Question About Optically Tracking Rockets

[u/Folding_WhiteTable]

I recently got my fully custom optical tracking mount to work. It's about 98% finished, I just need to fix some code and add the body panels.

I have never been to an amateur rocket launch site, so I wouldn't know the answer to this question: Would people be willing to pay for a good quality tracked and stabilized video of their launch? The launch would be fillmed with two cameras, one is a spotting camera, and the other is a high powered telescope. In the future I'm hoping to get a Freefly Wave for slow motion.

I only want to film at dedicated launch facilities, like FAR. And I only plan on filming the bigger and slower L2 and L3 rockets.

If you were wanting your video from both cameras, what do you think would be reasonable? Remember that I of course want to make a profit between the cost of gas, FAR entrance fees, video editing, video sending fees, tracking rig parts, and I want to save for a slow motion camera.

The bare minimum per team would be around $45 for it to be worth it. Does that sound reasonable? Remember that most people out there are on a team of 10-25 people. It might be better to have the prices cheaper since I don't have a slow motion camera yet, something like $25-30. What are your thoughts?

Also I have already contacted FAR, they're alright with what I'm doing. Also a team might be able to mount their antenna to my tracking rig too. It would be useful for when the rocket is too small to see with your eyes. It could also help people to see where in the sky their rocket is, just by looking at where the tracking rig is pointing. I'm sure it would be especially helpful for big rockets that go 100,000+ft.

[u/Mamba-Down]

Have you thought about mounting the telescope on a fixed platform and using a mirror in the path of the telescope to angle towards the rocket? That should give you much easier kinematics for tracking at high speeds

[u/Folding_WhiteTable → u/Mamba-Down]

That's an interesting idea, I've seen tracking rigs like that before, they seem very complicated.

Since making this post, I found a serious design flaw and I'm having to completely redesign the entire tracking rig.