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Aimed for China: Ham operators to launch balloon Saturday
2/11/2012 5:42:51 PM
A group of amateur radio operators aim to establish a world record for distance by flying an unmanned, helium-filled balloon from Katy, Texas, across the Atlantic and the Mediterranean then on to Nanjing, China.
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/february2012/aimed_for_china.htm
Awesome! They launched about an hour ago and it's just south of Houston.
Track it here.
http://aprs.fi/?call=KT5TK-11&mt=roadmap&z=12&timerange=3600&_s=ss_call
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/february2012/aimed_for_china.htm
Awesome! They launched about an hour ago and it's just south of Houston.
Track it here.
http://aprs.fi/?call=KT5TK-11&mt=roadmap&z=12&timerange=3600&_s=ss_call
2/11/2012 5:52:10 PM
I guess more then steers and queers come from Texas 
2/11/2012 5:54:47 PM
That is cool.
2/11/2012 5:59:36 PM
Pretty cool! 39k feet now jumped to 34k feet after I posted that
2/11/2012 6:08:50 PM
Cool. Checking it out on aprs.fi now. It may fly over my location if it stays on this path. I may receive the packet directly if it does.
2/11/2012 6:24:04 PM
I was supposed to go to the launch today but I had to work. I saw the payload at a local club meeting, its about the size of a small paperback book. Lots of programming went into that thing. Its very technical.
2/11/2012 11:24:22 PM
tag
cuz that thing is going to take a while
cuz that thing is going to take a while
2/11/2012 11:38:28 PM
Wow, that is very very cool-thank you for posting 
I'd love to learn more about the tech package they put together-like the type of batteries, how often it transmits etc.
Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile
I'd love to learn more about the tech package they put together-like the type of batteries, how often it transmits etc.
Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile
2/12/2012 8:23:45 AM
Looks like something happened to the balloon last night. Hasn't been tracked on APRS since about 0001Z.
2/12/2012 8:35:56 AM
ost
2/12/2012 10:12:05 AM
Hope it was only the transmitter or the GPS malfunctioning. I had been watching the battery voltage drop at a fast clip and thought at that pace how could it last a few days.
2/12/2012 10:53:42 AM
Originally Posted By CJan_NH:
Wow, that is very very cool-thank you for posting
I'd love to learn more about the tech package they put together-like the type of batteries, how often it transmits etc.
Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile
Wow, that is very very cool-thank you for posting
I'd love to learn more about the tech package they put together-like the type of batteries, how often it transmits etc.
Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile
I only have a basic knowledge of the details. But from what I understood the balloon was to report its position and altitude via APRS. When it went out of APRS range it would report its position via the ISS whenever it was overhead. Then when it would cross into Europe, which has different APRS frequencies it would change frequency automatically and start reporting again.
I don't have pics from the launch but here are some build pics from one of the team members.
/http://www.w5acm.net/b282208.html
2/12/2012 8:25:13 PM
Looks like they've had some sort of malfunction. Seems like it should have neared/crossed Florida by now.
Any info on how they expected a battery to last at -12 degrees?
Any info on how they expected a battery to last at -12 degrees?
2/13/2012 4:29:27 PM
Originally Posted By pcsutton:
Looks like they've had some sort of malfunction. Seems like it should have neared/crossed Florida by now.
Any info on how they expected a battery to last at -12 degrees?
Looks like they've had some sort of malfunction. Seems like it should have neared/crossed Florida by now.
Any info on how they expected a battery to last at -12 degrees?
I've never built a balloon package but the satellite I worked on had a heater for the battery. Using some of the battery's juice to heat it made it last longer.
2/13/2012 6:18:27 PM
In the pictures in that link above, there are regular Rayovac batteries in there. I wonder if that's what they used for the flight. Seems like you'd want to use a higher capacity/quality battery.
2/13/2012 6:52:12 PM
Originally Posted By Nighthawk08:
In the pictures in that link above, there are regular Rayovac batteries in there. I wonder if that's what they used for the flight. Seems like you'd want to use a higher capacity/quality battery.
In the pictures in that link above, there are regular Rayovac batteries in there. I wonder if that's what they used for the flight. Seems like you'd want to use a higher capacity/quality battery.
....and some way to keep them from freezing at 20 below zero for a week or so.
2/13/2012 8:30:24 PM
Originally Posted By Nighthawk08:
In the pictures in that link above, there are regular Rayovac batteries in there. I wonder if that's what they used for the flight. Seems like you'd want to use a higher capacity/quality battery.
In the pictures in that link above, there are regular Rayovac batteries in there. I wonder if that's what they used for the flight. Seems like you'd want to use a higher capacity/quality battery.
A later picture has Energizer Lithiums, which are a good option.
On a sidenote the typical household refrigerator freezer runs at -20F. I've run my GoPro Hero2 in there and got ~3.5 hrs out of the double battery setup (rechargeable lithium ion). Typical run time is 4.5-5 hrs. I popped in a 32gb and set it to record the stopwatch running on the G-Shock in front of it with an LED headlight providing ambient light
2/14/2012 5:27:11 AM
Originally Posted By danpass:
A later picture has Energizer Lithiums, which are a good option.
On a sidenote the typical household refrigerator freezer runs at -20F. I've run my GoPro Hero2 in there and got ~3.5 hrs out of the double battery setup (rechargeable lithium ion). Typical run time is 4.5-5 hrs. I popped in a 32gb and set it to record the stopwatch running on the G-Shock in front of it with an LED headlight providing ambient light
Originally Posted By Nighthawk08:
In the pictures in that link above, there are regular Rayovac batteries in there. I wonder if that's what they used for the flight. Seems like you'd want to use a higher capacity/quality battery.
In the pictures in that link above, there are regular Rayovac batteries in there. I wonder if that's what they used for the flight. Seems like you'd want to use a higher capacity/quality battery.
A later picture has Energizer Lithiums, which are a good option.
On a sidenote the typical household refrigerator freezer runs at -20F. I've run my GoPro Hero2 in there and got ~3.5 hrs out of the double battery setup (rechargeable lithium ion). Typical run time is 4.5-5 hrs. I popped in a 32gb and set it to record the stopwatch running on the G-Shock in front of it with an LED headlight providing ambient light
The oscillator in your watch is temperature sensative, so putting it in the freezer most likely made it run slower, so maybe it was more than 3.5 hrs
Fun side note, if you know anybody who has one of those RSA tokens or siimilar (6 digit number they have to enter to log in) if you throw it in the freezer for a few days the clock will be off significantly enough that it will get out of sync with their authentication server
2/14/2012 8:09:20 AM
2/14/2012 8:24:10 AM
No worries...
The Ray-o-Vac batteries supply 1.21 gigawatts (not associated to Gigaparts
)
The Ray-o-Vac batteries supply 1.21 gigawatts (not associated to Gigaparts
)2/18/2012 10:58:21 AM
Any more info on this?
2/18/2012 11:26:02 AM
Originally Posted By danpass:
Any more info on this?
Any more info on this?
Looks like it's dead. Last update was 6.5 days ago.
2/23/2012 4:53:40 PM
Talked to one of the balloon launch team members team members. They think it was the rayovac batteries that failed during the flight. Apparently they have been using alkaline batteries for the previous 27 flights and never had a problem at 100k+ feet.
2/23/2012 6:49:43 PM
I didnt mean to but i mite have shot it down.
2/23/2012 8:54:56 PM
Originally Posted By andre3k:
Talked to one of the balloon launch team members team members. They think it was the rayovac batteries that failed during the flight. Apparently they have been using alkaline batteries for the previous 27 flights and never had a problem at 100k+ feet.
Talked to one of the balloon launch team members team members. They think it was the rayovac batteries that failed during the flight. Apparently they have been using alkaline batteries for the previous 27 flights and never had a problem at 100k+ feet.
ugh ............ so they did use Rayovacs.
I was hoping that photo was just about using them for testing the setup.
Talk about false economy. I wouldn't have trusted non-lithiums for even the first flight let alone 27.
