Greetings from Scotland!

This forum is for new members to introduce themselves and tell us how they got started in water rocketry.
cprobertson1
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Greetings from Scotland!

Post by cprobertson1 »

Greetings from Ayrshire, Scotland!

The name here is Callum, I'm a mad scientist who occasionally commits acts of mad engineering! I'm a seasoned dabbler with interest in a huge range of subjects from biology to chemistry and physics - I may be a qualified biochemist but I work as an engineer and do everything from Ham Radio to electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry, microscopy (and relatedly, microbiology), programming, and a whole range of IT subjects.

It's fun to dabble!

I recently took an interest in amateur rocketry and I've become intrigued by the prospect of how sustainable water rockets can be (that is, they require little more than compressed air and water to operate; while a regular rocket requires a rocket motor that is a little less easy to replace!).

My goal is to create a low altitude sounding rocket that can be used for taking atmospheric samples from an altitude of a few hundred meters (this is a long-term goal obviously - Rome wasn't built in a day!)

Thats a lie - the real goal is to have fun - collecting atmospheric samples is just a bonus!
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captike
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Re: Greetings from Scotland!

Post by captike »

Greetings Callum!! Welcome...I'm new here myself, but have already learned a lot. I hope you can find what you need to collect the necessary samples you need. :wink:
cprobertson1
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Re: Greetings from Scotland!

Post by cprobertson1 »

"Necessary"? Who said anything about necessity! This is for fun! Muahahaha! :D

I actually realised I could get more samples from much higher up using a weather balloon - their main purpose is sampling the atmosphere after all!

Not anywhere near as fun though :D I'll still continue my intentions to make water rockets though - far more entertaining than releasing a balloon! I'm going to try to get in touch with the Largs/Ayrshire rocketry group - they use actual rocket motors though - I'll drop them an email and see how much they mock me for using water as my reaction mass ;) I imagine they'll be open minded though - at any rate, there's a good chance my rockets will be bigger than theirs even if chemical rockets have a higher specific impulse :P

Now here's a question for you... I have often wondered about etiquette on forums like these.

Let us suppose I have a project - and that project has multiple parts that I require some assistance with - for instance, I'm currently struggling with 3D printed nozzles leaking, I'm investigating different launcher designs, and I'm hydrostatic testing PVC pipe.

Should that be three different threads - one for each - or should it be one mega-thread where I address problems as they come up?

Conventional wisdom says "three separate threads - short and sweet - concise and on-topic" rather than a continuing epic of problems that crop up - but at the same time, the mega-thread would give a continuous timeline of problems encountered.

What do you reckon the way to go would be?
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anachronist
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Re: Greetings from Scotland!

Post by anachronist »

There's a whole separate forum here for launchers. So I'd recommend different threads.
cprobertson1
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Re: Greetings from Scotland!

Post by cprobertson1 »

anachronist wrote: Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:39 am There's a whole separate forum here for launchers. So I'd recommend different threads.
Good shout! Will do :D