lost rockets and a reflection on costs

I use the same types of beepers in your article. They help but the sound doesn't carry as far as you would think once the bird has landed. Also, it helps to beef them up with Kevlar loops and such. I have had a couple of them fall off - deployment is tough on them.

What has helped me more than anything is a handheld GPS in conjunction with the beeper. It works everytime, so long as you can see it come down and get a compass heading on it. I use the GPS to walk a straight line to it. It gets you close enough to hear the beeper anyhow.

Reply to
J.A. Michel
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I agree that the sound doesn't travel as far as you would think but they're still better than nothing.

Reply to
Phil Stein

Yeah, beepers are often a big help in finding lost rockets. Not a gaurantee, but much better than nothing. Another good idea is to put your name, address, phone and email on the rocket. That way if someone finds it long after you've left, they might contact you.

u
Reply to
raydunakin

I agree, beepers are much better than trying to find a rocket by using the "by gosh and by golly" method. I've tried the BGBG method before, and that's when I end up losing stuff! 8-). It's always advisable to have a recovery plan. (i.e., beepers, rocket hunter, GPS) Stumbling around out in the weeds looking for stuff when you already have that sinking feeling that it's gone for good sucks. That's my least favorite part of the hobby.

Reply to
J.A. Michel

Yeah but there's nothing like that feeling you get when you stumble onto it. 8-)

I have to get a Rocket Hunter one of these days.

Reply to
Phil Stein

Try to convince your club to buy the receiver. (Unless you don't fly with the same club all the time.)

The receiever is pretty darn pricey. Our club owns the receiver and we have at least a dozen transmitters amongst club members. The prefect often loans out his transmitters.

We have never lost a transmitter. We have lost rockets because the transmitter wasn't attached well enough. Two transmitters have been destroyed in lawn darts.

Brian Elfert

Reply to
Brian Elfert

Thanks for the tip.

Reply to
Phil Stein

Van Helsing? ; )

Randy

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Reply to
<randyolb

Get a beeper with a variable tone -- you're less likely to "lose" it amongst background noise. I found (heard) a Pratt Microbeacon a couple hundred feet away, on a reasonably windy day, while I was walking into the wind -- can you say wind noise in your ears?

Something sounded "wrong", so I paused and realized what it was. I then spent another couple of seconds determining the direction and walked right to the rocket.

-Kevin

Reply to
Kevin Trojanowski

I had a Pratt Microbecaon once. I lost it! 8-) A cornfield sucked it up along with my Arreaux, never to be seen again. Corn should be considered the #1 evil arch enemy my any rocketeer! The last time I was forced in to a cornfield, the recovery was a success - thanks to GPS. I woulda lost that one for sure without it.

Reply to
J.A. Michel

The U.S. Rockets Sonoroc beeper was the ultimate cornfield retreiver.

Reply to
Jerry Irvine

Soybeans can be just about as bad as corn. You can see over the tops, but you can't see through them to the ground, and they grab at your ankles and trip you as you walk.

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

Reply to
Bob Kaplow

Wrap tape around the battery holder; if you don't, sometimes the battery pops out.

-Kevin

Reply to
Kevin Trojanowski

Milo is the worst, in my opinion. Stuff tends to fall through it and you can't see through it at all. Soybeans and corn are easier.

-Kevin

Reply to
Kevin Trojanowski

Drainage ditches totally bite the big one. Particulary if one loses their footing on the side of said ditch.

Took 5 washings before my chucks turned green algae back to blue.

Ted Novak TRA#5512 IEAS#75

Reply to
nedtovak

What's milo?

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

Reply to
Bob Kaplow

The guy who was buying and selling stuff in "Catch-22"

David "and everyone will have a share" Erbas-White

Reply to
David Erbas-White

Also called grain sorghum.

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has a picture of the seed head on the cover.

Reply to
David Schultz

Milo is one of my beagles. The other one is named Herbie.

Mario

Reply to
Mario Perdue

Hmmm, alternate universe? I don't remember Milo. Was he the one that dropped out just before they hit it big?

John, Paul, Ringo & George. The Banana Splits did have a member named Fleagle.

; )

Randy

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Reply to
<randyolb

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