Deserves a wider audience
Discussion
14-7 said:
GPS locator was a cat GPS tag that sends sms messages with location.
I think as others have said, I might have just found a new project
. Would love to do something like that.
Currently struggling to find weather balloons for sale though! Only one that comes up is on ebay from the USA but only carries 600g.
Yup noticed it was the cat thing later. I think as others have said, I might have just found a new project
. Would love to do something like that.Currently struggling to find weather balloons for sale though! Only one that comes up is on ebay from the USA but only carries 600g.
WRT the balloons - i found these
http://www.scientificsales.com/8244-Weather-Balloo...
also Ebay USA had a few listed.
This is the manufacturer but there are no prices or suggestion that they sell them direct.
http://www.kaymont.com/pages/home.cfm
Dan_1981 said:
Seriously tempted to give this a go.
So far cost wise I see, a GPS locater,
from here: http://www.mr-lee-catcam.de/pe_cc_o2_en.htm
£80
A HD video camera of some sort - appaears to need to be able to record for over two hours at least. Any suggestions - wouldn't want to break the bank incase it didn't come home!
Weather balloon - £30 from ebay.
Tank of helium - £20?
and some bits and bobs for the box.
Cost them 350 quid.So far cost wise I see, a GPS locater,
from here: http://www.mr-lee-catcam.de/pe_cc_o2_en.htm
£80
A HD video camera of some sort - appaears to need to be able to record for over two hours at least. Any suggestions - wouldn't want to break the bank incase it didn't come home!
Weather balloon - £30 from ebay.
Tank of helium - £20?
and some bits and bobs for the box.
8gb video camera - £50
Battery life is only 2 hours though. Maybe less at extreme temperatures as well?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Creative-Technology-Vado-Poc...
Battery life is only 2 hours though. Maybe less at extreme temperatures as well?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Creative-Technology-Vado-Poc...
14-7 said:
Excellant read that - I may have under estimated how much helium I'd need though. nonuts said:
That is very cool, shame the down facing camera wasn't good enough quality. So you'd need to make sure the camera works for 3 hours minimum in a freezer first, doesn't seem too tricky.
I don't think a domestic freezer would be a reliable indicator of how well it would perform at 36KM altitiude.A freezer only goes down to about -18 IIRC. At just 10km altidue the temps can be -50.
Anyone else still looking at doing this?
Being looking for cameras with good battery life. Spent a while looking at the Kodak playsport but it only seems to have a battery life of 90 mins. Considering a Zi6 which with Li batteries lasts a few hours although due to the fact they have been superseeded there aren't many around. Pink ones seem to go cheaper though?
Will be off to B&Q on Thurs to look for insulation materials to make the crate
Being looking for cameras with good battery life. Spent a while looking at the Kodak playsport but it only seems to have a battery life of 90 mins. Considering a Zi6 which with Li batteries lasts a few hours although due to the fact they have been superseeded there aren't many around. Pink ones seem to go cheaper though?
Will be off to B&Q on Thurs to look for insulation materials to make the crate
14-7 said:
Anyone else still looking at doing this?
Being looking for cameras with good battery life. Spent a while looking at the Kodak playsport but it only seems to have a battery life of 90 mins. Considering a Zi6 which with Li batteries lasts a few hours although due to the fact they have been superseeded there aren't many around. Pink ones seem to go cheaper though?
Will be off to B&Q on Thurs to look for insulation materials to make the crate
I'm seriously thinking of doing this, yes Being looking for cameras with good battery life. Spent a while looking at the Kodak playsport but it only seems to have a battery life of 90 mins. Considering a Zi6 which with Li batteries lasts a few hours although due to the fact they have been superseeded there aren't many around. Pink ones seem to go cheaper though?
Will be off to B&Q on Thurs to look for insulation materials to make the crate
I have a Kodak Zx1 with a 16GB SD card, so that plus the Lithium AA cells will do for the video side. For stills I have a Canon IXUS 55 (or 50 - can't remember!) which I've used before with CHDK firmware. The battery for that is tiny so I suspect I'll need to use a larger pack externally and run some wires. If I do go ahead with this then I'll run some timing tests to see how long it will last.
Dave
Anyone else here still seriously looking at doing this?
I've got a couple of people together to help me - one has some amateur radio kit which will help greatly in tracking the balloon. Current plan is a still camera and a video camera, Arduino CPU board monitoring GPS/temps/etc., logging to SD card and transmitting on 433MHz for us to track it, plus a backup GPS/SMS tracker to help locate the payload when it crashes, er, lands gently. Will probably add a piezo sounder and a flashing blue LED (every project should have a flashing blue LED!) to help find it in the undergrowth/tree/whatever.
Looking at a launch in early June from West Berks.
Dave
I've got a couple of people together to help me - one has some amateur radio kit which will help greatly in tracking the balloon. Current plan is a still camera and a video camera, Arduino CPU board monitoring GPS/temps/etc., logging to SD card and transmitting on 433MHz for us to track it, plus a backup GPS/SMS tracker to help locate the payload when it crashes, er, lands gently. Will probably add a piezo sounder and a flashing blue LED (every project should have a flashing blue LED!) to help find it in the undergrowth/tree/whatever.
Looking at a launch in early June from West Berks.
Dave
Yep I'm still looking at doing it. Hopefully be launching around May time from either the Lake District or north Wales. Where I am the country is too thin and the possibility of it landing in water is too high so the lakes or Wales is the better option.
I'm hoping that if it works I will take it out to Spain with me in June for another flight (don't tell my misses though ).
Here's a quick preview of the capsule (excuse the cheesey music!).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf0DpFT5XvI
It is better in full screen mode rather than in the youtube player as I gave up waiting for it to upload so compressed it!
I'm hoping that if it works I will take it out to Spain with me in June for another flight (don't tell my misses though
).Here's a quick preview of the capsule (excuse the cheesey music!).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf0DpFT5XvI
It is better in full screen mode rather than in the youtube player as I gave up waiting for it to upload so compressed it!
Nice . Handy work there with the vacuum ;-)
In the hope of making sure I get the thing back, I decided include a 434MHz radio downlink on mine. There's a group "UKHAS" who use radio ham receivers hooked up to special software on a PC to receive the transmissions and update the balloon's location on a web server. Then anyone can go to the web page and see the position on a map. So I've not started on the capsule yet, but instead I've been working on the flight computer (an Arduino) connected to GPS, 434MHz transmitter and my olde Ericsson T39m mobile phone to send me texts of the position. There'll also be some sensors for internal and external temperature, external pressure and humidity, with everything logged to an SD card.
Well, after nearly 30 years, it's about time I made use of my electronics degree ;-)
For video I'll be using my Kodak Zx1 camera, and for stills my IXUS 50. The Kodak may need extra batteries to last; the Canon certainly well.
So far the payload weight calculation is coming out around 900g. I ordered a 1o00g weight balloon and a 48" parachute both of which can cope with rather more than that, in case I decide to add a second downward-facing camera for example.
I was thinking of launching in early June, for no better reason than it will give me something to talk about when we have our 25th wedding anniversary party at the end of June. Might launch sooner if all goes well.
I'm blogging it at http://www.daveakerman.com.
. Handy work there with the vacuum ;-)In the hope of making sure I get the thing back, I decided include a 434MHz radio downlink on mine. There's a group "UKHAS" who use radio ham receivers hooked up to special software on a PC to receive the transmissions and update the balloon's location on a web server. Then anyone can go to the web page and see the position on a map. So I've not started on the capsule yet, but instead I've been working on the flight computer (an Arduino) connected to GPS, 434MHz transmitter and my olde Ericsson T39m mobile phone to send me texts of the position. There'll also be some sensors for internal and external temperature, external pressure and humidity, with everything logged to an SD card.
Well, after nearly 30 years, it's about time I made use of my electronics degree ;-)
For video I'll be using my Kodak Zx1 camera, and for stills my IXUS 50. The Kodak may need extra batteries to last; the Canon certainly well.
So far the payload weight calculation is coming out around 900g. I ordered a 1o00g weight balloon and a 48" parachute both of which can cope with rather more than that, in case I decide to add a second downward-facing camera for example.
I was thinking of launching in early June, for no better reason than it will give me something to talk about when we have our 25th wedding anniversary party at the end of June
. Might launch sooner if all goes well.I'm blogging it at http://www.daveakerman.com.
daveake said:
So far the payload weight calculation is coming out around 900g. I ordered a 1o00g weight balloon and a 48" parachute both of which can cope with rather more than that, in case I decide to add a second downward-facing camera for example.
I was thinking of launching in early June, for no better reason than it will give me something to talk about when we have our 25th wedding anniversary party at the end of June. Might launch sooner if all goes well.
Blog bookmarked!I was thinking of launching in early June, for no better reason than it will give me something to talk about when we have our 25th wedding anniversary party at the end of June
. Might launch sooner if all goes well.Just out of interest all of the 1000g balloons I've read the specs for only carry a payload of up to 250g, once you go above that the payload weight increases. Or have I missed something? http://ukhas.org.uk/guides:balloon_data
Where have you ordered your balloon and parachute from?
The payload weights in that table are just examples. If you have a larger payload you put more gas in . Then of course it goes pop at a lower altitude. There's a calculator where you can try different figures and see how high and how quickly it will rise.
The balloon I ordered from Random Solutions, and the 'chute on ebay.
Dave
. Then of course it goes pop at a lower altitude. There's a calculator where you can try different figures and see how high and how quickly it will rise.The balloon I ordered from Random Solutions, and the 'chute on ebay.
Dave
Great project, but made brilliant by the quality and innovation in the video and it's editing. A masterclass in how to turn what could have been some pretty boring video into something captivating! well done chaps!!
I think i'd like to see 2 things next time 1) some onscreen graphic with heading and altitude, and add some polar moment around the capsules vertical axis to slow down the spinning motions to max at 0.5hz etc!
I think i'd like to see 2 things next time 1) some onscreen graphic with heading and altitude, and add some polar moment around the capsules vertical axis to slow down the spinning motions to max at 0.5hz etc!
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