Just contacted the CAA ( UK's version of the FAA ) asking for regs on unmanned balloons, offering to launch when and where suits them, rather than stipulating such things from our end.

Meanwhile, I"m hoping that by this weekend, I will be able to have all cameras breadboarded ( three internal and one external ).

I'll be switching to pairs of AA Lithium (low temperatures, what low temperatures - they just don't care) cells in series ( to give me the 3v that the cameras require ) but probably four pairs for the three cameras, a further two in parallel for the GMC, and three or four for the PicAxe. The APRS will be off a single 9V

Doug

One of the payloads that they let aloft from Cambridge made it to Denmark - and was returned

Doug

Mr & Mrs Latex.

IT WORKS

I did a simple



The output of output zero was then wired to a bit of breadboard that powers a relay ( the top one - http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?Module...5&doy=15m10 ) . The Picaxe project board runs on 5v, and each output will handle 800 mA. The relay's coil is spec'd to be about 500 ohms - I'm measuring it at something like 480ish at the breadboard. So it draws a current of 10 mA for that second. The outputs of the relay then pop to another tiny bit of breadboard which I simply used to make it easier to hook up to the shutter release cables from the camera. The camera is hard-wired to the C-cell sized battery holder.

At first it wasn't working - but then I realised I was asking it to to 'high 0' and then 'low 1' which was just stupid - the Gumby school of coding.

But now - it works Attached - what our sofa looked like just after I turned it off.

PICAXE AHOY

Got a few relays, and a buzzer, and some AA battery holders today. Wasn't getting 4-5v out of the 3xAA battery holder that the picaxe kit came with - so I got a 4 cell holder, put NiMH's in it ( 5.2v measured ) - and bingo - I was able to program it via the USB cable. Did a few BASIC programs that triggered the buzzer - and bingo



'Bzzz............Bzzzz'

OOo



"Bzz.Bzz....Bzz..Bzz......"

YAY!

Maybe tonight, but certainly later this week ,I want to hook that same 'bzzz' onto a couple of different types of relay I've got - see if they'll do the job for the cameras.

Doug

Just popped home - the mirrors have arrived - that's all the prospective imaging payload in place - except a final choice on powering them.

The naming is one of those messy things that I've simply eradicated by acronym deployment. UMSFB1 (then 2, 3, 4, 5 etc)

And as for flying your name...there will be just one name flying onboard - it shouldn't take a genius to figure out who's (given the sort of flight involved) but not quite sure how to action that just yet.


Doug

Some more bits and pieces have arrived - but there are still a lot of 'unknown unknowns' that we'll need. Thus ignore the %'ge at the end...it's a flawed figure anyway as each step from 1 to 7 probably requries as much time and effort as the cumulative time and effort of all previous steps. I'll do a Vodcasty thing this week - a UMSFB1 Show and Tell.

Doug

The size and shape (and with dust, the colour) of a big mars rock.

Doug

Evidence: ONE of the Viking parachutes is quite visible, the other is barely visible, and fresh rover tracks only a few years old have been eradicated in places at both MER sites.



Doug

Well - the course remains once you're stopped I think (technically, it would then become a heading rather than a course0- and as it got more sat's ( it was stuck up against the window to get sat visability) it updated the location, so the motion from the first rough position to the later more accurate position was 80ish degrees ( which, in retrospect, is about right - the first plot was SW of the later one.)

Doug

Tonight I'll try and do a little vodcast thing about all the stuff I've got and how it's going. When the packet watch came up and 'NOCALL' appeared - I actually punched the air and screamed "YES! - NOW we're on the way". Need to get a serial cable so I can tweak the MiniTrak's settings.

Doug

The 144.8 Mhz FM APRS kit arrived. I need to get a 10mw radio module for it ( pin compatable swop out coming soon ) - but it WORKS.

This is the module just sat on my desk, the gps rec on the window - and my Icom IC-R5 listening in with an audio cable into my PC using 'Packet Engine Pro' and AGW Tracker. Couldn't BELIEVE It worked first time! Screenshot of the first lat-long coming out of it attached.

Just turned it on again - slightly updated Lat Long this time - and plugged the GPS Coords into Google Earth. It's REALLY working. That point is the corner of this garden - <10 metres.

Doug

Not seriously, by anyone inside the mission, as far as I know.

You're in the realms of many-decade-sci-fi ideas there.

Not a 30 ton impactor - a 30 tons-of-tnt explosion.

Doug

Art - pure Art.

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_002101_1315

So 30 tons then

Duog

All credit to JAXA - you guys know how to make this cool...

cover it in cameras

Doug

No chute is the simplest possible design. You build it like a tank, and then you don't have to depend on any chute, drogue, mortar, circuitry, deployment, accelerometres, software etc etc etc.

I'm all for it.

Doug

Balloon
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chute
|
|
|
|
Gondola


Balloon bursts - chute opens automatically - couldn't be simpler. It's worked for hundreds of amateur HAB's.

Doug

Let me know which post numbers from this thread, or others, you need moving - and I've created a drop-box thread to move them into.

Doug

Stuff

Mimas, Phobos ?


Doug

Right - open notepad

put




in it - save it as run.bat

Put img2png.exe and run.bat into a folder with some IMG's

Double click run.bat

Done


Doug

We're talking about a digital camera bought for less than £10.

Doug

It works - believe me - I've used it to convert tens of thousands of MER images. What are you doing with it?

Doug