Weather Balloon Photography
Discussion
theboyfold said:
I have one of these Canon Digital Ixus I that might work for you? It doesn't use AA batteries, but it's small and might be hackable.
Not one of the hackable ones unfortunately.I did consider sending an IXUS up before, as I have one. I had to hack in a connection for external batteries, and even then I'd need a voltage regulator to make it work. Mrs Dave took a liking to the camera so that's now hers and I bought the A480 on ebay. The powershots are a lot easier to use because they take AAs, so I just pop in two Energizer Lithium AAs which are rated for -40C. That said, the power used by the camera stops it getting anywhere near that cold even though outside is -50 to -60.
Dave
Edited by daveake on Monday 19th September 10:49
For those interested, I have photos here of my next weather balloon project. 
I started this payload before the one I lost at the weekend, but decided not to fly it in case it landed in the sea
as it would have flown even further.
The aim this time is to get photos from as high as possible. The two highest UK flights didn't carry cameras, but this does carry a tiny "spy" camera that I've labelled "crap-o-cam" on account of the picture quality. The camera connects to the flight computer and will wake up, take a few shots and a short video, then go back to sleep. This process will repeat from about 35km upwards. I'm expecting it to get to 40-41km (UK record is at 40.5km) and if it does, and returns photos, those will be the highest taken by a UK amateur.
I'll let you know when the launch is. That depends on the weather of course and availability at a couple of launch sites.
Dave
I started this payload before the one I lost at the weekend, but decided not to fly it in case it landed in the sea
as it would have flown even further.The aim this time is to get photos from as high as possible. The two highest UK flights didn't carry cameras, but this does carry a tiny "spy" camera that I've labelled "crap-o-cam" on account of the picture quality. The camera connects to the flight computer and will wake up, take a few shots and a short video, then go back to sleep. This process will repeat from about 35km upwards. I'm expecting it to get to 40-41km (UK record is at 40.5km) and if it does, and returns photos, those will be the highest taken by a UK amateur.
I'll let you know when the launch is. That depends on the weather of course and availability at a couple of launch sites.
Dave
Just to let you all know that my next launch should be this Sunday (16th) at about 9-10am. The aim this time is to get photos from as high as possible, and to do that I've reduced the weight of the payload from the 800g-1kg of my previous flights down to a mere 100g. Also I'll be using a larger balloon. It should get up to 40km or so (my previous flights managed 30km and 36.5km).
It's carrying a little key-ring "spy" camera, weighing about 10 grams. The picture quality isn't good, but I don't have much option without increasing the weight substantially. To keep the battery consumption down (so I can use smaller batteries), the camera will be switched on for about 1 minute every 6 minutes, starting at 30km on the way up and stopping after the balloon bursts. Each of those minutes it will take 5 photos and 20 seconds of video.
The payload is also carrying some instrumentation to measure temperatures and air pressure - useful information for future flights.
I've had a bit of fun with the payload, as you can see below. If you want to watch the flight, there will be a live map at http://spacenear.us/tracker/. I don't think there will be any other balloons on the map that day, but if so you need to look for the one called "BUZZ1".
The predicted flight takes Buzz from West Berks over Milton Keynes to Cambridge and slightly beyond. This time I'll be careful not to under fill, in case he ends up in the North Sea like my last flight!
Dave
P1030202 by daveake, on Flickr
It's carrying a little key-ring "spy" camera, weighing about 10 grams. The picture quality isn't good, but I don't have much option without increasing the weight substantially. To keep the battery consumption down (so I can use smaller batteries), the camera will be switched on for about 1 minute every 6 minutes, starting at 30km on the way up and stopping after the balloon bursts. Each of those minutes it will take 5 photos and 20 seconds of video.
The payload is also carrying some instrumentation to measure temperatures and air pressure - useful information for future flights.
I've had a bit of fun with the payload, as you can see below. If you want to watch the flight, there will be a live map at http://spacenear.us/tracker/. I don't think there will be any other balloons on the map that day, but if so you need to look for the one called "BUZZ1".
The predicted flight takes Buzz from West Berks over Milton Keynes to Cambridge and slightly beyond. This time I'll be careful not to under fill, in case he ends up in the North Sea like my last flight!
Dave
P1030202 by daveake, on Flickr
TvrTone said:
I helped track that one! There were 2 payloads attached to the one balloon, with the upper payload transmitting the position via radio, and the lower using a tracker module as a backup. The GPS in the upper one failed early on, so whilst we could receive the radio data OK, it contained no actual location information. We had a rough idea when it landed (because of loss of radio reception) but no real idea where. It turned up the next morning when the backup tracker responded to a position request - it was in the North Sea a few miles from where mine landed! A short while later a chap called Steve Randall, who lives nearby and is one of the originators of this hobby in the UK, paid for a boat to go out and retrieve the payload! All cameras had stayed working throughout the flight so they got some great images and video back.Dave
baz7175 said:
You have a link to watch it live again Dave? Gives me something to do before going to bed over here... 
http://spacenear.us/tracker/It'll appear on there as "BUZZ". You should also be able to see my chase car as "chase-daveake". As it's PH I should mention that the chase car is a Pug 406 V6 Coupe, so it should be able to keep up :-).
Dave
Vieste said:
The one that those are chasing right now is going north not south!
That one was yesterday evening. It was a foil balloon with a light payload. It disappeared from the map after a while and the guy that launched it thinks the battery died.The wind will be different tomorrow - NE from Newbury.
Dave
Mobsta said:
Can a pressure release valve not be created to prevent the balloon from exploding so soon?
Yes, can be done. I don't know of anyone who's had success doing so, but in theory it'd work. Then you could put plenty of helium in to get a good ascent rate, then vent as it rises to prevent the burst. Eventually it'll go anyway as UV will start to eat it.Dave
14-7 said:
Sorry!
I did read you mentioned Sunday then it went straight out my head again.
Good luck for tomorrow. Looking like very favourable conditions.
Still got my box that I built with the idea of launching but never got round to buying the balloon and helium then sorting the paperwork out. Hectic times recently I'm afraid!
Let me know if you need a hand launching/chasing or any advice I did read you mentioned Sunday then it went straight out my head again
.Good luck for tomorrow. Looking like very favourable conditions.
Still got my box that I built with the idea of launching but never got round to buying the balloon and helium then sorting the paperwork out. Hectic times recently I'm afraid!
. Also check out www.ukhas.org, and the #highaltitude IRC channel which is where everyone hangs out.Dave
That was fun!
It didn't get as high as intended, but otherwise the flight went very well. Balloons can burst "early" because of defects, or ice crystals forming on the latex, or just being battered around in the jet stream. The amount of helium was correct because the ascent rate (once it got going) was exactly what I was aiming for; just the burst height didn't match the calculations.
Predicted landing was near Cambridge, and we headed along the M4, round the M25 then up the M11. Needed a fuel stop then when I checked afterwards it was coming down already! So we headed for where we thought it would land. As we got closer I had a phone call from one of the guys doing the tracking, and he gave us instructions on how to get close to the field that it had landed in. We had a nice strong radio signal and I got the final GPS location from that, then we headed round 3 fields to where we could see it, at the edge of a field. Result!
It took photos as planned but not very good ones (cheap tiny camera). The payload was a low power one and without much insulation so the innards got very cold - below -50C. Aside from losing GPS altitude for a short while, it performed very well even when so cold.
The chase car setup (radio receiver, netbook with internet via my Android phone) worked very well. I was going to use a car PC but that started crashing as we filled the balloon, so I had to switch to the netbook instead.
I'm uploading pix to flickr; I'll put up a link later.
Dave
It didn't get as high as intended, but otherwise the flight went very well. Balloons can burst "early" because of defects, or ice crystals forming on the latex, or just being battered around in the jet stream. The amount of helium was correct because the ascent rate (once it got going) was exactly what I was aiming for; just the burst height didn't match the calculations.
Predicted landing was near Cambridge, and we headed along the M4, round the M25 then up the M11. Needed a fuel stop then when I checked afterwards it was coming down already! So we headed for where we thought it would land. As we got closer I had a phone call from one of the guys doing the tracking, and he gave us instructions on how to get close to the field that it had landed in. We had a nice strong radio signal and I got the final GPS location from that, then we headed round 3 fields to where we could see it, at the edge of a field. Result!
It took photos as planned but not very good ones (cheap tiny camera). The payload was a low power one and without much insulation so the innards got very cold - below -50C. Aside from losing GPS altitude for a short while, it performed very well even when so cold.
The chase car setup (radio receiver, netbook with internet via my Android phone) worked very well. I was going to use a car PC but that started crashing as we filled the balloon, so I had to switch to the netbook instead.
I'm uploading pix to flickr; I'll put up a link later.
Dave
14-7 said:
No onboard pics?
There are some ... not many because I'd programmed it to only start taking photos at 30km up, in the expectation that it would spend a lot more time at those altitudes and I didn't want it to use up too much battery power. Also the quality isn't good as it was a cheap and tiny "spy" camera, and the lens got covered in mist that then froze. I'll upload them tonight. I did try before but the flickr uploader failed them. Maybe the jpeg format is a bit unusual. I'll open in PS or something then save them, then upload again.Dave
mrmr96 said:
Dave I just watched some of the videos from the first flight. Is there any way that you could take the film of the ascent and speed it up, so it goes from ground to peak height/bust in like 3mins or something. I reckon that would be a cool edit. (PS - you could also edit that beeeeep noise out!)
I thought the picture spins quite quickly enough in the video without speeding it up!The beeeep though can be removed. On that first flight I hadn't added any software to switch the beep on at landing, so I simply connected the piezo bleeper to a PP3 so it beeped the entire flight! Since then I've added logic to control it.
A friend has edited the videos, and added some he took of the preparation and chase. I just need to remind him to upload his work!
Dave
oilydan said:
I was thinking about this after watching the vid again a few nights ago.... using a 'flying saucer' shape is, I guess, the cause of this. Could you use a payload shaped like a Blimp or put some fins on the saucer to keep it more stable?
The flying saucer was just my latest flight; the previous ones were in boxes. I think the spinning is caused by the balloon turning. I do have some fishing-line ball-bearing spinners that should reduce the spinning a lot. I'll try one of those next time.Dave
Flight video at around 34km:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveake/6260095176/
Burst video:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveake/6259577425/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveake/6260095176/
Burst video:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveake/6259577425/
Edited by daveake on Wednesday 19th October 08:28
A little update for those interested. No much photographic content mind.
My previous launch (Buzz1) was really an attempt at the UK altitude record for amateur launches of latex weather balloons. Although we recovered the payload, and had a great time doing so, it didn't achieve the sort of heights expected. So yesterday I tried again.
The payload used the same electronics, minus the "key fob" camera (because it was rubbish), and with larger batteries for longer life in case the balloon floated (a risk when trying to achieve high altitudes). Also I replaced the packaging for better insulation. The prediction said it would land in Belgium, so after launching yesterday morning just after 9am we headed straight for the chunnel to attempt to recover.
You can read the full story here, but the short version is ....
... it beat the existing record by over 400m, finally bursting at just over 41km !!
Yay, I'm a record holder
My previous launch (Buzz1) was really an attempt at the UK altitude record for amateur launches of latex weather balloons. Although we recovered the payload, and had a great time doing so, it didn't achieve the sort of heights expected. So yesterday I tried again.
The payload used the same electronics, minus the "key fob" camera (because it was rubbish), and with larger batteries for longer life in case the balloon floated (a risk when trying to achieve high altitudes). Also I replaced the packaging for better insulation. The prediction said it would land in Belgium, so after launching yesterday morning just after 9am we headed straight for the chunnel to attempt to recover.
You can read the full story here, but the short version is ....
... it beat the existing record by over 400m, finally bursting at just over 41km !!
Yay, I'm a record holder
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