Today I successfully launched my first amateur rocket and simultaneously obtained level 1 certification with the National Association of Rocketry.

I launched a Norad Pro Maxx rocket, which is a kit-built rocket from LOC-Precision, with an H-128W-M motor. Winds were heavy (to the point that I felt them pushing against my car as I drove up to the launch site), but we set up the rocket, and hooked it up on the launch pad. Then we waited for a lull in the winds. Waiting, waiting, trying to guess whether or not they're calming down, or if it'll pick back up in a second. Waiting, waiting.... NOW! We launch the rocket! The H motor lights up with a precise roar and shoots for the sky. Burnout occurs quickly, and we watch the rocket as it starts arcing over, travelling further than I thought it would given the 80 degree launch angle. POOF. The ejection charge pushes the parachute out and we have successful recovery system deployment! The wind carries the rocket back over the launch pad and keeps going...

With the help of a couple sharp-eyed members of the Indiana Rocketry Society we found the rocket in a cornfield (of course we found it in a cornfield, this IS Indiana after all) about 0.5-.75 miles from the launch pad (which, by the way, was also in a cornfield!). Everything looks intact, except for a small "zipper" at the parachute attachment point of about 2-3 inches. Slap some 1/16" or 1/32" plywood over that and it'll be good to go again :)

Max altitude recorded: 28942m     Total distance convered: 81.9km     Flight time: 1h 52m
Ability of payload box to withstand impact with the ground at 56 mph after dropping from ~29km without a parachute: surprisingly good!

We conducted another radio range test today. This time I decided to go as far as possible on Union street and just see if it would work at all - this is beyond Line of Sight (LOS).

Surprisingly it did! Total range measured using Google Earth was 4.14 miles.

The test consisted of two moxon antennas. One was hastily constructed using 6 gauge copper wire bent roughly to form, and using a ruler to mark the correct spacing.

The other was precision machines on a CNC router. Unfortunately, the machine screwed up a little bit, so some of the elements are a little mangled, but the spacing between the elements was precise. I was hoping this increased precision would help with signal quality, but it doesn't seem to have had much of an effect. Both antennas were able to successfully receive data from the payload over 4 miles away, in various orientations. Click after the jump to see photos of both antennas