| Construction Rating: |  | | Flight Rating: |  | | Overall Rating: | |
Contributed by Eric Maglio  Brief:
This is the Estes Oracle Digital Video rocket. It represents multiple firsts not only for Estes but for all of low power rocketry. This rocket uses 24mm D motors and contains a micro digital video camera in the nose cone powered by a single AAA battery. Also, the Oracle uses a quality nylon chute instead of a plastic Estes one.
Construction:
The Oracle kit contains 2 body tubes. The first is already attached to the 4 plastic fins and motor mount and the second is where the shock cord is attached. The shock cord is rubber instead of the elastic material previously used by Estes. Also included in the package is the digital video nose cone. The camera is pre-installed and the lens faces outward with a shrouded mirror to reflect the image. That way, you get a perspective as if the camera was looking downward. The camera is fairly high quality and is complete with a beeper and LED timer to let you know when the camera starts after pushing the "start" button. Movies from the camera are downloaded into your PC via a USB interface cable that plugs into the nose.
Since the Oracle is an E2X kit, it requires virtually no assembly. All you have to do is glue the body tubes together and install the shock cord and parachute. The top body tube is joined to the bottom one with a plastic coupler already installed on the lower tube. As for the shock cord, it is a normal Estes paper mount.
Finishing:
No finishing is required for this rocket and good quality decals are pre-applied to the fins and nose cone. The body tubes are wrapped in a good looking red and silver covering with the name "ORACLE" printed down the length of the rocket.
Construction Rating: 5 out of 5
Flight:
The recommended motors for this rocket are the Estes 24mm D12-3 and D12-5. I used the latter for my flights. To prepare this rocket, the D motor is inserted into the motor mount and locked in with a plastic motor retention ring, similar to other Estes RTF rockets. Then, the wadding and parachute is packed as you would with any other rocket. Launching this rocket is somewhat different than others. You must turn on the camera, then hit the start button about 15 seconds before launch. An audible beeper and flashing LED signify when the camera is activated and ready for launch. I flew my rocket at NERRF, the Northeast Regional Rocket Festival. It flew straight and stable to about 600 feet, exactly what Estes says. Then the rocket arched over and the parachute ejected. After a fairly soft landing with the nylon chute, the nose cone is plugged in to a PC and downloaded with the included the software. The video quality was better than I expected and covered the entire flight. I was only able to do 2 flights as my camera battery was running low after a long recovery walk. Plus, I was out of D12s!
Recovery:
The Oracle's flight recovery is very good. It uses a nylon chute and rubber shock cord for maximum strength of the recovery system. The only downside to the flight recovery is the landing is a bit fast, probably due to the heavier design for a 24mm rocket.
Flight Rating: 4 out of 5
Summary:
This rocket is a great, quality kit. Here are some pros and cons about the design, construction, and flight characteristics.
PROs:
- Very little assembly required
- Sturdy design
- Good quality video camera pre-installed
- nylon parachute
- enough video time to capture entire flight
CONs:
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Flight Log| Date | Rocket Name | Motor(s) | Altitude | Notes |
|---|
| 2005-06-05 | Bruce Canino's Estes Oracle | D12-3 | - | Nice Stright boost | | 2005-06-05 | Bruce Canino's Estes Oracle | D12-3 | - | Nice boost, slight rotation | | 2005-06-23 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Nice first flight but I was not able to obtain the video, RATS!!! Very nice otherwise. No damage. | | 2005-06-25 | Jeff Lane's Estes Oracle | D12-0/D12-7 | - | Worried a little about the 7 second delay, but it was perfect (ejection was 1 frame past apogee).... | | 2005-06-28 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Very nice flight and recovery. Got a great video this time. Never occured to me to try a new... | | 2005-07-02 | Jeff Lane's Estes Oracle | C11-3 | - | The C11-3 delay is better-suited for this rocket than the D12-3, because you get video of the... | | 2005-07-02 | Jeff Lane's Estes Oracle | D12-3 | - | 3 seconds delay is not enough for a straight up launch on a calm day. Good video. Caught the spot... | | 2005-07-03 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Very nice flight and recovery. Got a great video of this flight with lots of detail and a nice... | | 2005-07-04 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Beautiful flight and recovery, one thing I really like about this rocket is that it is not an... | | 2005-07-26 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Another great flight, recovery, and video. No damage. | | 2005-08-13 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Another mighty fine flight of the Oracle. A short lived misfire before launch caused the video to... | | 2005-08-15 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Another nice flight but the camera messed up again, finally occured to me that the battery... | | 2005-08-15 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Great flight, camera messed up which meant no video. Nice otherwise. No damage. | | 2005-08-15 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Great flight and video. It appears that the battery is good for about 5-6 flights max. No damage. | | 2005-08-19 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Nice flight. Post flight inspection revealed that the camera and body tube made contact at... | | 2005-08-21 | John Chapman's Estes Oracle | C11-6 | - | Fin popped off on landing, despite touchdown on turf and chute deployment well before contact. No... | | 2005-08-27 | Jeff Lane's Estes Oracle | D12-0/D12-7 | - | Another perfect flight, which may be posted soon on the COSROCS site. A better view of the first... | | 2005-09-04 | Jeff Lane's Estes Oracle | D12-0/C11-5 | - | Weathercocked severely, shock cord failure. Camera parachuted and is fine, body OK except 1 fin... | | 2005-09-11 | Allen Smolenaars's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | This was the first flight. Slight spin on the way up, NC ejected at an almost perfect 90 degrees... | | 2005-09-24 | Jeff Lane's Estes Oracle | D12-0/D12-7 | - | Another great flight. My first try at mounting the parachute on the tip of the camera so it points... | | 2005-10-08 | Jeff Lane's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Added a vestigal fin with an anti-spin tab which works great. Less than 1 rotation per flight now.... | | 2005-10-09 | Chan Stevens's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Forgot batteries for video. D'oh! | | 2005-10-22 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Great flight, nice straight boost. Unfortunately, the camera was acting up so no video was... | | 2005-10-28 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Nice flight, rather long drift on recovery. Unfortunately the camera acted up again, no video. I'm... | | 2005-11-04 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Very nice flight, nice straight boost to about 500 feet. Excellent recovery and I got a great... | | 2005-11-20 | Chan Stevens's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | | | 2005-12-04 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Very nice flight and recovery. Got a great video. No damage. | | 2006-02-11 | Jeff Lane's Estes Oracle | C11-0/D12-7 | - | Asphalt dart. Sustainer didn't ignite. Camera smashed to bits, but after soldering one wire back... | | 2006-03-09 | David Culp's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Perfect flight, boosted straight up, ejection was just past apogee resulting in a good horizon... | | 2006-03-28 | Donald Besaw's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Nice flight, slight weathercock. A very energetic ejection charge severely scorched the chute... | | 2006-03-31 | David Culp's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | D12-5 = perfect motor for this bird. Ejects just past apogee for good horizon shots. ... | | 2006-05-04 | David Culp's Estes Oracle | D12-7 | - | I thought the 7 second delay might give better horizon shots. The delay was a little long and the... | | 2006-05-13 | John+Eric Thompson's Estes Oracle | C11-3 | 149 feet | Worked well for a small field area. Recovery was good and the video recorded the flight from lift... | | 2006-05-18 | David Culp's Estes Oracle | D12-7 | - | 7 second delay is too long for this rocket. Ejection was nose down. No damage and good straight... | | 2006-05-21 | Mike Simonds's Estes Oracle | D12-6 | - | Straight up, ejection charge blew off shock cord, NC came down slow on shute. Body tube came down... | | 2006-06-17 | Jeff Lane's Estes Oracle | D12-0/D12-7 | - | Another perfect flight. Download the video at Brandango.us, click fun stuff, click rockets. This... | | 2006-08-27 | Jeff Lane's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Another beautiful flight. Launch was a little early (camera started recording at 50 ft or so). | | 2006-09-03 | Galen Hazelwood's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Flew twice; great flight both times. Got one video started before liftoff, and other just before... | | 2006-09-16 | Galen Hazelwood's Estes Oracle | E15-7 | - | Wow--the Oracle really flies on this motor! Estimate it easily doubled it's altitude over the D12,... | | 2006-10-20 | Michael Jenkins's Estes Oracle | D12-3 | - | This video Rocket is very cool. Nice to watch and then you get the video of the flight from the... | | 2006-10-22 | Michael Jenkins's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Beautiful flight. Great video. No damage. | | 2006-11-11 | Michael Jenkins's Estes Oracle | D12-3 | - | Nice flight on the way up. Was spinning too much for a good video on the way down. | | 2006-12-23 | Michael Jenkins's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | A little too windy for this rocket. It weather cocked into the wind and then drifted past the... | | 2007-01-10 | Ash Cooper's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Good launch and height, but rocket descent v.fast. Tube bent on landing. Not enough wadding... | | 2007-01-10 | Ash Cooper's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Beautiful flight, rod slightly into wind, deployed at apogee and floated to earth w/out damage.... | | 2007-06-26 | Jeff Lane's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Took off into the wind, got a good video of the mass launch of ~280 rockets. One fin popped off.... | | 2007-07-07 | Wayne Day's Estes Oracle | C11-3 | - | Maiden flight on C 11-3 due to limited space. RockSim says 154ft. That's a pretty good guess. The... | | 2008-07-12 | Jeff Lane's Estes Oracle | E28-5 | - | Oracle recovered with a solid tone, no video. Tested, still works. Nice flight, nearly out of... | | 2008-09-13 | Jeff Lane's Estes Oracle | E18-7 | - | Straightest flight I've ever gotten with an Oracle. Great motor for this rocket. Video at... | | 2009-10-18 | John Heinrichs's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Weathercocking produced arc about 250 feet high and 700 feet long requiring long walk to recover. ... | | 2009-10-20 | John Heinrichs's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Nice vertical flight, drifted about 800 feet on chute. No damage to rocket or chute (used more... | 2009-10-20  | John Heinrichs's Estes Oracle | D12-3 | - | Nice vertical flight, drifted about 500 feet on chute. Small burn hole in chute. Video lost when... | | 2009-10-20 | John Heinrichs's Estes Oracle | D12-3 | - | Nice vertical flight, drifted about 500 feet on chute. Landed on building roof, retrieved by kind... | | 2009-10-31 | John Heinrichs's Estes Oracle | E9-6 | - | Switched chute attachment to tip of nose cone. Very fast launch. Severe weathercocking. Flew... | | 2009-11-18 | John Heinrichs's Estes Oracle | D12-5 | - | Used spare body, same nose cone. Beautiful vertical flight to about 450 feet. Perfect chute... | | 2010-06-12 | Tom Rankin's Estes Oracle | D12-3 | - | Too windy. Wrong launch rod. Too eager. Shock cord ripped but otherwise recovered and repairable.... |
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J.L. (September 5, 2005)