Hmmm. Well, go for a composite instead of pure liquid fuel - they're commercially available (AeroTech, among others, make them,) and much easier to handle and deal with, while still providing some pretty nice punch. It's solid fuel + liquid oxidizer. Most of the rocket motors are reusable. You *will* need to get certified, normally through the NAR or Tripoli (http://www.tripoli.org), though. (You'd probably have to do something similar for a pure liquid fuel rocket, though - in any case, the knowledge and legal stuff they already have set up would be good to have anyway.)
Electronics... most of the ones I remember seeing were mostly hand built, and/or self contained units. They shouldn't *care* what they dump their data to, though yes, with PCs so popular, they typically had a PC serial or parallel interface. Head over to this link: http://www.tripoli.org/Documents/Vendors_HPR.html IT's a good set of links to vendors, some of which seem to do some programming as well. But you should be able to find something to help going to a compact Mac. Some of the other documents you may want to go through: http://www.tripoli.org/document.htm Hope this helps, Eric (who hasn't done this for about 10 years, unfortunately, but I *do* try to keep up.) At 04:00 PM 4/22/02 -0400, you wrote: >Hi all, > >As a summer project I am considering the construction of a Liquid Fueled >Rocket. But I have a (compact Mac related) dilemma. Liquid Fueled Rockets >typically need an on-board computer system to control fuel/coolant/oxidizer >flow and record telemetry data and deploy the recovery parachute. The >problem is that it is a PeeCee world and most, if not all, of the logic >boards small enough to fit in a high powered rocket (approx 5 inches or less >in width) interface with Windows only and have a PeeCee style interface >cable and software. This also seems to go for long range radio >transmitters. Although I have a PowerMac G4, it is far too large to take >'on site' for what I want, USB and FireWire are too complicated and extreme >overkill. Since I have no laptop I was thinking about using my SE/30 >because it is small enough to tote around and it has more "realistic" ports >for what I need (Modem and Printer (Serial) and *maybe* SCSI). In short, >does anyone know of any small logic boards or radio transmitters suitable >for high power rocketry use that will interface with an SE/30 or other >classic Mac? Something that would interface with the Mac while it is 'on >the ground' and maybe a system to receive real time telemetry data from >while in flight. It doesn't have to be fast, a few hundred baud should do. > >I don't want to buy a used Windows laptop to do this -- If at all possible I >would MUCH rather use a compact Mac. Not to mention, this would be a REALLY >impressive use for a compact Mac. :-> > >If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. > >Thanks a lot! > >Matt > > >-- >Compact Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... > >SPECIAL LIST PRICES - Replacement Apple CDROMs from $19.99, MacOS 8.5 CD >$79.99 >PPC 5400/200Mhz 16/1.6GB/CD/ENET/L2 $119, 5+ for $99 ><mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> > >Compact Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/compact.shtml> >The FAQ: <http://macfaq.org/> >Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/compact.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> > >Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com -- Compact Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... SPECIAL LIST PRICES - Replacement Apple CDROMs from $19.99, MacOS 8.5 CD $79.99 PPC 5400/200Mhz 16/1.6GB/CD/ENET/L2 $119, 5+ for $99 <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Compact Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/compact.shtml> The FAQ: <http://macfaq.org/> Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive:<http://www.mail-archive.com/compact.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
