On this episode, our guest is Vance Martin, an amateur radio operator who goes under the callsign N3VEM.

Martin became involved in rocketry as a kid in the typical way; seeing model rockets at the local hobby shop, and discovering the hobby with a friend. 

As he moved into middle and high school, he discovered mid and high power rocketry through  online rocketry communities. 

While in college he built a PML 1/4 Scale Patriot rocket to use for his Level One, but was unable to find a nearby club to certify, so his L1 rocket sat collecting dust over the years.   

After college, Vance discovered ham radio, and earned his amateur radio callsign N3VEM, and built  a portable station in his vehicle so that he could play radio while being out and on the road for work. 

As seems to be a pre-requisite for Ham Radio, Vance also became a software and hardware 'tinkerer', so for him, building radio-related projects turned out to be a lot of fun, and is still what he calls his 'primary hobby.'

Vance became a Born-Again-Rocketeer about a year ago, when his two older kids found the Patriot rocket stashed in the corner of the family storage room.  They asked 'What is this!?!'  "...and just like that" says Vance " we started building up a fleet of little Estes kits." 

Vance decided that it would be fun to combine the two hobbies, and start tinkering with radio and electronic payloads for their rockets. "I knew that 'off the shelf' stuff was available, but being a tinkerer, I wanted to build my own." he recalls.  

He continues. "I wanted to target mid-power sized rockets with my projects, since I still live in the same town, and still don't have easy access to a club with a high-power launch site."

Vance enjoys his hobbies, and is having fun, saying "I'm still very much a rocketry noob, but I'm having a blast dabbling around with building the rockets, and hacking around at hardware and software for the rockets' payloads."

Vance's website is :

 https://n3vem.com/blog/RadioRocketV2/

Are you really 'GO' to use your full FAA waiver?

Greg Young shares his experiences with this topic, and what he learned is an eye opening education for all rocketeers!

About our guest...Greg shares his background in rocketry...

My rocketry experience started in 1961, at the ripe old age of 10years, when I ordered, built and flew rockets from Estes Industries. Try as I may, I was not successful at getting local hobby shops to carry rocketry supplies at that time, as the owners felt they were dangerous fireworks. 

My flying continued until taking a hiatus during my college, and then post graduate years. When my oldest daughter expressed an interest in rockets (while in 3rd grade) my flying resumed. I joined NAR, and TRA at that time and formed a local rocketry club, the Southtown's Amateur Rocket Society (STARS).

When my youngest daughter left middle school for high school, I wound up taking another hiatus, and the club disbanded.

My flying hiatus ended when my grandchildren expressed interest in rocketry. I rejoined NAR and TRA, and decided to go through the official high power certification program (something not required back in the 1980's when I flew) and am currently a level 3 flier.

I have been involved in 2 NY rocketry groups, one in Geneseo, the other in Penn Yan, and have served from 2016 through the end of 2022 as a member of board of directors, the VP, the waiver holder, the RSO and also served the Prefect of the former for part of that time. I have served on the planning committees for LDRS 34, NSL 2018, and NARAM 62, and during those launches was involved on the field running the range safety operations.

Currently I have been involved with local youth (high school and college age primarily), and officially have mentored several school ARC teams which have gone to nationals, and most recently a high school team who was chosen to participate in the 2023 NASA student launch initiative and went on to the nationals in Huntsville.

I am hoping to get time to be able to fly more, and mentor more student groups going forward. They are, after all, our future...

The Rocketry Show team talk NSL West 2023 with Ed Lacroix and Matt Abbey.

Jeff Kodysz was a very talented rocketeer. His talents stretched from 3D printing, Lazer Etching, and he had a knack with making logos. He created the current logo for The Rocketry Show that you look at everytime you visit our website or listen to one of our episodes.

Jeff passed away a few weeks ago after a short battle with illnesses. He will be missed by his friends, family, and us.

We are all glad to have known him.

CG stops by to give a quick update on technical changes some of you may have noticed, and what that means.

The team talk about Narcon 2023, and we review this year’s calendar of big launch events so far…

In the first episode of Season 9, we talk to Joe Pfeiffer of the Open rocket team, diving a bit deeper into the program’s features, and some use case items for advanced and High power rocketry.

The full Rocketry Show team assemble to drop the latest news updates from the hobby

AeroTech/Quest News

AeroTech RMS K750ST-PS Rocket Motor Reload Kit New Product Information Release 7/11/22

AeroTech/Quest is pleased to announce the Tripoli certification and immediate availability of our new RMS Reloadable Motor System K750ST-PS rocket motor reload kit, AeroTech’s 2nd rocket motor reload kit designed to use the single-grain RMS-75/1280 hardware.

Perfect for heavy rockets launched from small fields, the K750ST-PS delivers 1,298.7 N-Sec (292.0 lb.- Sec.) of total impulse with a 1.74 burn time and an all-up weight in motor hardware of 4.29 lb. (1,945.9 g). It’s also a great booster for two-stage rockets, and features AeroTech’s aerospace-grade Super Thunder (ST) propellant formulation with a burn rate midway between Blue Thunder and Warp-9 propellant types. The K750ST-PS generates a peak thrust of 835.7 N (187.9 lb.) with an average thrust of 746.6 N (167.9 lb.). Super Thunder propellant displays a bright blue flame with prominent Mach diamonds and little smoke. 

Although the K750ST-PS produces tracking smoke, it is a “plugged” motor that does not include an ejection charge and requires the utilization of an electronically-activated recovery system.

• Diameter: 75mm (2.95”)
• Length: 266.7mm (10.5”)
• Propellant: Super Thunder
• Total Impulse: 1,298.7 N-Sec. (292.4 lb.-Sec.) Burn Time: 1.7 Seconds
• Peak Thrust: 835.7 N (187.9 lb.) Delay Time: Plugged
• Propellant Weight: 595 g (1.3 lb.) Loaded Weight: 1,947.5 g (4.3 lb.)

California State Fire Marshal classification and approval has been granted for the K750ST-PS RMS Reload Kit. It ships with a standard FirstFire Initiator, has a suggested retail price of $157.99 each and may be purchased by consumers 18 years of age or older with a minimum Level 2 NAR or TRA Certification, or by educational institutions, government agencies and licensed commercial entities.

They are discontinuing several 24mm reloads as well as their 18mm and 32mm Glider motors typically used for gliders.  

Here is the list of discontinued motors: 

• 33400 C3.4T-P 18mm RMS-R/C (3-pak)
• 33400-12 C3.4T-P 18mm RMS R/C (12-pak)
• 40700 D7-RCT 24mm RMS R/C (3-Pak)
• 42300 D2.3T-P 18mm RMS R/C (3-Pak)
• 42300-12 D2.3T-P 18mm RMS R/C (12-Pak)
• 51103 E11-3J 24mm RMS (3-Pak)
• 51200 E12-RCJ 24mm R/C (3-Pak)
• 61203 F12-3J 24mm RMS (3-Pak)
• 91321 RMS-32/60-100 R/C Motor
• 91613 F13-RCT 32mm R/C (2-Pak)
• 91616 F16-RCJ 32mm R/C (2-Pak)
• 91712 G12-RCT 32mm R/C (2-Pak)

Though it is being discontinued for general retail, Gary Rosenfield notes that the D2.3T will be produced for international competition use as needed.

The NAR Contest Board is pleased to announce the NRC events for the 2022-2023 Contest Year:

• A Altitude
• A Payload
• A Boost/Glide Duration
• A Streamer Duration
• B Eggloft Duration
• 1/4A Parachute Duration

These events have been selected by the NAR Contest Board and the NARAM Contest Director per Sporting Code rule 13.1.3.  The 2022-2023 Contest Year starts on July 23, 2022 and ends on the last day of NARAM.  NRC flying ends June 30, 2023.

Dan Wolf

NAR Contest Board Chair

The 2021-2022 RCP process concluded as of June 15, 2022 and the results of the ballot are as follows.  Appendix “D” in the sporting code states that proposals must receive a 51% yes vote in order for the proposal to become a part of the sporting code. The proposals that did pass become a part of the sporting code that will be revised and effective as of July 23rd 2022 for the new contest year, but have no bearing on NARAM-63.  A total of 90 ballots were received. Some voters abstained from voting on all of the proposals. The results and the detailed verbiage on each proposal will be on the NAR webpage under Contest Flying / Rules Revision Process   NAR Rules Revison

RCP 2021 #001: Allow any kind of streamer attachment in streamer duration events.

Passes: Yes: 80 / No: 7

RCP 2021 # 002: Revise R&D Scoring

Passes: Yes: 48 / No: 34

RCP 2021 # 003: Change judging of Craftsmanship events to a “blind judging” format.

Fails: Yes: 37 / No: 49

RCP 2021 # 004: Removal of Rule 30.9.2; Returns – NARAM.

Passes: Yes: 51 / No: 32

RCP 2021 # 005: Require altimeters for tracking

Passes: Yes: 68 / No: 22

RCP 2021 # 006: Add Sport Scale (Sport, Peanut, Giant), Concept Sport Scale, Classic Model as an additional NRC event.

Fails: Yes: 26 /No: 57

RCP 2021 # 008: Add Dual Eggloft Altitude in engine classes C and D to the list of NRC events.

Passes: Yes: 47 /No: 41

RCP 2021 # 009: Include D Eggloft Altitude as an NRC Event

Fails: Yes: 42 / No: 44

RCP 2021 # 010: Include B engine class Helicopter Duration as an NRC event.

Passes: Yes: 45 /No: 42 

RCP 2021 # 011: Include B engine class Streamer Duration as an NRC event

Passes: Yes: 49 / No: 36

RCP 2021 # 012: Clarify the required documentation for mission points for Scale and Sport Scale events.

Passes: Yes: 74 / No: 10

 RCP 2021 # 013: Change Rule 8.2 Conduct by changing the word may to shall reinforce that it is the CD has the duty to punish egregious bad behavior by disqualification.

Fails: Yes: 37 / No: 48

RCP 2021 # 014: Align Rule 51.13.1 Mission: 200 points to Rule 50.10.6 Mission Points for Sports Scale NRC

Fails:  Yes: 34 / No: 47

RCP 2021 # 015: Newly approved contest altimeters need to be available for sale the entire 30 days before contest use can start.

Fails: Yes: 41 / No: 43

RCP 2021 # 016: Implement a Standardized Method and Procedure for Recording Air Temperature at NARAM.

Passes: Yes: 49 / No: 39

RCP 2021 # 017: Eliminate the requirement to exceed a current record by 1% in order to establish a new record.

Passes: Yes: 67 / No: 22

Joe Barnard Sticks powered landing using standard solid propellant motors!

Other news items discussed:

• LDRS 40
• Gary Rosenfield and Joe Barnard L3 Successful Certs
• LOC Skinwalker and Dude Perfect Videos
• ULA Student Launch last weekend
• Super Orbital Transport release by Estes
• Argonia Cup rules for 2023!

Items in this news podcast:

SMT Designs releases all of their rocketry designs to public domain

Steve Thatcher: "With my upcoming LDRS 40 trip and TRA Tech session there on "3D Printed Modular Avionics Bays", I wanted to make an announcement, so here it is..."

Steve Thatcher says “I am in the process of releasing all of my rocketry designs to the public domain under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International”

You can read the licensing in detail at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

You can find the designs on http://www.tinkercad.com/ by simply doing a "People" search for "SteveThatcher".  

Once you find the profile, click it to view the parts.

Steve has also tagged the parts with “SMTDESIGNS”, “AVBAY”, and “ROCKETRY”, but you will get more "hits" that way of other non-related parts.

My intent in doing this is to propagate the footprint standard I created for devices and batteries over the last years, so the rocketry community could benefit.

Thatcher says “I would also like to see my designs come to a greater use by making them available for no cost to those that have the required equipment.”

Steve asks that the footprints for carriers and platforms remain unchanged.  Thatcher says”I recognize the need to change things when necessary, but changing footprints negates the universal benefit they provide.  Take the time to look at my entire library of parts to get a system view of why things were done.”

Steve will be available to answer questions through SMT Designs, and the SMT Designs facebook page. _______________________________

Tripoli News

During the LDRS 40 Member's Banquet it was announced that that the Tripoli Wisconsin Association, Tripoli Green Bay, and Tripoli Chicago will be hosting LDRS 41 at the Richard Bong Recreation Area located in Kenosha County, Wisconsin.

The event is planned to take place July 6, 7, 8 and 9, 2023.  

More details and information will be coming soon.

_______________________________

New Unified TRA Safety Code   https://www.tripoli.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=795696&module_id=520420

Tripoli Rocketry Association unveiled its new “unified” safety code on May1 of this year.

President Bob Brown notes that: Under this safety code, there are no longer Commercial launches or Research launches, just Tripoli launches.  There are some changes to the current safety code, such as a common safe distance table, a safety code for both model rockets as well as radio-controlled boosted gliders as well as other changes.   Tripoli asks all members to please take the time to read the document in its entirety.  

Mr. Brown notes that “While your first reaction will probably be there seem to be a lot more rules under this new document, in fact, almost nothing more restrictive has been adopted it’s just compiled into one document now.”

TRA notes that they owe a huge thank you to Steve Shannon, “who undertook the daunting task of compiling the information from the original four documents and writing (in plain English, not legalese) a document we can all understand and follow”. ____________________________________

Reminder on NARAM 63

NARAM-63 will be July 16-22, 2022. Sport flying begins on Saturday, July 16, and will run through the following Friday, July 22. 

The US Team Flyoffs/North Coast Cup flying will begin Saturday, July 16, and run through Monday, July 18.   NARAM competition flying begins on Monday, July 18, and runs through Friday, July 22.  Friday evening, July 15, will include a sport flyers briefing as well as a US Team Flyoffs/North Coast Cup briefing and model check in.

Where is NARAM-63?

Springfield, Missouri, located in the southwestern part of the state, is this year’s host city. The Oasis Hotel is the official hotel of NARAM-63, and will host nearly all of the evening activities. The flying field is located west of Springfield. Sport Range Tripoli Mo-Kan will be running the sport range along with support from SLRA.  Launch pads with 1010 and 1515 rails will be available as well as 1/8″, 3/16″, 1/4”, 3/8”, and 1/2″ rods. Rockets with up to M motor class can be accommodated with an FAA waiver to 6,000 feet. Come and sport fly for the weekend or stay for the whole week.

Contest Range

Saturday through Monday will feature the US Team Flyoffs/North Coast Cup. NARAM competition starts Monday morning with Chad Ring serving as the NARAM Contest Director. NARAM at Night In addition to sport and contest flying each day, join us for the traditional NARAM evening events throughout the week including the Manufacturers Forum, Cannon Fund Rocketry Memorabilia Auction, NAR Town Hall Meeting, FREE Ice Cream Social, Beer Lofting, and other events culminating with the Awards Banquet on Friday evening.

______________________________________________

Reminder: NAR Board of Trustees voting window is open

« Board of Trustee Voting

You can vote in-person at NARAM during the Town Hall meeting, online, or by mail-in ballot. You can only vote once! The Town Hall Meeting will be held Monday, July 18, 2022. To vote online, please go to the NAR.ORG site, check in under Member Resources.

Mail-in ballots are in The Model Rocketeer, which was mailed with the May/June, 2022 issue of Sport Rocketry magazine. Under the NAR Bylaws, Senior and Leader members who joined the NAR at least one year prior to July 18, 2022 (NAR number 112135 or lower) are eligible to vote. For voting purposes, a Leader member is defined as one who has reached his/her 16th birthday as of July 18, 2022.

This Year’s Board member candidates (New Candidate) Don Carson - Macon , NC (Current Board Member) Becky Green - San Rafael, CA (Current board member)  Lynn Thomas, Indianapolis, IN

Bios are available on the NAR.Org site voting page.

_________________________

2022 NASA Student Launch results   Each year, NASA challenges middle school, high school, college, and university students from across the United States to design, build and launch a high-powered amateur rocket, fly it to an altitude between 4,000 and 6,000 feet, and make a successful landing.

Middle and high school teams could choose to attempt the college/university division challenge or develop their own science or engineering experiment.

Teams in the college/university division tackled a new task that mirrors NASA’s missions like the Mars Curiosity Rover.  Teams had to design a payload capable of autonomously locating where their rocket landed by identifying the rocket’s grid position on an aerial image of the launch site while transmitting the data back to their ground station. 

This had to be accomplished without the use of GPS. The requirement simulates a challenge faced by NASA’s mission managers – communicating with spacecraft and payloads on distant plan mmmm etary bodies, where use of GPS is not an option.   Sixty teams from 22 states including Puerto Rico took part in this year’s competition, with 27 teams launching April 23 near NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Teams that did not travel were allowed to conduct their final test flights at a home launch field.

For the second year in a row, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte won the launch division, while Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, won first place in the design division of NASA’s 2022 Student Launch rocketry competition.

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte will receive $5,000 for first place in the launch division, and Tarleton State University will receive $2,500 for first place in the design division.

The top five teams in the launch division are:

University of North Carolina at Charlotte University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee University of Florida, Gainesville Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana The top two teams in the design division are: Tarleton State University, Stephenville, Texas New York University   ______________________________________   American Rocketry Contest (TARC)  https://rocketcontest.org/result/2022/   1) Newport High School - Team 2 from Bellevue, WA  (22-1326)   $20,000  (Flight 1)  2  (Flight 2) 11 Total Score = 13 2) Newport High School - Team 1 from Bellevue, WA (22-1804)   $15,000  (Flight 1) 2 (Flight 2) 12 Total Score 14 3) All Saints Episcopal School from Haslet, TX (22-1126) $12,500  (Flight 1) 6.12 (Flight 2) 11 Total Score = 17.12 4) Spring Grove Area Intermediate School - Team 2 from Spring Grove, PA (22-1534)  $10,000  (Flight 1) 13 (Flight 2) 6.8 Total Score = 19.8 5) Coleman High School from Coleman, TX (22-1645)  $7,500  (Flight 1) 10.12 (Flight 2) 10  Total Score = 20.12 6) Creekview High School - Team 3, from Canton, GA $3,500  (Flight 1) 17.2 (Flight 2) 7 Total Score = 24.2  7) Camas High School from Camas, WA (22-1495)  $2.500  (Flight 1) 9, (Flight 2) 16.16 Total Score = 25.16 8) Young Engineers in Action from Hawaiian Gardens, CA (22-1500) $2,500  (Flight 1) 19.64, (Flight 2) 10, Total Score = 29.64 9) Thomas Jefferson High School - Team 9 from Alexandria, VA (22-1764) $2,500  (Flight 1) 7 (Flight 2) 26.8, Total Score = 33.8 10)  Tharptown High School from Russellville, AL  (Flight 1) 1 (Flight 2) 34.12, Total Score = 35.12   Each school or organization for teams 1-5 also receives $1,000. Each school or organization for teams 6-10 also receives $500.