I made a DIY inclinometer for astronomy. This sometimes is called an “altitude measurer” and can be used to spot how high a model rocket goes.

Mine’s a little Newtonian, and I love it.

I printed out a picture of a protractor, stuck it on a board with tape, and now I can “sight” along the top of the board. That’s right, I can read the angle i am looking at from a string dangling on the side.

That string has a weight on the end. I have a plumb-bob that I like. NICE and heavy.

The string can pendulate, so you can slow it down. When it’s stopped, clamp the string in place along the protractor notches.

And that’ll give’r yer angle.

Here’s the graphic of the protractor. You can scale it and print it out on an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper. When you attach it to the board, hang it down a bit from the top. Drill out a hole in the wood and slip a string through.

Click on the image to enlarge.

 

See my recent article where I used it: http://realworldnumbers.wordpress.com/2007/10/26/hunting-for-comet-holmes-at-home/

Here’s a link for another inclinometer from Make Magazine, but it just doesn’t look as sexy or as rugged mine.