HAPS-1, UMSFB1 redux Options

[djellison]

I actually bought some AAA powered gloves - it's a thought for next-time around

[djellison]

OK - no video I"m afraid. The hacked firmware for that just isn't working, and I want an all-night test running just stills. If a miracle happens and I get some CHDK help in the next 24 hrs I may change my mind on this, but it's unlikely...I'd rather be confident of good stills.

Currently - the sequence is this

8 stills ( which takes 30 secs)
Sleep 30s
repeat.

Tomorrow - I decide to use or not use the .45x wide angle adaptor, and placement, if any, of the wide angle mirror.

D

[ElkGroveDan]

You need more sleep than that or you're going to look like Stu the night he was out partying with John Spencer.

[nprev]

I'm tellin' ya, Dan...nobody needs to sleep in the UK, they just do fun stuff all the time! Still thinking of emigrating.

[mps]

The first, third and last of those has been enough for similar flights in the past.

As it is flight-proven design, I have no doubts anymore

Doug, you as a PI of imaging system should set a good example for ESA and publish the images as soon as you get them - and they better be raw images, not JPEG-s

[djellison]

It'll be JPG's - and they'll be going online as soon as I can get them there. If everything is nominal, then Sat night.

An overnight test with Lithium AA cells, had the script running for 5 hrs, taking 2023 images, before filling the card and stopping, and the battery is still going strong.


Doug

[djellison]

Two week pushback to - Aug 23rd. Short term forecast is for high ground winds - which are not good for launching on Sat.

It means I can do more testing, possibly get a 2nd camera in there, etc etc.

[imipak]

What're the chances of getting video working in the two weeks? Loved their site, BTW, especially the flight control software ("avionics"?) written in Perl. Another frontier falls to the camel!

Quite a few of the earlier flights met a watery end, presumably you wouldn't be considering risking a second camera if you thought this was likely - is it just a case of moving the launch site west, or is the "cut down box" smaller? And a silly idea which I'm sure you've considered, I'm just wondering what the catch is: how about a camera facing vertically down with a fisheye lens?

It's fascinating stuff, thanks for posting it here.

[djellison]

The video now works MASSIVE Kudos to CHDK guru Dave Mitchell who sorted out an A560 firmware for me that works.

We hope to go this Sat - forecast looks quite good

[ElkGroveDan]

Do you have a Twitter account set up for it?

[djellison]

Yeah, it's getting a bit crazy with every single thing having a twitter acount and tweeting at other tiny things...






it's here : http://spacenear.us/tracker/

[djellison]

Decision made on extra 'goodness'. I'm going to play chicken. No wide angle lens, no mirror. Just the camera, as it is, pointing straight out. Better is the enemy of good enough and all that jazz.

It's 320x240x15fps movies ( 10s ) then 5 stills, looping at about 1 minute intervals.

It's out in the garden right now running a loop with trees and sky to look at for a couple of hours, inside its housing.

On the day, we'll be launching from Churchill College on the west end of Cambridge.

[JTN]

On the day, we'll be launching from Churchill College on the west end of Cambridge.

Are spectators welcome?

[djellison]

I wouldn't recommend it - for a reason I can now brilliantly demonstrate....

We've pushed back to Sunday, because the bubble of still air that we were hoping to release in to has decided to take it's time arriving. A Sat predict has changed from a nice flight about 40 miles east, to about 80 miles south. The Sunday predicts are now better than the Sat predicts ever were - with a 40km E flight to about Thetford area.

Chances are - it'll get shuffled again one way or the other, and it's hard enough organising the launch team Best bet is to follow along here : spacenear.us/tracker/ : we'll twitter, hopefully uStream, probably live-track the flight.

Doug

[djellison]

Right - less than 24 hrs to go

Keep an eye on http://spacenear.us/tracker/ tomorrow morning - hoping to launch at 1000-1100 UK time ( so 0900-1000 GMT )

Current predict from the Wyoming uni website ( http://weather.uwyo.edu/polar/balloon_traj.html ) is to a few miles west or Norwich ( attached )

Just packing all the kit and tools we might need before getting a reasonably early night - I leave at 0700 tomorrow to get down there.

Attached File(s)

 balloon_13.kml ( 4.46K ) Number of downloads: 517