High Altitude Balloon Ideas (2.0) |
High Altitude Balloon Ideas (2.0) |
Feb 25 2011, 08:32 PM
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#1
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14434 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
So - now I live in the USA, I've been researching what's possible over here regarding balloon flights.
Firstly - the laws for ham-radio are much more relaxed, so instead of having to use bespoke 10mW transmitters for tracking... you can use an off the shelf 10W APRS tracking device ( http://www.byonics.com/microtrak/mtaio.php ) . You don't need to contact the FAA if it's below a certain mass. There's a lot more country to land it in, rather than the north sea. So - I'd very much like to start thinking about what unique project we, as a bunch of spacey people, could use a high altitude balloon flight for. Here's some of the things that have been done recently in the field of amateur high altitude balloon flights : If you want to be blown away - a cinematography group used the HD-Hero action cameras to record some genuinely breathtaking footage - http://www.youtube.com/user/kevinmacko - They also used a ShadowBox - a sort of data-logger-of-awesome - http://shadowboxlive.com/ You can now get fairly cheap back-up tracking using the SPOT locators http://www.findmespot.com/en/ There's now an almost off the shelf APRS tracking system including data - http://www.rpc-electronics.com/rtrak-hab.php These guys have pulled off a number of flights including panoramas being shot as they went - http://sites.google.com/site/ucsdnearspaceballoon/ SO - what, if anything, might we do that's new, unique, interesting, given the options that have opened up in the last couple of years? |
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Mar 4 2011, 11:41 PM
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 100 Joined: 25-April 08 From: near New York City, NY Member No.: 4103 |
I'm fascinated by these extreme altitude balloon photo adventures. As a meteorologist, I knew how high a weather balloon can go. I wish I had thought of this! To get a photo from the edge of space is a wonderful thing, and to do it without an X-15, or other expensive ride, is amazing.
I don't think I could pull this off and I don't have any better ideas than have been already suggested here for equipment. But if you want help, perhaps your local Civil Air Patrol squadron or state CAP Wing would be interested in the project. They do search and rescue, so they are experienced in finding electronic boxes that fall from the sky. CAP has an extensive Aerospace Education program for the Cadets (age 12 to 21), so if you get an adult AE coordinator interested, they could be helpful. On the other hand, sometimes doing a project like this is best with a dedicated group from friends or co-workers (or other UMSC-ers) that you know and trust. All the best, bob |
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