Several people have expressed interest in helping, so there should be a pretty good bunch. We're trying to decide where to launch from next. It's tempting to try to drive somewhere that will allow a more likely landing zone within cell phone range, but I think we'll just launch from the Physics Building rooftop. We'll have to watch the winds. The picture below shows a launch from the Physics Building today at noon:
As you can see, today it would have followed 64 pretty closely. This would be quite fortunate.
To maximize our chances of recovering the balloon, I'm considering making an antenna for the cell phone. The antenna could hang down from the craft, and be tipped with a blinking LED for greater visibility. This way, even if the craft ends up far from a cell phone tower, we'll have a better shot of at least some data reaching us as it falls.
We may also remove the battery pack from the camera and wire in our own. I trust a set of lithium ion AAs more than a used NiCd rechargeable.
While a streamer seemed sufficient at first, I think a real parachute will be safer. Now I've got to find or make one. To minimize weight, I think we'll use a much smaller styrofoam body than the MIT students.
I just found a video that details how to make a directional cell phone antenna with coffee cans. This might be something to consider.
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