gistfile1.txt

[09:46] <ibanezmatt13_> Hi Ed, love the scope, it's awesome! :)
[09:46] <eroomde> great!
[09:46] <eroomde> they're a great tool
[09:47] <eroomde> hope it helps you do more cool things
[09:47] <ibanezmatt13_> yeah. My Dad's getting more and more keen on the rockets too. H'es instructed me to look at the biggest rocket we can get before level 1 certification :P
[09:47] <eroomde> ha!
[09:48] <eroomde> well, probably D motors
[09:49] <eroomde> those are the largest black powder ones (the solid fuel that you can just guy off the shelf)
[09:49] <eroomde> before you get to AP (ammonium perchlorate) that the bigger stuff uses
[09:49] <ibanezmatt13_> that sounds like a start
[09:49] <eroomde> thought I believe H is the thing you need level 1 for
[09:49] <ibanezmatt13_> right, I'll look into it
[09:49] <eroomde> so there's a middle ground between D and H where you can get AP motors, like the one gyros 2 used
[09:49] <eroomde> but you don't need certs
[09:49] <ibanezmatt13_> ah ok
[09:50] <eroomde> but you still might need the RCA document to buy them. the UKRA website would explain it all
[09:50] <ibanezmatt13_> yep, I'll give it a good read. We're quite keen now
[09:50] <ibanezmatt13_> You know when you plug the probes into the 5v outlet on the scope, you get a square wave. My logic of DC voltage was that it would be a constant line like say 5 squares above 0. But instead it's almost like AC but with square waves. (I'm quite new to all this wave stuff really)
[09:50] <eroomde> but yeah, if you just buy a D kit and build that, you'll get an idea of what's involved straight away
[09:50] <eroomde> i recommend a shop called Rockets and Things
[09:51] <eroomde> it's run by a guy called Malcolm Jennings
[09:51] <ibanezmatt13_> ok, sounds like a plan
[09:51] <eroomde> ah, that's not a 5V supply
[09:51] <eroomde> it's deliberate a square wave
[09:52] <ibanezmatt13_> oh, so a 5v DC supply would be a constant line then?
[09:52] <eroomde> it's both a voltage reference (5V) and a time reference (1khz square) so you can use it to test your probes/scope are working
[09:52] <ibanezmatt13_> ah ok. Makes sense
[09:52] <eroomde> yes, 5VDC would just be, as you say, a constant 5V
[09:52] <ibanezmatt13_> got it
[09:53] <eroomde> so yeah, re: rockets, i'd give malcolm jennings a call, say you went to visit us and James Macfarlane at westcott and got the rocket bug, and that you'd like him to recommend a first kit that can take a D, and maybe has a decent payload bay that you could get a credit-card sized flight computer into
[09:53] <eroomde> he'll be able to sort you out
[09:53] <ibanezmatt13_> that sounds like a good idea. Thanks
[09:54] <eroomde> that should hopefully teach you everything you need to get going. simpler rockets like these have a charge in the top of the motor that fires up into the rocket tube after a delay of a few seconds
[09:55] <eroomde> that's how they deploy the parachutew
[09:55] <ibanezmatt13_> ok, and do these kits come with deployable chutes?
[09:55] <eroomde> bigger ones tend to use flight computers to replay the parachute based on altitude
[09:55] <eroomde> yes, the kits usually come with everything you need
[09:55] <eroomde> except the motors which you buy separately in packs
[09:55] <eroomde> they're single use and disposable
[09:55] <ibanezmatt13_> cool, all sounds very exciting!
[09:55] <eroomde> it is!
[09:56] <eroomde> also, i reckon you could make a rocket flight simulator
[09:56] <eroomde> :)
[09:56] <ibanezmatt13_> you mean something I could put on a flight computer or like a game on the PC?
[09:57] <ibanezmatt13_> The former sounds more exciting
[09:57] <eroomde> and estimate the max altitude and so on
[09:58] <ibanezmatt13_> on a real flight?
[09:58] <eroomde> anyway, gotta run!
[09:58] <eroomde> yes on a real flight
[09:58] <ibanezmatt13_> cool, have fun!
[09:58] <eroomde> so if you know the rocket weight, it's Cd, the motor you were using etc, then after lesson 1 you could in theory know enough to write a bit of python that would show you the flight path
[09:58] <ibanezmatt13_> so a rocket predictor
[09:58] <ibanezmatt13_> awesome
[09:58] <eroomde> yep
[09:59] <ibanezmatt13_> go do some work :P
[09:59] <eroomde> ok willdo
[09:59] <eroomde> good luck!
[09:59] <ibanezmatt13_> see you later
[09:59] <eroomde> http://www.rocketsandthings.com/
[09:59] <eroomde> malcolm jennings
[09:59] <ibanezmatt13_> already on it
[09:59] <eroomde> lovely old guy
[09:59] <ibanezmatt13_> got his number
[09:59] <eroomde> great
[09:59] <eroomde> see you