Some Updates

Shown above inside of a 29mm coupler is a prototype of the new 29mm Blue Raven.  It's a full-featured Blue Raven in a 1.00" diameter circle.   The three mounting holes are for threaded rods that conduct the apogee and main deployment activations, similar to the 29mm and 38mm av-bay products.  Squeezing everything into this form factor was some of the most challenging layout and routing I have attempted.   Then I squeezed in a magnetically-activated power switch to make the prototype you see here.   When I got the prototype back, I found that electrically everything is good, and I can use the firmware for the Blue Raven for the 29mm version with no modifications.  But the threaded rods have a little too much hole clearance and too little pad size to ensure that small-pattern nuts can't bump into parts they're not supposed to.   So to fix that I had to go back and do some more squeezing of the layout and substitute a few parts with smaller (and slightly more expensive) equivalents.

I'm pretty excited by the end result.   It will enable me to fly my 38mm 3-stage rocket with redundant deployments (for Class 3 approval) and a tracker in a 29mm diameter x 2.5" long av-bay.  This 38mm rocket is designed to reach 125 kft to 150 kft at the BALLS in launch in the Black Rock Desert this September.  If it is successful, it will break the Tripoli L-class multi-stage record by a factor of at least 4.    Whether I can pull off a successful execution remains to be seen.   My track record in multi-stage attempts is to have safe but unsuccessful flights.  We'll see if the 9th time is the charm.

Today I ordered two types of 29mm bulkheads to accompany the 29mm Blue Raven.  Both types accommodate the 3 threaded rods that connect to the Blue Raven.  One type clamps around a 29mm coupler to seal off the av-bay from pressure charges, and another attaches outside of the sealing bulkhead, to attach harness, an optional charge holder or 1/4" bolt, and the ematch wires.  Both are double-sided so that their deployment charge terminal labels work if they are used on either end of the av-bay.

On the phone app front, the list of major to-dos for the Blue Raven app is done, and my developer and I are starting to work on adding Tracker functionality to the Blue Raven app, so that Android customers are supported, and so that I can support some new exciting features that we never got around to with the previous app.

In personal news, I'm getting married on the 9th!  Karen Strong, who is also the person who fills Featherweight orders, is the bride.  Which is why there will be a shipping delay for outgoing orders until the week of the 17th, when we get back from our honeymoon.