Happy Holidays from 103K feet

[AllDigital]

Ok, not exactly a rocket (or not at all), but for all you altitude junkies I've got a great holiday card photo. This was from a high altitude balloon launch in SoCal a month ago. Someday, I'd like to launch a rockoon, just to set a personal best altitude record, but in the meantime we'll just make bigger rockets. Balloons have many of the same challenges as high altitude rockets, without all the boom.

This launch was using a Kaymont 1500g balloon, Helium (have also used Hydrogen), Big Red Bee APRS, Spot Satellite GPS, 70cm Fox Hunt beacon, a GoPro, iPhone and 2 MUVI video cameras. Check out the 3 minute video of the prep, launch and recovery in the Mojave Desert.

https://vimeo.com/80770787

-Mike

 

[fyrwrxz]

How very cool-Happy Holidaze to you and yours! Thanks for posting and welcome to TRF!
(Now-off with their heads!-LOL!)

 

[BayouRat]

Ok, not exactly a rocket (or not at all), but for all you altitude junkies I've got a great holiday card photo. This was from a high altitude balloon launch in SoCal a month ago. Someday, I'd like to launch a rockoon, just to set a personal best altitude record, but in the meantime we'll just make bigger rockets. Balloons have many of the same challenges as high altitude rockets, without all the boom.

This launch was using a Kaymont 1500g balloon, Helium (have also used Hydrogen), Big Red Bee APRS, Spot Satellite GPS, 70cm Fox Hunt beacon, a GoPro, iPhone and 2 MUVI video cameras. Check out the 3 minute video of the prep, launch and recovery in the Mojave Desert.

https://vimeo.com/80770787

-Mike

Very cool! I get the Big Red Bee, Spot and 70cm transmitter. But why the iPhone?
Would love to see the data.

 

[AllDigital]

iPhone was for time-lapse photos. Not tracking. Ultimately we are trying to create a "tweet from space" app, but have aborted on the idea of using the iPhone as the CPU. Now playing with ATV transmissions and ground based twitter app.

Data is still up on APRS.FI - Call sign is KK6EVH-1 (tail 6 hours for data). Avoiding all the military bases in SoCal takes a planning.

 

[TopRamen]

Super cool!!!:clap:

 

[tedapke]

Great job!
What a fantastic idea for a holiday card.
Thanks for sharing.

Ted
TRA 3726

 

[JPVegh]

Neat!

 

[mikec]

Balloons have many of the same challenges as high altitude rockets, without all the boom.

Probably true, but every time I see one of these balloon projects I can't help but think of this old Peanuts strip

 

[crossfire]

Very nice project. We have been doing a good number of chutes for balloon flights. May I ask what brand chute you used for the flight. Looks like the kids had a great time.
Happy Holiday's
Gary
TFRLLC

 

[AllDigital]

This used a Rocketman 6ft chute. It was cinched up tight, so performed more like a 4ft.

Chutes on balloons are tricky. Our first balloon attempt was rigged with the chute attached to the capsule and the top of chute to bottom of balloon. This worked and we recovered, but the balloon shrouds and parachute tangled, so it hit the ground around 35mph

On the second launch and this launch we rigged a simple system with rings. We had a long line (35') that connected the bottom of the balloon to the bottom of the chute. The line went through two rings and the top of the chute connected back to the middle of the line with an S hook. That wY, when the balloon went up it pulled the chute tight. When it burst the pressure came off the top of the chute and the S hook released. As the chute caught drag it pulled the balloon chardes safely to the middle of the line out of harms way to the chute or capsule. Worked perfect twice so far.

Yep, anyone can launch a balloon, but finding it 100 miles away is an epic challenge.