Best Battery

Depends:

- Which altimeter? Different brands consume power at different rates.

- How long do you expect it to sit on the pad waiting to launch?

- The duration of the flight?

- How many Gs?

The best battery might not be the common 9 volt package, but a different battery in a different package.

There was a detailed discussion about batteries on the RDAS mailing list in May. The messages are still online.

Some recommend the Lithium Ultralife 9 volt which can last 3-4 times longer than the standard Alkaline battery, which can be very important if your rocket might sit for 30-60 minutes before it is launched. $8.99 each from Radio Shack. If the altimeter will also power additional equipment, such as a GPS transmitter, then you might need more power, such as a 9 volt, rechargeable, RC-toy battery pack.

Dean

gota agree with GP there, I only trust M3 and then only use them for one flight, why risk £170 rdas for a £3 battery. Use the old ones for Video tx units or camera's

Damian

-- Damian Burrin UKRA 1159 Level 2 EARS 1115

email snipped-for-privacy@ntlworld.com email snipped-for-privacy@ukrocketry.com

9v lithium cells from rat shack.

nearly infinite shelf life (relatively speaking as it has a shelf life of over 10 years)

huge amount of power and it weighs a fraction of what an alkaline weighs.

problem is its expensive.

The way I do it with important electronics is never use the same battery twice. I replace EACH flight and then use the "used" batteries for somethign else such as a camera rocket etc..

Hi,

I have no experience with your hobby. But I thought I would come out of my lurking to suggest someone check out the batteries that come with Polaroid instant film packs. They are lithium and are depleted very little by the camera use as long as they did not span several years of photo taking.

They are very interesting and powerful batteries that are just thrown away.

Well... Back to lurking now. :)

Yours in comparative liberty,

Bill

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 01:59:46 -0400, While I was using pressure to stop the bleeding, "Chris Taylor Jr" posted: .

-- Bill

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition" -- M.Python --.

Many years ago Estes made a PolaPulse launch system that used these batteries. If you went and spent millions to design a battery for rocket launchers, you'd end up with one of these! Always scrounge the old ones out of used film packs. They are great.

Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!