How To Register A High Altitude Balloon

general:beginners_guide_to_high_altitude_ballooning

Table of Contents

A Beginners Guide to Loftier Altitude Ballooning

How to get involved

• High Altitude Ballooning isn't an easy hobby! Information technology requires quite a bit of planning and work but we call up its worth it.

• Outset steps are:

  • have a browse of this wiki

  • Feel gratis to ask questions, if people don't know they'll know where to find the respond.

  • Come up along to a launch - all-time ask first if you can come up, about e'er the answer will be yes, exist prepared to exist roped in - demand all the help nosotros tin can go!

  • Assistance with some tracking - if yous've got a 70cm radio with SSB and a computer you can help out with the tracking using dl-fldigi

  • Do some data processing, mosaic some images, help with the flying prediction, write some software to help with the flying.

  • Work on the wiki, write a new articles, update existing pages and correct spelilng msitakes.

Balloon Flight Theory

• The full general theory is:

  • a payload (an insulated box containing some electronics such as a GPS and a radio to permit y'all to follow progress) is attached to a balloon which is filled with helium (He).

  • The balloon is released and, as He is lighter than air, the balloon rises and pulls the payload with it.

  • Equally the balloon rises the outside force per unit area decreases which leads to the helium inside the balloon expanding (imagine like its expanding to fill up the gap every bit the outside pressure decreases), this causes the balloon to stretch.

  • The balloon is made of a form of latex and is incredibly stretchy however it gets to a point where it can't stretch any more and bursts.

  • Now that there isn't any upwards pull from the balloon the payload begins to autumn to globe pulled by gravity, equally information technology falls the parachute opens upwardly slowing its descent and it gently glides down to earth.

• Throughout the flight the GPS module in the payload box is providing data on its position, this information is passed through a microcontroller which reads the info and converts it into another protocol and in almost payloads transmits the data over a radio link to the ground station. As a fill-in sometimes there is besides a mobile phone which sends the information as a SMS as well (however this will just work near to the ground equally mobile phones don't get signal at high altitudes).

• Therefore if you want to wing a HAB mission y'all need to construct a payload box with a tracking device (e.g. GPS module, microcontoller and then a radio/mobile phone). Additional components include for case cameras and temperature sensor. You also will demand a parachute, a balloon and some helium and permission to launch.

• Permission in the UK comes from the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority), For more than details see restrictions_legality.

• Getting a system that works is harder then it sounds, HAB payloads are difficult to examination in accelerate so there is a failure rate that unfortunately affects u.s. all. The better planned a payload/flight the less risk of something going incorrect. If something doesn't go to program you but need to learn from the problem, ready information technology and try again - its happen to united states all!

Safety

• The key to High Distance Ballooning is to try to exist as rubber equally possible at all times. Like all things there are a number of situations that could cause harm or damage to either yous or other people - it is very important to bear this in heed when y'all are planning, construction and flying High Distance Balloon missions.

• Secondly yous need to retrieve that HAB flights cross a number of 'fields' east.g transmitting in radio bands and travelling through airspace. There are other users of these 'fields' both professional and amateur - it is important to recognise that they have as much right and oft even more correct to practice what they do - try to avoid interfering.

• We are often asked whether launching balloons is a risk to both planes in the air and besides on landing to belongings, cars and people. There is certainly a take a chance however the adventure is modest and we attempt our hardest to minimise this risk. For example a number of methods nosotros employ to reduce this risk:

  • We strive to construct equally lite a payload as possible - this both makes it safer in flying and on landing only as well allows us to optimise our flights every bit nosotros require less helium and can attain even higher altitudes. Payloads are also insulated with polystyrene and this helps to soften the landing.

  • Nosotros have permission from the CAA to launch payloads attached to meterological balloons, a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) is issued and nosotros contact the ATC (Air Traffic Control) merely earlier we launch. (They often ask us to wait 10mins to permit a plane to pass over!)

  • All payloads fly with a parachute fastened, these are usually pre-deployed to reduce the chance of something going wrong and will tiresome the payloads descent after the airship has burst.

  • Careful planning goes into a airship launch and we have increasingly sophisticated prediction software (cheque out CUSF's landing predictor). We only launch when nosotros know its safe, we avoid flight profiles that could land in towns and cities and also the sea - it helps to be able to get the payload back!

• There are other important rubber points to make:

  • Please be conscientious with electronics e.one thousand. camera capacitors can requite you quite a nasty stupor!

  • Soldering irons become hot! The solder as well gives off fumes so its of import that your are is well ventilated.

  • Polystyrene is quite hard to cut and then often is cutting/melted with a hot wire cutter - again this can give off fumes so ventilate well.

  • High powered radios (something not often used in HAB) when transmitting tin requite very nasty RF burns - don't hold on to the antenna when transmitting.

FAQs

General

• Whats the signal?

  • Loftier Altitude Ballooning is a multi-skilled hobby in which you go to explore a region of the globe "Near Space" without the need for enormous budgets and national departments or agencies. It tests your abilities to plan, blueprint and construct electronics, teaches you lot about radio theory and gps modules and so allows you to put all this to the test at an altitude of 30km, -50 deg C and less and so i% atmospheres.

  • Oh and its a lot of fun.

• Is it expensive?

  • Information technology doesn't have to be, depending on the components payloads can be constructed for less the £50 including a gps and radio module. Flying the mission itself can add to the cost, balloons vary in cost from £25 to £100 and helium likewise costs coin - usually around £80.

Flight/Payload Details

• Why don't you use Hydrogen rather and then Helium?

  • Hydrogen in some senses is improve then Helium; it has more lift, doesn't diffuse out of the balloon as fast as helium and also is cheaper. All the same as is popularly known if mixed with the correct quantities of air (surprisingly hard to do) it can be incredibly explosive - we feel best to stick with the inert slightly more than expensive helium and non run the run a risk and therefore non demand the boosted condom precautions that would be required. That said using compressed helium still has its risks and requires sensible operation.

• Can any batteries be used?

  • The voltage supplied past batteries is temperature dependent and for most batteries when the temperature drops beneath 0 deg C they struggle to supply the necessary voltage. Lithium batteries yet are far more resilient and nearly all flights use the unrechargeable Lithium Energizers which are easy to go hold of. Another possibility are Lithium Polymer cells, these are rechargeable and can supply a big electric current however they oasis't been rigorously flight tested and there are concerns about maintenance of their structural integrity - unfortunately Lithium cells when damaged can get unstable and explode! Encounter the ability supply folio for more information.

• What is a microprocessor? Where should I starting time?

  • Microprocessors can be regarded as programmable chips that can act similar simple computers. They vary in complication, ease of use and cost. The well-nigh basic use in a payload is to read the data coming from the GPS module about its location and convert this into a protocol that can be transmitted down the radio to the ground station. However most flight computers have additional functions such equally reading sensors, saving the data to some form of storage and triggering cameras. In that location are a wide range of microprocessors with different strengths and weaknesses and nigh everyone prefers a dissimilar one. More information can be found on the flying figurer page. The best approach to starting with a microprocessor is to go some form of development board such equally an Arduino, AVR dev lath from olimex. Equally these fries can be purchased individually yous tin too brand your ain development board - in that location are many designs floating around the web.

Radio

• What radios practise you utilise?

  • In the air the main workhorse on the payloads are Radiometrix NTX2 434.075Mhz 10mW modules. These modules are licence exempt and and then can be used by anyone and have been allowed by Ofcom to be used in the air besides as on land.

  • To listen to the payloads transmissions the receiving radio demand to be able to listen to 70cm band (430-440Mhz) and be able to receive SSB. There are many radios bachelor - Amateur radios are often more sensitive so scanners and and so are preferable. For many years the Yaesu FT-790r radio was the key receiver all the same these days more advanced radios are used including the Yaesu FT-817 and the Icom IC-7000. Antenna wise when near to the balloon a whip will suffice however as the balloon drifts abroad it might be necessary to use a Yagi equally this antenna is more directional. An excellent guide to understanding direction antennas tin can exist constitute on this youtube video by Diana Eng of Make Mag - while its for transmitting its the aforementioned concept for receiving!

• 10mW of power from a radio is rubbish - the datasheet quote a couple of hundred metres range! Explain?

  • The datasheet of these radio modules quote the range of the modules when using them on the footing where at that place is a poor line of sight (LOS) and using the matching receiver. When nosotros fly these modules on our payloads we get excellent uninterrupted LOS and we use far more sensitive radios to listen in coupled with proficient antennas. This increases the range massively - plenty to go a couple of hundred miles range!

  • While this is all proficient when the payload is in the air when it nears the ground the range reduces as we lose LOS and the range is similar to what is quoted. It is therefore important to either have a GSM communication system that sends y'all a SMS with the final location or chase the payload so that y'all are close past when information technology lands.

• Tin can I use amateur radio on my payloads?

  • If you're in the Uk unfortunately not, the apprentice radio licence doesn't extend to employ of radios in the air, just on the ground. Withal do non panic - using the Radiometrix NTX2 volition give you a range of a couple of hundred miles even on 10mW - remember yous take an incredible line of sight! With this module and a microprocessor we take been able to apply a number of data protocols including CW (Morse), RTTY, DominoEX and send images using SSTV! Legislation in other countries varies.

• An instance schematic from Project Hollands Hoogte has been updated here :

(Original source image here)

Dependency Chart

Here you can see which parts are all required for launching a balloon.

general/beginners_guide_to_high_altitude_ballooning.txt

· Last modified: 2021/05/28 16:28 by

randomskk

How To Register A High Altitude Balloon,

Source: https://ukhas.org.uk/general:beginners_guide_to_high_altitude_ballooning

Posted by: moranineved85.blogspot.com

Share this post