Near-space Photo Update #1

The project is moving along.  I've ordered the balloons, and found a used Canon Powershot SD600 on Ebay.  The camera's gears are stripped, so the lens won't retract, but it apparently still takes photos and was $20.

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.

Near-Space Photo Project

I loved model rocketry as a kid, and I always wanted one of those rockets with a camera.  This project looks to be much cooler.  Although the coolness factor of this project is reduced by the fervor surrounding the success of MIT students' near-space photos, this is still going to be lots of fun.

Essentially, I hope to take pictures with a camera attached to a weather balloon.  The students I linked above give nearly step by step instructions, so this should be obscenely easy.  All you need are a sounding balloon (already ordered, $30 for 2), a camera (Canon, to take advantage of the firmware needed to take pictures at a given time interval), a cell phone (to provide GPS tracking to locate the thing after it lands, $50), and a vehicle.  I think I'll just steal the styrofoam cooler idea for the vehicle, although I think I'll use a streamer instead of a parachute.  Then you need extra batteries for the cell phone (although maybe not), and some heat packs (also maybe not needed).

The camera firmware is CHDK, and the tracking will be done with InstaMapper.  I'll just buy the cell phone from Best Buy; a used camera will be the hard thing to find.

Cell phone coverage is a worry.  To get GPS data from the phone, it'll need reception.  The coverage map for boostmobile above will suggest launch location.


I'll use this Balloon Trajectory Forecast tool to try to figure where the thing will land.  Here's what the trajectory might have looked like today:

 

Here, the vehicle ended up almost 50 miles away, 30 miles northwest of Richmond, 10 miles from Kings Dominion.  This would be bad, as this is not quite in cell phone range, it seems.  Of course, this will change day-to-day.

More to come on preparations for launch!