Bilbobaker Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 I don't get an effect anything like that from my straight benz rocket, but I'm using strobe tooling. Also, my 3lb'ers don't last nearly as long. Very nice rockets!I just started putting these on you tube. Here you go: I know it's old now but those were some really cool moaning with report rockets.. Thumbs up from me.Bill
shagaKahn Posted April 18, 2011 Posted April 18, 2011 Wandered onto this thread four years late--but is there any chance of a look at this video? (Link in original thread is dead). Thanx a meg. I think this is the best rocket I've ever made. 3 stage 2 pound rocket
dagabu Posted April 18, 2011 Posted April 18, 2011 Look on You Tube, cplmac2 has a lot of videos there.
shagaKahn Posted April 18, 2011 Posted April 18, 2011 Wow I think I actually found it: Thanx dagabu for the nudge.
dagabu Posted April 18, 2011 Posted April 18, 2011 Thanks for posting it!! Its always fun to watch his rockets. Did you know that cplmac is making a 30 gallon ball mill? I bet you cant guess what he is going to be milling in that big mother? I can see him launching 24# rockets some day
jimbo Posted May 1, 2011 Posted May 1, 2011 hi guys,launched my first 24mm ti whistle with a 4inch ballshell this arvo,went a bit too high,getting some 6inch shells soon though more suited to these rockets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wCXHvUWhic
Mumbles Posted May 1, 2011 Posted May 1, 2011 4" to 6" is a big jump. You'll want to do some lifting tests first. A 4" ball shell weighs probably 300-350g maybe. A 6" shell can easily weigh in at 1100-1300g.
jimbo Posted May 2, 2011 Posted May 2, 2011 yeah I'll definetly be doing some payload testing before I go a 6inch,my tooling can lift up to 1500g with the right fuel,it's the tooling from pyro-stuff freakydutchman showed us a video of them launching a 6inch double petal,I had a 1lb with a 3inch shell go horizontal on me and belted into a tree,so I changed my catalyst from iron oxide to copper oxychloride that sorted that out.on my first shells I usually use light charcoal stars to keep the weight of the shell to a minimum and I hide behind something solid so the only real hazard is the fire hazard.
shagaKahn Posted May 2, 2011 Posted May 2, 2011 OK just a WTTW if you're gonna share your videos: disable Auto-Focus on your camera. Set Manual Focus to Infinity then bring it in slightly. The erratic heat signature of pyro thoroughly fuks with the infra-red bounce of a video camera's auto-focus mechanism (in case you're wondering why so many pyro videos on yutoob look like they were shot by the same 2-year-old). If you can't disable Auto-Focus on your camera get a better one or use your cell phone.
jimbo Posted May 2, 2011 Posted May 2, 2011 yeah I thought it was on manual focus but it goes back automatically when you turn it off,I played around with it for awhile and figured it all out now,should I focus it on the fuse burning until it's nice and clear do you think it would still focus the same when the shell breaks in the air.
shagaKahn Posted May 2, 2011 Posted May 2, 2011 Hey jimbo it's the header you want to see in your video after all that work you put into it; we all know what the fuse looks like. Both my digital videocams have a button you can hit that will shoot the focus out to infinity. If your model doesn't have the infinity button, just look at the indicator in the viewfinder and focus out to infinity. The universal symbol for that is a little icon of a mountain. Anything farther out than about 80' the camera sees as "infinity" and that's your best setting for aerial pyro.
jimbo Posted May 2, 2011 Posted May 2, 2011 o.k,I can set to infinity but it seems blurry thats why I wanted to focus on the fuse burn to get the range but I'll set it all the way out and back it off a bit and try what you said.
shagaKahn Posted May 2, 2011 Posted May 2, 2011 Nothing a hundred feet out or so should look blurry when focus is set to infinity. If you focus on the fuse and leave it, almost instantly the rocket's gonna be out of focus. If there's a light somewhere off in the distance where you're shooting (assuming it's nighttime, right?) try focusing on that and just leave it and see if your aerial bursts don't come out in perfect focus.
Peret Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 (edited) A while ago I bought the Skylighter 4oz rocket kit (for a much better price than it costs now). This is a video of a couple of rockets made with that kit. The first one was made according to the instructions - 60:30:10 using the supplied chemicals, mixed with a 40 mesh screen according to the instructions. The second one was made with the same fuel, but ball milled. Both rockets were identical in construction and weight. The second one had some experimental stars that failed to light, but that's a different story. See what a difference ball milling makes. http://www.pyrobin.c...es/2rockets.avi Edit to provide (easier) Edited May 5, 2011 by Peret
shagaKahn Posted May 3, 2011 Posted May 3, 2011 Hey Peret, I too have noticed the fuel's way weak if made as per the skylighter instructions. (Ended up having to spike mine by 1/3 with some hotter BP. Curious: how long did you ball mill your BP? And did you rice it afterwards or just ram it as milled powder? Thanx. And hey thanx for the kool vids. Looks like the Mojave. What a glorious spot to test pyro.
Peret Posted May 4, 2011 Posted May 4, 2011 Hey Peret, I too have noticed the fuel's way weak if made as per the skylighter instructions. (Ended up having to spike mine by 1/3 with some hotter BP. Curious: how long did you ball mill your BP? And did you rice it afterwards or just ram it as milled powder? Thanx. And hey thanx for the kool vids. Looks like the Mojave. What a glorious spot to test pyro. I ball mill it about 2-3 hours, and I did rice it afterward, but it's still dusty. Seeing how fast the milled powder takes off, it's probably about as strong as I dare make it and I wouldn't use a fast charcoal like willow, just standard commercial airfloat. I made some with a different fuel that I found in Hardt, that gives a nice silver tail - Potassium nitrate - 60Charcoal - 22Sulfur - 10Aluminum flake, 20-30 mesh - 8 First three ingredients ball milled 3 hours, then the milling media removed and the aluminum tumbled in for 5 minutes. I didn't rice this and it's very dusty, but I think it's my favorite fuel. There was one unmilled rocket even more pathetic than the first one, that didn't leave the ground at all. It sat there and melted through the tape holding the launch tube, then leaned over sideways - fortunately away from me! - and blew its easter egg header on the ground. As a consolation prize, I could collect the debris and confirm that the egg fragmented nicely. But all the rockets with milled powder took off like bullets and Mrs P, who was filming, couldn't move the camera fast enough to catch them. I recovered a couple of them and the bentonite nozzles were still in good shape.
jimbo Posted May 4, 2011 Posted May 4, 2011 I can't see the vid,only hear the sound and a techno looking screen.
shagaKahn Posted May 4, 2011 Posted May 4, 2011 Peret: "I ball mill it about 2-3 hours, and I did rice it afterward . . . " Sweet; thanx P for that tip. Before I forget: jimbo my experience was same as yours (audio only) then I noticed it was an .avi vile. What worked for me was to rename it an .mpg file. And P you mentioned the missus wasn't able to keep up with the speed of your better rockets; here's a trick that works for me: Don't try to look through the viewfinder or at the LCD screen; lay the camera against your cheek and hold it firm and start recording. As your head tilts up to watch the rocket rise the camera will move with you and "see" pretty much whatever your eyes see. (And of course keep that focus set to Infinity).
Peret Posted May 4, 2011 Posted May 4, 2011 The video is an mpeg4, as I recall. I use VLC Media Player (free) and never give the format a second thought because it plays everything, from DVDs straight from the disk down to .flv files. Don't try to look through the viewfinder or at the LCD screen; lay the camera against your cheek and hold it firm and start recording. As your head tilts up to watch the rocket rise the camera will move with you and "see" pretty much whatever your eyes see. I'll have her try that. Maybe that will fix the other common problem - when I fire a particularly magnificent shell, the camera follows the burning quickmatch leader as it arcs out of the mortar, and totally misses the break.
shagaKahn Posted May 4, 2011 Posted May 4, 2011 > Maybe that will fix the other common problem - when I fire a particularly magnificent shell, the camera follows the burning quickmatch leader as it arcs out of the mortar, and totally misses the break. Sounds like you might be trying to zoom. A wide-field is the better view to capture aerial fireworks. Then you can "zoom" in post when you're editing.
Epyro Posted October 2, 2011 Posted October 2, 2011 Shot this one yesterday for my birthday.> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb-64IYwBl4E.
dagabu Posted October 2, 2011 Posted October 2, 2011 Shot this one yesterday for my birthday.> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb-64IYwBl4E. You dont get much better then that for a small rocket! Nice job Epyro! -dag
NightHawkInLight Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 Nicely done! That really was a glimpse of perfection.
Recommended Posts