Weather Balloon Photography
Discussion
Good luck guy's ..watching the stream http://www.batc.tv/ch_live.php?id=768
Both flights launched, and we're getting live images (albeit mainly clouds so far!).
Images here - http://sanslogic.co.uk/ssdv/live (they'll update automatically as the data comes in).
Dave
Images here - http://sanslogic.co.uk/ssdv/live (they'll update automatically as the data comes in).
Dave
Have recovered the payload, chute etc from the grounds of the Milton United football club! One of the easiest recoveries ever!
I'm really pleased with the photos it sent. Apparently some were at the highest altitude by an amateur.
It was also, I believe, the first pi flown under a weather balloon.
So all in all a great day :-)
Dave
I'm really pleased with the photos it sent. Apparently some were at the highest altitude by an amateur.
It was also, I believe, the first pi flown under a weather balloon.
So all in all a great day :-)
Dave
Yes, the path was as expected except that we expected the balloon to burst at an altitude 33km or so but it managed nearly 40km! So it spent more time at high altitudes where the wind took it west, so it landed maybe 15 miles west of the predicted spot.
It's usual to have 2 or 3 different wind directions at different altitudes, so the balloon will follow a curved path on the way up and then do the reverse on the way down.
Dave
It's usual to have 2 or 3 different wind directions at different altitudes, so the balloon will follow a curved path on the way up and then do the reverse on the way down.
Dave
daveake said:
Have recovered the payload, chute etc from the grounds of the Milton United football club! One of the easiest recoveries ever!
I'm really pleased with the photos it sent. Apparently some were at the highest altitude by an amateur.
It was also, I believe, the first pi flown under a weather balloon.
So all in all a great day :-)
Dave
Great news on your successful flight. Is there a possibility of you posting photos of the flight on here?I'm really pleased with the photos it sent. Apparently some were at the highest altitude by an amateur.
It was also, I believe, the first pi flown under a weather balloon.
So all in all a great day :-)
Dave
Dave,
Congratulations on the flight. Very impressive work.
Out of interest what did you use to power the Pi? I'm considering using one as the basis of a project that is intended to be wireless but remote so need to power the Pi much as you have done I guess. The lighter the better - just like your requirements I suppose - so I would be interested to know what works for you.
Congratulations on the flight. Very impressive work.
Out of interest what did you use to power the Pi? I'm considering using one as the basis of a project that is intended to be wireless but remote so need to power the Pi much as you have done I guess. The lighter the better - just like your requirements I suppose - so I would be interested to know what works for you.
Edited by LongQ on Sunday 15th July 21:50
daveake said:
I used 6 AA Lithium Energizer batteries and a 5V linear regulator. That got *hot*, even with quite a large heatsink, because of the payload insulation. I ordered some switched-mode regulators but they didn't arrive in time.
Dave
Ok, thanks. I assume that lasted the 2 hours or so of the flight but were you able to estimate how much longer it might have been capable of going on?Dave
I have checked that a Pi will at least run for extended periods using a mobile phone external top up battery supply but have seen suggestions that the Pi may be rather sensitive to input voltage and I'm not sure how consistent such a power source might be over an extended period.
Edited by LongQ on Monday 16th July 00:51
Edited by LongQ on Monday 16th July 00:51
daveake said:
The Pi is sensitive to a low 5V, yes. The onboard 3.3V regulator has a 1.2V dropout, so below 4.5V you're in trouble.
Initially I used off-board 3.3 and 5V regulators, using 4 of the AAs for the 3.3 and all 6 for the 5V. I got 5 hours 50 minutes running.
Dave
I had a feeling you might have the detailed answer!Initially I used off-board 3.3 and 5V regulators, using 4 of the AAs for the 3.3 and all 6 for the 5V. I got 5 hours 50 minutes running.
Dave
That's great. I had seen a suggestion that anything below 4.9 volts seemed to be a problem. 5 to 6 hours running would be good. 2 fully charged sources should give me a usable day of operation.
Many thanks.
Cheers guys :-). The Register started with it, then raspberrypi.org, and after that it kinda mushroomed. The BBC reporter called me this morning before he wrote his piece. Monday-Wednesday my server saw more traffic than in the year up to that point. Today it's doubled again - the power of the BBC!
The coolest bit though was when Eben Upton (Raspberry Pi designer) was interviewed live on a USA web tv channel last night. He got asked about what people do with their boards, and of course this got a mention. Quite a big mention! Never heard my name on "TV" before :-)
Dave
The coolest bit though was when Eben Upton (Raspberry Pi designer) was interviewed live on a USA web tv channel last night. He got asked about what people do with their boards, and of course this got a mention. Quite a big mention! Never heard my name on "TV" before :-)
Dave
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