Brief:
The Nova is a modular, self-contained 12V launch system. This test is a result of my being asked to beta-test one of Quickburst's early production units by its owner. I got to torture the controller without thought of its survival, and if it survived got to keep it. Of course, I agreed to the test.

Construction:
The system consists of a main control box built on a 2"X4"X6" ABS plastic project box. The cables are made of heavy gauge audio cable and attach to the box via gold-plated RCA connectors. One cable is 8' long and attaches to your car's cigarette lighter. The other is 92' long and has gator clips at the end to attach to your ignitor.

Flight:
Instructions are clear and concise. Setup couldn't be simpler. Just be sure to OBSERVE THE COLOR CODING when hooking up your cables. Getting the unit hooked up with wrong polarity could cause permanent damage. However, with the color coding and labeling on the box it would be just about impossible to get it wrong if you follow instructions.

The unit is very simple to safe with the RCA plug setup. To be truthful, I had reservations about the reliability of this system. These proved wrong as the safe system has performed without a hitch. I also worried about the durability of the RCA plug cable connections, but these too performed with no trouble.

When the power leads are correctly attached an LED between the connectors glows red.

A green LED is attached to a button for continuity testing. This simple test works fine, and did not prematurely kick any ignitors I tested. This included Estes Solars, Quest Tigertails, Aerotech Copperheads, a couple old Centuri solid nichrome/pyrogen ignitors, Rocketflite Magnalites,and several of Quickburst's own excellent ignitors. More on those later, as the system is designed with them in mind.

When you're all hooked up and have checked continuity, just push the red FIRE button, and off you go. Despite having all that cable between the battery and ignitor, it kicks the ignitor almost instantly. If you want to do clusters you can use it to trigger a relay, normal procedure anyway. I did test it with clusters of two Solars and two and three of Quickburst's Slim Gems; successfully.

In static testing I burned over 100 ignitors in one afternoon with a failure rate of zero. These had all been checked beforehand but that is nevertheless impressive.

After ignition, Quickburst recommends removing the safety key and detaching the power leads. There is possibility of damage to the box if it's left energized. The key I don't mind, but hooking and unhooking the cables through a long day of launching does NOT appeal to me.

Notice: After writing this review, QuickBurst responded with this statement:
We took a look at our procedure and found the problem. The mistake is on us. Step 15 under "Firing Sequence" clearly states to disconnect the unit. We will be editing our procedure to clear this up. Thanks for pointing this out Dave. Once again, disconnecting the unit between sequential firings is not necessary. No damage will become of it. What we meant to communicate is, at the end of the days activities disconnect the cigar lighter connection first, this will prevent possible damage to the unit and the car's or whatever power source.

I plan to add a switch between the hot power lead and the main circuit on my Nova and have suggested to the manufacturer that he do the same. If not, no biggy. The beauty of such a simple system, built on an ABS box, is that it's rugged but easy to modify if you so choose.

As Quickburst designed its system to use with its ignitors, these were thoroughly tested too. They offer three kinds, the Fatboy, the Slim Gem, and the Hot Shot electric match.

The Fatboy and Slim Gem have a gray, cylindrical pyrogen of about one inch length cast onto a pair of thin, (30 gauge?) wire leads 14" long. The Slim Gem is only 1/8" diameter, while the Fatboy is 15/64" diameter. The Hot Shot is like a huge Solar, but needs 9v-up to fire.

I don't fly big enough motors to confirm the usefulness of the Fatboys, but can assure you the Slim Gems and Hot Shots work well. The Slim Gems were tried in a variety of composite motors including 2, 18mm RMS reloads, an old crusty F25-4W, an NCR F62-4 Darkstar, and a G80-7T. The Slim Gems were installed in the 18mm RMS at assembly.

I did a bit of judicious filing to get them into the RMS and F25, but they would probably go in without it. I just wanted to get launching!

These ignitors burn HOT, and brought the composite motors up to ignition temp/chamber pressure rapidly. I think they are faster than Copperheads and certainly much more reliable.

The Hot Shot was tried in Estes D12 motors at 12v, it ignites the black powder motors instantly.

Overall, I can recommend the Slim Gems for their intended purpose without reservations. The Fatboys are recommended based on the performance of the Slim Gems. The Hot Shot electric matches work very well kicking off black powder motors, but it will have to fall to someone with an altimeter system to test them as they are intended to be used. Best of all, you get a dozen (of any of these ignitors) for TWELVE BUCKS!

The Nova system is easy to use, simple, and tough. My only complaints are about the disconnection of the power leads (admittedly a personal preference) and the computer-generated labels look like they could wear off in time. If not for those issues, I'd give the Nova system five points.

That said, I put this setup through a wringer with repeated setups, teardowns, and ignitions in a very short period with no problems. The only sign of wear is soot covering the vinyl boots on the gator clips.

It is VERY inexpensive. The whole system with box, leads, and sample ignitor pack is only $65. If you want a good, basic, functional launch system get this setup!

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5