HSIS/Status

Status

10/1/10 - Official Competition Results Out From Workshop 88

• Everyone Who Contributed To The Project, You Guys Are Awesome!
• Workshop 88 announced the competition results. We won 1st place with 98 points! Our stats were:
  • TIME: 3h31m - 35pts
  • WEIGHT: 1.48lbs - 25pts
  • COST: $174.29 - 38pts
  • TOTAL: 98pts
• From the competition website, we win a trophy built by Workshop88 and have the honor of building next year's trophy! :D

9/1/10 - Submitted Official Competition Results to Workshop 88

• BrokenTrace
• Now we wait for the announcement of the winners.

8/28/10 - Comepetition Launch - SUCCESS!!!

• Spacefelix, Bendersgame, BrokenTrace & Bill Brown
• Competition launch was completed successfully with a complete payload recovery and qualifying photos of near-space! All that is needed now is to give BrokenTrace the cost of launch info and submit the results with the judge's (BrokenTrace) approval to Workshop 88.

8/21/10 - Competition Launch Attempt

• Spacefelix, Bendersgame, BrokenTrace & Bill Brown
• Launch scrubbed due to adverse weather conditions causing us to use a larger balloon, pushing our launch costs over the $250.00/launch competition limit. As this would disqualify us from the competition, we instead took the opportunity to do a test flight of our new camera configuration. The camera payload performed successfully; it was able to retain heat better due to the thicker foam walls and functioned from launch to landing without shutting down due to cold exposure. Will try another official competition launch attempt 8/28.

8/16/10 - HSIS Meeting

• Spacefelix, Bendersgame, BrokenTrace & Bill Brown
• Prepared for 8/21 flight.

8/14/10 - Competition Launch Attempt

• Spacefelix, Bendersgame, BrokenTrace & Bill Brown
• Launch scrubbed due to adverse weather conditions. Will try again 8/21.

8/9/10 - HSIS Meeting

• Spacefelix, Bendersgame, BrokenTrace, Bill Brown, MrWorld & CrashCartPro
• Prepared for a 8/14 competition launch attempt. Cut out foam for new camera carrier. BendersGame did some water-landing tests on different configurations. Came up with styrofoam box configuration for flotation. The camera would be in the center of the box and would remain afloat above the waterline if it landed in water.

7/26/10 - HSIS Meeting

• Spacefelix & Bendersgame
• Launch Site and Lifting Gas - Will use Bill Brown's farm near Hartselle, AL or the NSTC Building at UAH. Bill can provide Helium at ~$20.00/flight (meets our competition budget). Said to call him in a week to get updates on weather and a more precise launch date than the Saturdays between 8/14-8/28.
• Payload - Bendersgame said he is making progress on the new camera carrier. He plans to do some testing before our competition flight. Said new design ought to work for first flight as the competition flight since it is based on the old design that has been flown and proven. Spacefelix has also purchased 4GB SD cards for the camera. They are in transit.
• Media - MrWorld would like to film our launch for a Makers Local 256 publicity video. We will inform him when the launch date becomes concrete for 8/14.
• Cell Phone Tracker - Still dead after rice therapy. Apparently, it died restarting after hitting the water since it was scheduled to restart itself and the tracking program after landing.

7/19/10 - HSIS Meeting

• Bendersgame & Spacefelix
• Need to gather receipts for costing for competition. So far have the following:
  • Bendersgame - Has receipts for camera and foam in shop in HSIS box.
  • Spacefelix - Has receipts for bubble wrap and fasteners in shop in HSIS box.
  • Bill Brown - We will need receipts for balloon and tracker. Possibly for Helium.
• Spacefelix & PreauxPhoto left messages with J&M Cylinder. If no response by next week, we will rely on Bill Brown to provide Helium.
• Asking the team, best launch time would be in the early morning on the launch days.

7/12/10 - HSIS Meeting

• Bendersgame, Brimstone, BrokenTrace & Spacefelix
• Competition Flight Preparations - Decided by Bill Brown's, BrokenTrace's and our availability, we will have a competition launch window of August 14, 21 & 28, 2010. Bill said that he would prefer we launch from the Hartselle, AL J&M Cylinder location since it is close to his ground tracking station out at his farm. Still need to contact Joe Weber of J&M Cylinder to confirm that we can launch from their Hartselle location and can purchase helium and fill on site. In the meanwhile, Bendersgame is building the new water-landing-compatible payload carrier for the competition flight.

7/5/10 - HSIS Meeting

• Bendersgame & Spacefelix
  • Competition Flight - Erik (BrokenTrace) is now Makers Local 256's HSIS competition judge. We are also ready to fly a competition flight as all components of vehicle have successfully passed flight tests. For now, the team is busy, so we will discuss when we want to do a competition flight at our next meeting.

6/28/10 - HSIS Meeting

• Brimstone & Spacefelix
  • Cutting Costs - Spacefelix went over the cost numbers again and found that there was a mistake in the previous market cost calculation of $210.00 per launch. The actual market cost per launch is now $149.10 using a helium balloon. It seems it is no longer necessary to look into using a solar balloon as a low-cost alternative to a helium balloon.

6/26/10 - 3rd Test Flight

• Bill Brown, Brimstone & Spacefelix.
  • Did a test flight piggybacking off the UAH ozonesonde balloon flight with the cell phone tracker with Mologogo Solo on automatic restart. The flight went well and the cellphone tracked. However, just barely. It was only able to get two points; the launch point and the landing point. Unfortunately, since it landed in water, the cell phone became waterlogged and shut down. After this test, it is decided the cell phone tracker does not compare to Bill Brown's GPS radio beacon. Also, Bill Brown offered to join our team so that we could use his tracking resources for our competition flight. On another note, there will be need for waterproofing the payloads if a water landing happens again. We will either need the payloads to be sealed in watertight containers and given enough flotation to be recoverable or keep the payloads above the waterline. Discussed this with BendersGame and he is working on something for the camera payload. Bill's tracking payload survived the water landing since it was lightweight enough that it's thermal bubble wrap covering was able to keep it afloat above the waterline. JimShoe and Ratmandu said that to recover waterlogged electronics, bury them in a sealed tub of rice for a week. The rice will act as a dessicant and absorb out the moisture. Do not turn on the device or install its battery to avoid damaging its electronics.

6/21/10 - 6/25/10 - Preparations for 6/26/10 Flight and Some New Things Learned

• Bendersgame, Brimstone, DraesDraco & Spacefelix.
  • Tracking - Just for fun, decided to try a flight with the cell phone tracker to see just how far we can go with it. Got the cell phone to automatically reactivate Mologolo Solo every minute during flight. Packaging is ready to go and phone will be flown for a tracking test for the 6/26/10 flight.
  • Solar Balloons - Bill Brown said that 50/50% Helium-Air will not suffice for flight. We need at least 75/25% Helium-Air. Also, pointed out solar balloons as an alternative to helium balloons. Rather than use a lighter-than-air gas for lift, they use captured solar thermal energy to heat gas in their envelopes to provide lift like a hot air balloon. Therefore, one could be built simply from black polyethylene plastic (black to absorb the solar energy to heat the inside of the balloon) trash bags fastened together to form an envelope. This would reduce the cost of the balloon and lifting gas from $30.00 per launch to about $5.00 per launch. The only drawback is the lifting force is much less than a helium balloon. Spacefelix is analyzing how practical a solar balloon would be and how big it would have to be to lift a 1 lb payload and its own weight to at least 60,000 ft (near-space altitude).

6/14/10 - HSIS Meeting

• Bendersgame, Brimstone, DraesDraco, Spacefelix and Omegix.
  • Tracking - Brimstone will be going with the GPS/radio beacon tracker ($40.00 build cost) on loan from Bill Brown. It has a cost, functionality advantage over the cell phone tracking method ($70.00 vs $40.00 and the cell phone has had problems tracking compared to a proven and tested tracking device). This puts the cell phone tracking method away for good.
  • Next Test/Competition Flight - Discussed what we would like to do for the next test flight (aiming for 6/26/10 window); we decided we would like to see what a non-GPS radio beacon tracking operation would take. If it is comparable to GPS, it will save us cost of launch. See below. Also, since we have a proven flight camera that has taken qualifying photos and we have a viable tracking option, it is now possible for us to do competition flights.
  • Cutting Costs - As part of the competition score is based on cost (full credit for being under $150/launch), we are trying to cut back our cost per launch. Right now, cost per launch is $210.00 (using the E-Bay $10.00 weather balloons and the $40.00 GPS/radio beacon tracker). This is, however, using scientific Helium (99% pure) at $65.00 per per and new materials ($10.00 per launch). If we use cheap lifting gas (%75-%50 pure), we may be able to halve that cost. Preaux also stated that we could get enough hydrogen lifting gas for three flights from J&M Cylinder in Decatur, AL for ~$20.00. Furthermore, using salvage material for the payload case, we can call it for free. A further way to cut costs would be to replace the $40.00 GPS/radio beacon with a $5.00 radio chirper. We will have to think this over and decide where and how much do we want to cut costs.

6/13/10 - Tracking Phone Test Flight

• Spacefelix did a aerial test of the tracking phone while flying in an airplane around the local area. Tried to determine what the limits/bugs were with the tracking phone from the last balloon flight. During the test the phone was able to send out precise tracking points even when at altitude. However, the problem was that the Mologogo Solo program would shut down every time there was a loss of cell or satellite signal that would cause the phone to be unable to send GPS data. To overcome the problem, the Mologogo Solo program had to be reactivated each time it shut down. Each time it came up, it was able to send a GPS datapoint to brimstone's server and keep the tracking data current. My recommendation is to reprogram the phone to automatically reactivate Mologogo Solo at fixed time intervals. I believe after this test, and if we can automate Mologogo Solo to reactivate each time it shuts down, the cell phone tracker is still a viable option for tracking.

6/12/10 - 2nd Test Flight

• Had a great flight with BendersGame, DraesDraco and Spacefelix. We flew the camera payload in the new packaging and managed to get space-qualifying photos before the batteries died out due to cold and moisture exposure. Debated if we needed more insulation on the camera to keep it working longer, but decided that as the current setup was able to get qualifying near-space photographs, no further engineering was needed. So far, this means we have a competition-ready setup; we can fly, track and take photographs.

6/7/10 - HSIS Meeting

• Brimstone, Spacefelix, omegix, DraesDraco and Bendersgame present.
  • Bill Brown - Has a couple flights with slots for us lined up. This looks like a good opportunity for us to bang out and fly new designs each week or so:
    • June 12, 2010 - Balloon launch at noon with ozone-measuring equipment, can spare 8-10 ounces. Will launch out of Huntsville from the NSTC Building (same location as our first test flight). Bill said that he plans to launch a radio beacon tracker to demonstrate radio tracking to us. He has asked us to call him Wednesday of this week to confirm payload weights and weather. Currently, he said he can only launch the tracker or our camera. He is leaning towards the tracker, but we feel with the 5 ounce camera, we ought to be able to haggle with him on including the camera in the flight train.
    • June 18, 2010 - Space Camp balloon launch in Southern Indiana. Bill said that it will be a 6-hour drive up there. Looks like we will have to pass or send someone up solo.
    • June 26, 2010 - Balloon launch from Huntsville from the NSTC Building.
  • Payload - DraesDraco and Bendersgame worked on contructing a payload container for the camera for this Saturday's flight.
  • Tracking - Bill Brown made mention of scripting a phone to send out its location by attempting a reconnect at a fixed time interval to overcome the loss of signal problem. What does brimstone think? Also, Spacefelix will be taking the current cell phone with Mologogo Solo tracking on a flight either Thursday or this Sunday to test out how well it tracks at altitude, when it cuts off and how well it can acquire signal.

5/24/10 - HSIS Meeting

• Brimstone, Spacefelix, omegix present.
  • Tracking - Cell phone will be available for a small tracking experiment this or next weekend.
  • Hardware - Couldn't source a hydrogen generator. Hydrogen as a lifting gas is out of the picture for good. Spacefelix will consult with some friends about recommended Helium lifting gas. They recommended a mix of 75% Helium and 25% Nitrogen.
  • Scheduling - Since competition window closes August 31 and we have a test flight lined up for June, we are looking to have a full first launch in late June or early July and then competition flight attempts in late July and early August.

5/17/10 - HSIS Meeting

• Brimstone, Spacefelix, omegix, DraesDraco, Bendersgame present.
  • Tracking - Since we are piggybacking, will be flying the cell phone tracker to compare with the other two tracking methods.
  • Photography & Packaging - DraesDraco and Bendersgame continue to prepare the camera and cell phone for flight.
  • Hardware - Same as last.

5/10/10 - HSIS Meeting

• Brimstone, Spacefelix, omegix, DraesDraco, Bendersgame present.
  • Bill Brown - Had a phone conversation with him about flight planning. He said he is available in June to do a test flight of the payload. Launch location and time will depend on his and material availability. We will have to bring a fully packaged camera payload. He will provide the balloons, lifting gas and tracking hardware (APRS). He will also be doing a demonstration of a radio beacon tracker for us that day on a separate balloon.
  • Tracking - Brimstone said he has been researching APRS tracking gear. Spacefelix said that there has been one for sale by Bill for $150.00. Also, Spacefelix proposed that we use radio beacon tracking as a cheap alternative to APRS. The balance here is in being able to recover the payload vs cost. APRS has a high recovery rate but is expensive. Radio beacons are cheap, but require a fair bit of skill to recover. Decided that we ought to see Bill Brown's demonstration and decide where to go from there.
  • Photography & Packaging - DraesDraco and Bendersgame started building a payload package for the camera.
  • Hardware - Spacefelix is looking into chemical hydrogen gas generators as a cheap and safe alternative to the HHO electrolysis machine. Decided to leave the Hydrogen gas generator idea behind for now since it is operationally complicated and dangerous.

5/3/10 - HSIS Meeting

• Brimstone, Spacefelix & Eric (from MASEF) present.
  • Tracking - Brimstone has been looking at WhereAVR or Bill Brown's gear. Current cost has been estimated to be up to $100.00. Omegix made an online query about WhereAVR tracking gear.
  • Hardware - Spacefelix & Eric Stubbs did some research for the hydrogen gas machine. Due to the large volume we must fill for a weather balloon and the explosive hazard of hydrogen, it was in our interest to make the system produce as much hydrogen as possible to fill the balloon as quickly so we could get it out of there as soon as possible. We researched what voltages are needed for water electrolysis (sourced from CR Scientific). Found out that typical electrolysis is run at 6 volts. The minimum voltage needed is 1.2 volts. From a previous experiment Spacefelix did with a variable power supply, the rate of electrolysis seems to be more sensitive to current input rather than voltage. It would therefore be important for us to run the electrolysis machine at high current. Brimstone made mention that a computer DC power supply would suffice in providing ~6 volts at high currents (the one he showed us could do 42 amps at 5 volts). We brainstormed a couple of ideas of setting up the power supplies in parallel electrical connections to the electrodes to provide more current and therefore more hydrogen, or feeding multiple machines into the balloon. We would need to look into how each setup behaves and its safety. Two safety notes, we will need grounding and bonding on the balloon, gear and people handling the balloon and we found that using NaCl salt in electrolysis is dangerous as toxic Cl gas is be produced.

4/26/10 - HSIS Meeting

• omegix, brimstone, Hanyan, Ratmandu & Spacefelix present with Katie (bokunenjin), guest from HacDC (they are also in the HSIS competition). We had a chance to show her around the space and swap notes on the project. We also got to discuss our progress:
  • Camera - BendersGame said he is looking into an electronic button lockout to prevent the script from shutting down due to inadvertent button pushing. Also said that external microcontrollers operating the camera can pose the problem of the camera not working, or at worst, frying it.
  • Tracking - Brimstone still looking at APRS-based tracking options. The biggest factor of concern is cost and weight since we have strict limits on those two. Awaiting response from Bill Brown of HARC and Steve Conklin of Antitronics on questions about their tracking units.
  • Flight Gear - Spacefelix currently looking into electrolyzing hydrogen from water using a Hoffman Apparatus to produce our own lifting gas as a way to cut our flight costs. Will need to be careful about hydrogen gas's explosive potential and test carefully with no open flames nearby and no static discharge (static bracelets and grounding wire). Looking to build a small one to fill party balloons to test the concept and then move up to bigger hardware for bigger balloons. It is to be noted that as the balloons get bigger, they need more gas pressure to inflate to overcome the mechanical counterpressure of the balloon. It will eventually be necessary to use a reservoir, pump and one-way valve to fill a big balloon. Take note, that the one way-valve must withstand the pressure of the fully-inflated balloon (I guess it to be at least 25% to 50% more than atmospheric pressure; ~14 psi gives a maximum of 21 psi). The cheapest and most likely bet would be the one-way valve out of a bicycle pump as those typically operate in the 60-120 psi range. Since we are working with hydrogen, it is recommended that we do not use any mechanical pumps that could spark (electrically) to avoid accidental ignition. Rather, we ought to use systems that do not have parts that spark or have potential for static discharge in direct contact with the hydrogen (e.g. blood pumps or bellows). As before, using the bicycle tire pressure as a good starting point for designing our pressure fill system, we can have a bicycle pump do the job. With a metal body that can be grounded to conduct and dissipate static charge and proper padding to prevent metal surfaces from banging and sparking, the risk of ignition ought to be very low.

4/12/10 - HSIS Meeting

• BendersGame, Brimstone, DraesDraco, Hanyan, Ratmandu & Spacefelix were present. We discussed how the flight test went and worked on improvements to our design:
  • Tracking - Brimstone has started researching cell-phone alternative tracking methods using APRS. Will require a ham radio operator on the team.
  • Photography - BendersGame did a handling test to try to determine what caused the camera to shut down during ground handling. Proposed a tethered balloon or kite flight of the payload package to see if the camera will stand up to the motions of flight without any faults.
  • Payloads - DraesDraco came up with a rigid styrofoam container to hold the payload rather than bubble wrap to prevent inadvertent button pushing. It would also allow quick payload access while on the ground tethered to the flight line to restart the payload if it died again. Since there will be a APRS unit on board, it ought to generate enough heat to keep the payload warm at altitude. Also, we will not be suspending the payload by looping the flight line around it. The last payload with this setup got the payload cut in half since the lifting force of the balloon and the weight of the other payloads on the line caused the loop to tighten excessively. Instead, the line will pass through holes in the payload and be knotted to provide suspension.
• JimShoe has an electronic GPS tracker (about the size of a thumb drive). We can fly it to see if it can be used for tracking.

4/10/10 - 1st Test Flight

• See First Flight Log.

4/9/10 - 1st Test Flight Preparations

• BendersGame, Spacefelix & DraesDraco met to prepare equipment and packaging for the 4/10/10 test flight. Did a couple test builds of the payload bubble-wrap packaging.

4/5/10 - Flight Test on 4/10 Readiness Review

• We concluded that the camera was ready to fly and the cell phone tracker with Mologogo will be flown as experimentation (backed up by Bill Brown's equipment). Spacefelix has called Bill Brown to find out who he can ask to get an idea of how much payload room we have on the UAH flight train.
• For the 4/10 payload test flight, we are looking to gain flight experience by watching how the pros do it and to get an idea to how our current photography and tracking methods measure up to our expectations (camera is expected to do fine, Brimstone says the cell phone tracker is expected to get tracking faults (as seen in ground testing, stops tracking after a certain time interval)). As it stands, the test payload will consist of our camera and the original cell phone tracker with Mologogo (just for experimentation), a hot hand*, and a flotation block. The electronics will be wrapped in a ziplock bag for waterproofing (foam block and hot hand outside) and then the whole package wrapped in bubble wrap for insulation. The pack will be taped shut, holes cut to expose the lense and the hot hand to the outside, and rigged with a spider wire bridal. An international orange streamer will be linked to the bridal. *As the hot hand requires oxygen to work, it will provide heating at low altitudes until the greenhouse effect of the bubble wrap takes over at high altitudes.
• For this flight, we will need to purchase bubble wrap and an orange streamer. All other material is already available to us.
• Our flight crew current consists of Spacefelix and maybe Justin. Spacefelix would like more to accompany us this Saturday.
• Brimstone and BendersGame said that there will be some time before they can develop an alternative to the cell phone tracking method. They will need to buy, assemble and test parts.

4/3/10 - Tags Complete

• Richard from MASEF brought in some tags with a team logo for us to use on our first test flight.

4/2/10 - Online Discussion

• Brimstone and BendersGame talked in the channel about alternatives to cell phone GPS tracking. Found out about the WhereAVR APRS Tracker (also at here). Apparently, it was built by a local Huntsville guy for balloon launches. If it compares in cost and weight to the cell phone and can do a better tracking job, it's ours. Brimstone and BendersGame will see about trying to get it on our 4/10 and 4/11 flight windows.
• Spacefelix gave HSIS presentation at 2600 meeting. Gained some interest and got a recommendation from one of the guys there that on-site hydrogen electrolysis would be a cheap way for us to get lifting gas (See List of Potential Materials - Source & Pricing, look under 'Lifting Gas - Helium or Hydrogen' -> 'On-Site Hydrogen Electrolysis = Cheap Hydrogen').

4/1/10 - 4/3 Launch Scrubbed

• Bill Brown gave notice that a 4/3 launch would have to be scrubbed due to weather (thunderstorms in vicinity) and conditions putting our landing site in the rugged mountains of TN. This would make for a difficult recovery, so the launch has been scrubbed.
• SCRUB NOTICE LIST:
  • Bill Brown - Concur
  • HSIS Team - Concur
  • J&M Cylinder - Concur
• Launch Alternatives
  • Bill Brown recommends launching on 4/10 or 4/11.
    • For a 4/10 launch, we can piggyback our payload on a UAH balloon for the UAH BalloonSat senior engineering class (there will be 2 or 3 of them and if there is room) to test the tracking and photography system. We will be backed up by UAH's and Bill Brown's teams for tracking and recovery and have a great learning opportunity to see how the pros do it. They even have rooms on the chase vehicles. We really ought to attend even if we don't fly. Launch place will be from the back parking lot of the NSSTC building on Lakeside Drive across from UAH campus. They will launch at 9am.
      • We need to get into contact with Bill Brown and see how much payload weight the can spare for us. Spacefelix will handle.
    • For the 4/11 launch, Bill Brown has offered for us to launch from his farmhouse 5 miles east of Hartselle. We will be flying in tandem with his payload with our balloon. He will provide the lifting gas.
• Notes: At least this scrub gives us more time to fix the kinks in our payload. Brimstone has expressed that he would like more time to work on the cell phone tracker. Also, we need to develop and test our secondary tracking systems and our water landing flotation.

3/31/10

NOTICE: IMPORANT UPDATES THAT IMPACT HOW AND WHEN WE LAUNCH for 4/3

• Bill Brown Conversation
  • Spacefelix gave Bill Brown a call in reply to his e-mail sent on 3/30/10 with his recommendations for our project. He said he would like to assist us on our first launch on 4/3/10. He will be preparing his own payload with tracking and photography his way and launch it in tandem with ours on the same balloon and parachute to do the same mission. This will give us a comparison for how well our payload has performed. Also, he will be sending a couple of his trackers to help us with the flight. For our first flight, he would like to meet us at J&M Cylinder in Hartselle at 10am and launch at 11am.
  • He also had some recommendations for us for future launches:
    • Do not use GPS, use a really cheap radio chirper on the balloon and track it with ham radios on the ground using direction finding and ground-based GPS to triangulate.
    • Bill has access to several very cheap parts for photography and tracking that could meet the competition's requirement for under $150/build for one vehicle.
    • Replace the hot hands and cooler with a wrap of three layers of bubble wrap. It will act like a greenhouse powered by uninterrupted sun at altitude during the day. He has flown and tested this successfully. It is able to keep the payload above freezing temperatures. Spacefelix will later modify our payload to use this.
    • He advised the original MIT team for Project Icarus and mentioned that the cell phone and camera method had a failure rate (loss of payload) of 3 in 4 since they would lose cell signal at altitude. Therefore, we had to be careful with following MIT's project.

3/30/10

• J&M cylindar said we can purchase only the amount of helium we use (and no tank) if we're willing to launch from their Hartselle location.
  • Owner of the company is Joe: 566-2714
  • Launch time would be Saturday 9AM (we can reschedule this if we'd like)
  • Hartselle Location: 818 Hwy 31 SW, Hartselle, AL 35640
    • Next to the indoor/outdoor flea market
• BendersGame did the freezer test on the camera. The camera was uninsulated, display and flash turned off manually and scripted to take a snap every 10 seconds. Results:
  • The test ran for slightly over 2.5 hours. [12:24 to 3:02, to be precise]. When I checked, the camera had turned itself off. On checking after a few minutes after taking it out, it still indicated that about 25% of batt life was still available.
  • The card was not full either.
  • This leads me to believe that the camera shut down because of either cold or moisture or both. Nonetheless, it ran for 2.5 hours in those conditions. Will we have a sustained cold and moist phase for that long on a (hopefully) clear day? If the camera can escape shutting down, we could possibly run for almost 3.5 hours. In any case, assuming the lens does not fog up, I think 2.5 hours is still good enough to beat our worst case scenario estimates.
    • From spacefelix, the coldest and moistest points in flight from the University of Wyonming's flight tracking software will only last for about half and hour on ascent and descent respectively. Also, since we only need to take pictures up to the apogee of flight, having the camera last two hours is acceptable.

3/29/10

• Jeff to call J&M and determine what the hours are
  • They close at 4:30 PM Omegix 09:29, 30 March 2010 (CDT)
• There will be a geocaching hide and seek with the payload after the 2600 meeting on Friday.
• BendersGame is looking into power saving options for the camera, like turning off the display
• $100 had been donated to the HSIS fund in the ML256 Treasury. There is a total of $120 earmarked as of this meeting.
• Brimstone has been working on the cell phone's supplementary battery pack. Looking at the weight of 4 stock AA cells (0.5 lbs) vs 4 D cells (1.5 lbs). We will be working with the AAs.
• BendersGame, Brimstone, CrashCart, JimShoe and Spacefelix performed drop testing with the cooler and parachutes loaded to 2 lbs. Tossed it off the top of the parking garage downtown (~150' drop). The vehicle was able to descent straight down without any rocking and land without damage.
• Brimstone, JimShoe & Spacefelix discussed a geocaching event after the 4/2 2600 Meeting to test the payload tracking. JimShoe would take the payload and hide it somewhere and the rest of us would set out to try and find it. We would then take it back to the shop and modify it from what we learned.
• Strages & Ratmandu recommended that we have secondary tracking methods on the payload if the cell phone fails. E.g. a radio beacon on the payload and a ground crew with a yagi antenna to find it, and an audio beeper for when we get close. With the parachutes rated to 2 lbs, and the payload with cooler, heating elements, tracking and photography weighing 1.7 lbs Also Spacefelix will paint the payload and parachutes international orange to help us find it.
• Richard from MASEF started designing a project logo to put on our vehicle when we launch.

3/26/10 T-8 Days to First Launch

• Spacefelix tagged up with PreauxPhoto on Helium status. He may be able to get us our helium in time for the 4/3 launch, but if not, we can push back the launch one week without issue.
• Spacefelix ordered two 800g weather balloons from Nova Lynx for $168.00 (cost is $69.00/ea). They will arrive on 4/2/10.
• Brimstone ran the cell phone endurance test in a freezer. With the phone broadcasting to find a tower and receiving and broadcasting GPS coordinates, the phone lasted 3 hours. Need a margin of 1 hour for a 2.5-hour flight. Therefore, have decided to have a supplementary battery pack hooked to the cell phone.

3/22/10 Build Meeting

• Matt got the phone working to report GPS position.
• Ethan, Rohan & Satyam got the parachute and gondola system working. Tested out several cheap parachute configurations and a foam cooler for a total payload weight of 2 lbs. (foam cooler gondola and two parachutes weigh 0.5 lbs., leaves 1.5 lbs. for electronics and heating elements). The best one has been two parachutes made out of the two sheet halves of a 30 gallon garbage bag with 2" diameter vent holes. Total estimated cost of gondola, parachutes, thermal control and insulation is $7.00.
• Have received link from Raymond on Jersey Balloon Launch. Using them as an example to follow for the development of our vehicle. They seem to have a very simple and lightweight setup.
• Omegix and Bender's measurements have the heaviest camera, cell phone, and charging cable weighing in at 0.7 lbs
• 03/22 night cell phone room-temperature endurance test resulted in a 4 hour battery life.

3/15/10 Meeting

• We now have three cameras at our disposal (see available materials)
• Matt is taking the Boost Mobile phone to the store to get it working
• Next meeting will be a build meeting instead of a planning meeting

3/8/10 Meeting

• Ratmandu - GSM/GPS unit we had has a damaged capacitor on the power supply. At the very least it could be fixed by replacing the capacitor. But replacing the power supply altogether would be very difficult.
• Team decided to use omegix's cell phone as the GPS and camera unit. He has requested an $80.00 collateral in the event the payload is lost or damaged.
• In the meanwhile, omegix will be reprogramming his cell phone to take pictures and report GPS positions.
• Spacefelix has put out a recommendation that purchases for equipment start the week of 3/15 so we can meet our 4/3 1st launch goal.

3/6/10 Unclaimed Baggage

• Shopping trip to Unclaimed Baggage came up with lots of potential cameras that may be compatible with CHDK. Will need another trip to confirm this.

3/5/10

• Event registration for competition has closed (ML256 is registered)
• Spacefelix contacted Jay on judge's duties and set up liaison. Also asked a few questions on the rules about minimum flight altitude requirements. Awaiting reply.
• Sourced cheap weather balloons and helium. Have e-mailed Bill for further information on how to size balloons and the necessary gas quantities for our flight.

3/4/10 HAL5

• HAL5 presentation by brimstone and omegix a success. Raised lots of positive interest in project.

3/1/10

• Accepted invitation from HAL5 President, Yohan Lo to give a 5-minute interest presentation at the 3/4/10 7pm HAL5 Meeting. Will see if we can raise funds, interest, contributions of equipment and people.
• Finished initial design of balloon and payload and list of design considerations. Currently on drawing in the shop. Also have an initial shopping list and a target budget of $150.00. Will raise project money from Makers and HAL5.

2/24/10

• Spacefelix contacted Bill Brown who does balloon launches. He has expressed interest in helping the project.

2/22/10 Meeting

• Registered on the HSIS website.
• Omegix has confirmed drug stores no longer carry disposable digital cameras
• Have GPS Tracker
• Held first meeting on 2/22/2010