Construction Rating: | starstarstarstar_borderstar_border |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Manufacturer: | Estes |
Brief:
The Estes Oracle Video Camera Rocket takes captures digital videos that can be
downloaded into your Windows computer. It is a pre-built kit that only requires
attaching one body tube and installing the shock cord and parachute.
Construction:
The kit is an E2X style rocket, meaning that everything is already constructed
and the decals are attached. There is no painting necessary. The only thing you
need to do is install the parachute and attach the rubber shock cord.
What makes this rocket unique is the digital video camera built into the nose cone of the model. It is the modern version of the Cineroc, which is what attracted me to buy the model.
The rocket uses plastic fins, plastic nose, and paper tubes. The styling is nice, particularly since it doesn't require anything from the user. The engine is held in place by a plastic retainer, which is used in a lot of the Estes E2X style kits. It worked fine for my first three flights.
PROs:
CONs:
Finishing:
Nothing is required for finishing the rocket.
Construction Rating: 3 out of 5
Flight:
I flew it three times on the recommended D12-5 motor. The wind was very light,
so the flights were straight. Deployment was near apogee every time.
I didn't attach the parachute that came with the kit. I wanted a look down video, so I attached my chutes to the top eyelet with some 100 lb Kevlar® cord. The bottom section came down by itself with a 18 inch diameter plastic parachute. So the rocket came down in two pieces. I switched to plastic chutes to assure myself that they would come out easily since they take up less space inside the rocket.
On the first launch, the parachute for the tube section got snagged inside. Fortunately, the rocket came down sideways and didn't land too hard. One of the plastic fins popped cleanly out of the plastic fin unit. It was hard to find on the ground. I wished they molded the fins in red instead of black color. After finding it, I simply glued it back on with some thin CyA glue. You couldn't even tell it had come apart.
On the next two launches, I was more careful in prepping the bottom portion so the chutes didn't get snagged inside. The result was worth it.
I flew it three times and got good video back on all three attempts. Three for three!
Recovery:
PROs:
CONs:
Flight Rating: 4 out of 5
Summary:
The video camera is worth getting. The cons with the camera aren't all that bad
and hopefully Estes will upgrade the electronics as technology advances over
time. With just a little better video camera and more memory, this will be an
awesome product.
The nose cone fits into a BT-60 size tube. It isn't a perfect fit but close enough. That means if the bottom part of the rocket is ever damaged, you can replace it with a home-brew design. A two-stage version is my definitely on my "to do" list.
This rocket is well engineered and I would heartily recommend this rocket to my friends. It is way cool.
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
This is a 24mm upscale of the (justifiably) insanely popular FlisKits Deuce's Wild! All of the key parts used in this build (the motor mount, body tube, and nose cone) were ordered directly from FlisKits as well. It is built to use all sizes of available and popular 24mm motors. I used the following parts: 1 NCB-70DW balsa nose cone 1 EMK2-24-70C motor mount assembly 1 ...
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. The Oracle kit contains 2 body tubes. The first is already ...
Estes Industries recently released the first production digital video camera rocket. I had read about the Oracle many months ago on an Internet user forum. The insider information described a low quality, short duration, video camera. I was pleased to learn that Estes had made a couple of upgrades before final release. This easy to build and great looking rocket with respectable digital video ...
Brief: The Oracle is a large, mostly preassembled model rocked intended for video capture of launches. The rear looking video unit connects via USB port to standard PCs. the resulting 30 video clips can be viewed with Windows Media Player. Construction: THe tail is a Plastic one piece unit with four fins and bayonet motor mount rear retention. Two coupled 12" body tubes ...
A great rocket when it came out but the software won't run on anything higher than Windows XP. I've tried to get it to run on my older laptop with Vista but no go. Same with my new PC with Windows 8.1. Called Estes awhile back but they were no help as it's a discontinued item and they weren't planning on upgrading the software. To Bad. Collecting dust for the last four years now as I no longer have a PC that will run Windows XP.
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J.L. (September 5, 2005)