, GPS/APRS trackers.. including this club's growing favorite, the Altus Metrum (if you can afford it):
http://jcrocket.com/gps-tracking.shtml

GPS/APRS tracking is MUCH more cool.. you don't just get a bearing, but a bearing + distance.. or if decoding into a phone+app, you can get cross hairs of your rocket location on google maps. Seen this in action and it's very cool.

Jordan is the authority on this subject.

Hope that helps..

Jordan.. time to do another "Radio in Rockets" talk? :)

Tweeks


On Friday, August 24, 2018 10:49am, "Jordan Truesdell" <jordan at truesdell.org> said:

> _______________________________________________
> NRVR-Members mailing list
> NRVR-Members at mail.nrvr.org
> http://server2.nrvr.org/mailman/listinfo/nrvr-membersI have four - a beacon on
> 70cm, a GPS on 70cm (both BigRedBee), an RF-v16 (GPS tracker over GSM/SMS), and an
> Eggfinder (one which failed before I flew it but after testing, and one still in
> kit form). Any particular questions?
> 
> --
> Jordan
> On 8/24/2018 8:59:59 AM, Captain_Zero Residential School Bus of Ten Forward
> <uss.defiant-a at live.com> wrote:
> I was wondering what folks would reccomend for using as a means of tracking. I've
> looked at a couple of different types and methods, but beyond product descriptions
> and user reviews there are, I'm not too sure on the pros and cons.
> 
> 
> Any suggestions/reccomendations from folks who routinely use tracking systems in
> their stuff?
> 
> 
> Caitlyn A. Stone, KE8FNY
> 
> 
> __
> 
> B.S. Aerospace Engineering
> 
> B.S. Meteorology
> 
> Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Class of 2018
> 
> __
> 
> 
> P.O. Box 73
> 
> Mullens, WV 25882
> 
> __
> 
> 
> castone at vt.edu
> 
> uss.defiant-a at live.com
>