Back in Business... again

  Too many interruptions! So, it has been many years since starting to write the Water Rocket Manual. The problems all started because it was first written using a company that secured the book and it could only be read when logged into that site. It was all written in html and read just like a web page which you just scrolled down as you continued reading. Each chapter was just one page. THEN they went out of business only about a year later. Since then I have been converting each chapter to PDF and with all the charts and pictures, none of the various software programs would convert correctly. That has meant that the conversions have been for the most part done manually. In the mean time, things have changed, ideas have changed, other websites have come and gone so the reformatting has also been rewriting. The last two chapters which are using software to design water rockets and building other rockets besides the one in the first chapter have not been completed. The conversions are completed through chapter 4. I really hope to complete the entire first book in the next couple months but plans have changed repeatedly in the past so I can only hope that I can make this a commitment and stick to it this time. The second book has not even been started and if I decide I don't have enough material for it, I will put what I have on a private website for those who have bought the first book. The main item in mind right now and something I worked on is an electronic timer for ejecting a recovery device. It would not be difficult to include a launch detect using an accelerometer chip and even an apogee detection using an atmospheric pressure chip instead of timing. The biggest issue is creating a PC board. I have not learned the software yet to do that so might just hire it done from my schematic and layout. I will try to update this blog with my progress in the future.