considering that we put out a call for model and amateur rocketry hacks, we’ve been getting a lot of submissions on our idea line. Here’s two that found their way to us yesterday:

Upgrading an original
Back in the early 70s, Estes released a rocket with an 8mm motion picture cam attached to the nose of the rocket. It was called the Estes Cineroc, and is an exceptional demonstration of engineering prowess to fit a motion picture cam inside a cardboard tube. The Cineroc is somewhat of a collector’s item, so of course there’s a reproduction kit with a payload bay large enough for [Bob Marchese]’s 808 crucial fob video camera. His launch video looks awesome, has color, and doesn’t need to be mailed off to Estes to be developed.

Much better than a lightbulb and a button
Remember the old yellow (or blue, and I think maybe a red one) push-button launch controller? equipped with an arming crucial (a piece of wire), batteries, and a button, that controller wasn’t much to write home about. [Joe Niven] built his own launch controller with multiple LED lights, buzzer, continuity checker, and a battery tester. Not bad for a 555 and a pair of 4000-series logic chips.