My first altimeter bay was so ugly that I couldn’t take a photo of it for fear of breaking the camera lens! The second attempt was neater, but it was difficult to position the “pull-pin” switches at the correct position within the bay. I needed a modular system, where the components could be aligned easily and reused in different sized bays if needed.
Altimeter Bay #3 allows me to swap components around among my 2.6″ and two 3.0″ rockets. The individual modules were each inspired by parts that others had posted online, but my ideas and design are original.
The middle module contains a single key switch, which takes up less vertical space then the “pull-pin” type of switch, and which can be easily adjusted up-or-down to line up with the hole in the altimeter bay coupler (not shown). This module could probably be modified to hold up to six switches in a 3.0″ rocket.
The top module can hold one or two EasyMini altimeters, while the bottom module holds a single 9v battery (there’s room for another).
Either of my first two altimeter bays should have worked fine, so why did I keep working away to develop this one? First off, I had not built any altimeter bays before and I needed to learn how it was done. I still believe that one learns by doing.
My experience with Altimeter Bay #1 taught me that component layout was important, and that more attention to detail was needed. Altimeter Bay #2 was much better, and after it was finished I could imagine how much better a modular component system would be. At this point, Altimeter Bay #3 is “the best that I can do” and is ready to be flight-tested!