I got a reduced hydro-explorer rocket kit from maplin today and decided to google it to see if I could find out a bit about it. This led to me finding out that Maplin has started offering ’affiliate’ online stores to website owners. I have found them on radioandtelly.co.uk, eleinmec.com, activedeal.co.uk, krs-electronics.co.uk, electronics2you.co.uk, rmcybernetics.com.
 These sites look very amateur, I wonder if they are getting a cut of Maplin’s sales that are routed through them? Are Maplin doing this to increase their web sales / hit rate, if so, it stinks.. Maybe I’ll get one, a nice little earner. UPDATE – yes, maplin do have an affiliate programme: http://www.webgains.com/signup.html?programid=214
 Back to the rocket, it is quite an interesting design, made from as many mass produced parts as possible – hosepipe connectors, a bit of bike handlebar, a bike brake lever and brake cable. We had a go with the rocket with three launches in the local park, the results we pretty unspectacular, with a strong hook and a strong slice. We think performance was bad because we didn’t put enough water in and the launchpad was a bit unstable. I was pumping the rocket up to 80psi, so I think air pressure was satisfactory.
From what I remember, my old Rokit bottle rocket kit performed much better, except its launch was unpredictable, although that did add to the fun!
I also noticed that Maplin have something called an ecatalogue from a link tucked in the corner of their website. It uses something called Activepoint Promotion ebook which works like a paper catalogue but online. I’m not convinced. It might be a cost effective way of putting a printed catalogue online with all its printing and formatting, but you can’t read the catalogue text in the normal view so I think it’s pretty pointless. When you hove over an item, it brings up a description in larger text, but the description isn’t as comprehensive as that in the catalogue itself, and, to me, it defeats the point of being able to see a whole page of products at once. It’s like needing a magnifying glass to read a catalogue, which, one day I may need, but until then I’ll avoid it.