I just left the Hobby People in Fountain Valley, CA. They had the Estes Hydrogen Rocket on the shelf, for $39.99 (actual product, not just an ad). Also, the Quest Micro-Max Super-Value kit has been reduced from $39.99 to $29.99. For this, you get a launcher, launch pad, ten Micro-Max rockets, and 50 engines/ignitors.
David Erbas-White
That is an amazing value for any product with that many components.
I bought 3 of the Quest kits 3 weeks ago at Hobby Lobby (the craft store) during the "50% off rocket kits and starter sets" for $20.00 each. We broke one down and went to the park. The rockets are well thought-out and include one of each of the rockets that were offered in the series. The recovery devices are a joke however. 1" squares of wadding that are crumpled up inside a 1/2" tube don't work very well, much less a tube that is 1/4". And the streamers that were wound the stick under the nosecone were a joke. We tried the recommended methods but we found it best to just launch each rocket sans recovery device. Once lit, the motors performed flawlessly and since it was almost a windless day, each rocket landed within 75' of the launch rod. One problem though--the igniters suck. 50 motors--50 igniters. For my HPR igniters that's fine, but unfortunately we only got 27 motors to light using the supplied igniters and a fresh 9V battery. We were careful to make sure that the igniter fit inside the tiny nozzle, even going as far as to pinch the igniter almost where it was shorted. The 'duds' were due to burned igniters every time. I have some larger nichrome wire that I'll use for our next outing that should perform well with these motors, as we have
23 of these small motors to burn. If you get a chance to buy one of these kits--do it. It's well worth your time and effort.One common problem is caused by connecting the micro clips and 'pulling' on the igniter wires. You see, if you pull down on the wires, the nice "V" of nichrome is pulled down and away from the propellant inside the motor.
I suggest snapping off the tiny plastic tabs at the bottom (where the bottom of the iginter wires are curved around). Then you can push the iginter up a tiny bit and still get a good connection with the micro clips.
After I showed some kids this trick they had 100% success.
This package is quite a deal!
If you need replacement igniters, contact Quest or you can simply bend a 1" bit of nichrome - use 32 ga. or thinner. The Quest 9 volt controller will easily heat up 32 ga nichrome:
Has anyone seen the Quest micro-max super-value kit anywhere in the state of North Carolina? I hate not being able to find one!
Commonwealth Displays has them, if you don't mind going mail-order. Hmm...I couldn't find them on the website, but I know they have a few.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.