Below you will find all the posts from my original Taylor Made Space Balloon project of 2010/2011.
Enjoy!TMSB: The Video and International Media Coverage
Below you will find the video of the story of our 'Taylor Made Space Balloon' following it up to 118, 000 feet....and back down!
Stay tuned for more exciting projects and enjoy the video:
Stay tuned for more exciting projects and enjoy the video:
We've had international and national news coverage about TMSB. Here are some links:
ABC America News- TV News Video and Article- click here!
ITN News- Online News Video- click here!
The Daily Telegraph- Online Article- click here! / Online Article #2- click here!
The Daily Mail- Online Article- click here!
For the full write up and more images of it's breathtaking journey, scroll down and see the post below titled 'TMSB: Lost....and FOUND.'.
Enjoy!
Josh. Click the picture to enlarge it.
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TMSB: Lost....and FOUND.
The following story I'm about to explain is not only based on true events, but it could quite possibly be the best and most exciting weather balloon flight EVER to have taken place....
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| Left: South coast of England and France. Right: Our payload floating.... |
Previously, a few days before, we had heard that there were other launches planned for the day one of which Steve of Random Aerospace was doing and so, to make it easier, another high altitude ballooning enthusiast, Anthony Stirk, would kindly let us tandem our payload with his on his giant 1600g balloon. Anthony was a top bloke with all the equipment and a fantastic looking payload.
Read his write up on the events here.
At the launch site, we parked up and deciphered an appropriate place for launch. We all set up and Anthony streamed the launch live on Ustream with 127 people tuning in to watch! Things were going great and we were all helping each other out making final adjustments to payloads and filling balloons with helium.
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| Working on the payloads. |
Our balloon was the last to leave the launch site. We pressed record. Gaffer taped and secured the lid. Then hoped for the best as we released it on its voyage towards Space.
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| Releasing the balloon. |
We did not use our unique modification of the gymbal device as, due to strong winds in the upper atmosphere, it could have been dangerous to have it moving about....however, we did use our other unique mod, which I will reveal as a 360 degree panoramic lens! Footage coming soon....
Anthony's payload consisted of a tracker and a Canon A560 taking pictures at intervals of 10 seconds.
We packed up and headed towards the predicted landing spot and as it was close to Steve's predicted landing spot, we went to find his payload first. And managed a quick and easy recovery....unlike things to come!
Within the fist half an hour, we realised that Anthony's tracker wasn't corresponding with ours in the expected manner. It was not giving us location reports due possibly a damaged wire into the antenna.
We decided to try and track it as it came down using Yagi's. For those who don't know (me included), a 'Yagi' is a special style of antenna: One active element (that's the one with the black bump on the picture) a reflecting element (reflector) behind it and a lot of directing elements (directors) in front - a relatively small but highly directional antenna. The stronger the signal, the more accurate the direction.
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| Using the Yagi to find a signal. |
It was now about 4pm, our payload should have landed and Anthony's tracker still had not managed to fix itself. We tried to triangulate our payload using other Yagi's but we just couldn't pin the location down. We were getting stronger and stronger until....the signal broke off leaving us with the sound of static. This sound was closely connected to the feeling of despair and hopelessness.
We all sat in the car wondering what had happened and, as it was getting late, decided to abandon our attempt of finding the payload. We had lost it and had nothing we could do to maintain any hope.
We headed back to a pub and had a much needed meal and whilst at the pub, I decided to take a look at the TMSB tracker to see what it was reporting. Previously, it had not reported any locations after many attempts to get a reply from it.
This time however, we got a response. Although nothing we had expected.
We had a location for some co-ordinates, roughly 3 miles of the coast in the North sea.
We all dismissed this completely as sometimes GSM modules take a while to reset themselves after being so high and then falling back to Earth.
But they kept coming. We kept getting locations in the North sea and a slight drift of movement. It was interesting.
We headed home anyway and agreed to try it again in the morning.
If it was working, we'd give it a shot....if not, that was it. We would not see TMSB again.
8am that morning I was already awake and couldn't resist but send a command earlier than we decided too.
The next few seconds dragged on and on as I waited for a report. Then I saw what I can only describe as one of the most beautiful pop-up windows ever!!
It had received my command and had sent a location report back. (http://www.trackershop-uk.com/ - I love you).
Sure enough, it was in the North sea, within a few miles from where it was located the night before at the pub.
I got on the phone to Anthony and he then talked to Steve, who tried to track down a boat that could help us retrieve the payload.
At this time I wanted to keep getting location updates so we knew exactly where it was all the time. Much like a film however, I only had 1 location command left....we had to use it wisely.
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| The predicted flight path....and the actual flight path! |
Steve, being the hero he is, managed to find a boat from a tour company and they kindly agreed to retrieve our payload. I sent out the one last location report and got some co-ordinates, which they tracked down.
We waited.
Suddenly, the tracker burst into life! It started reporting it's position every 5 seconds like I told it to when we first launched the balloon.
I was glued to the computer screen, which was telling me that the tracker was moving towards the coast at around 34mph! This is where I started pinching myself. This was surely a dream.
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| 'No Worries' - The boat that retrieved the payload. |
Steve called and told me he was on his way to collect it but it had to go through customs first.
'Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine, there's nothing in there that looks dodgy....' I said.
It was then that I realised we had secured two clear packets of mustard and cress seeds within the payload as part of an experiment provided by Simon Strong for help funding our project.
I should have known that there was plenty more we had to go through before we even got our hands on the payload again....
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| The mustard/cress seeds within the payload. |
Luckily however, they decided it was fine to give the payloads back and Steve rung me up and I fell in love with the words that came out of his mouth.
'Hi Josh, I've got the payload and I'd advise being able to open it and check the components.'
Of course, the first thing I wanted was to drain the sea water and clean it gently with some normal water to rid it of the salt.
Steve opened it.
'It's actually dry! A few wet bits here and there but it looks in good condition.'
At this point in time, I'm sitting in my car at a petrol station on the motorway. I told everyone I would wait at home for confirmation that Steve had the payloads before travelling, but I didn't. I was not bothered at the fact that I would have driven around the whole of the M25 by the end of that day.
3 hours later, I met Steve in Felixstowe and he handed me the payload with all the components.
The first thing I wanted to do was get the footage but I had to snap back to reality and realise this payload had been stuck in the North sea, overnight for a good 15 hours....
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| The payload that survived the sea! |
I drove the long journey back home and got a phone call from Steve. He had taken Anthony's SD card out and seen if it still had any data on....
....no less than 2800 photos of data.
Shocked, he uploaded them and saw some breath taking images. Take a look at these:
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| The Thames, South coast of England and France. |
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| Just before the landing.... |
Anthony is going to go through the photos and trying to create a time lapse from them for all to see. In the meantime, you can find more photos of the day here.
Happy enough that we even got some images from Anthony's camera, I got back home and sat by the computer.
I inserted each camera in and waited.
All. 3. Cameras. Worked.
I had over 4 hours of sensational footage, which I'm in the process of condensing and using to make a video.
Unfortunately, my cameras ran out of film before the balloon burst but this tells us something interesting....
The balloon rose to well over 100, 000 feet.
In fact, we make a rough estimate that it made it to around 118, 000 feet and the curvature of the Earth and the darkness of Space were as clear as the sky....below us.
Taylor Made Space Balloon was successful!
Many thanks to everyone involved in whatever way possible from assisting us with the launch to reading this blog....
....stay tuned for footage of the flight....
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| A snapshot from our video footage. Note our moon on display! |
TMSB: Watch the launch LIVE and Payload Assembly #2
Saturday 1st October 2011, tune in LIVE between the hours of 11am and 2pm GMT!!
Sign up to my blog and you will receive an email reminder just before the launch.
Sign up to my blog and you will receive an email reminder just before the launch.
The panic come in waves (although I have got some pics for you ;))!!!!!!!!!
I am constantly hopping to and fro, contemplating what I could have missed and then finally remembering something that I should have done. WHY DIDN'T I DO IT?
I've ended up making friends (not) with a Vodafone Support specialist begging them to resolve their useless service by getting the dongle I ordered from them last week, through the mail.
Twice I've been told that it would come within a few days and they'll make a special effort for my project.
Twice I've come home and looked rather strange peering into my letterbox with a little apprehensive cry.
Then I've been texting people as early as 7am and as late as 10pm, to get details across....and now I'm in bed writing this blog as I feel this could be the most peaceful time in the next 48 hours.
HOWEVER, this so called 'panic' is nothing on the feeling of excitement, motivation and expectations just around the corner.
Here are the most important things YOU need to know about the launch:
- We are launching on Saturday 1st October during the morning at some time probably. ( Check back on the day as I may be able to update you.)
- Instead of Steve helping us (due to other commitments with television....) he has brilliantly managed to sort out a friend of his, who will be lending us his payload and his even bigger balloon! Anthony has been the cure to all my stresses with his intellect and passion for the project, after having worked with James May in a launch previous to this one.
- YOU COULD WATCH US LIVE! between the hours of 11am and 2pm!!
From the comfort of your home, tune in online and keep refreshing the page to either links and, technology permitting, you could have a live stream of our launch and then be able to follow the car on a map as we head off on the retrieval.
-the car also updates its located live on the map at www.spacenear.us/tracker (if you have people at home wanting to watch you'll be in the car labelled 2E0UPU_Chase and your payload will be the balloon labelled AVA).
- I'm hoping to stream the launch live via video conditions permitting (this will be at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/avatest2) - As with most projects, we've managed to completely redesign everything in the last minute. Working hard last night to finish the build, we have modified it to a plan that never existed. I mean, that's what everyone does right? Even NASA?
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| The state we were in, re-designing parts of the payload. This is the gymbal device.....in the making. There is a possibility that we will not be allowed to fly this device due to safety reasons. |
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| A peak inside the payload with GPS top left, a camera top right, a couple of hand warmers, seeds being tested as a thanks for a donation from Simon and just peaking out is another camera in the bottom.... |
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A Creative Vado pears out into the distance with expectations of the curvature of the Earth filling the hole....
The final weigh in....around 750 grams (fine, now we have a bigger balloon!).
Tune in and join us, Saturday 1st October 2011, as our 'Taylor Made Space Balloon' departs on it's voyage, thousands upon thousands of feet towards the edge of Space....
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TMSB: Testing Of The Payload
Today, we tested out the payload under freezing conditions over the period of 2 hours. All devices were running as if it were the real launch. The results are plotted in the graph below:
As you can see, I took temperature readings every 15 minutes of the 2 hours and it provided some encouraging results. This is what the payload contained and how it performed:
- Two cameras, one of which was placed outside the payload as this is where it will be on the gymbal modification. This camera recorded a good amount of footage before running out but may be susceptible to the harsh weather conditions.
The Creative Vado HD performed brilliantly, giving us 2 hours of good footage.
- I am very likely going to buy another Creative Vado to put in....just as an extra backup.... - The GPS tracking device which did the job of staying on perfectly but did not send us location messages due to our local 3G service being disrupted. We have another back up tracking device that uses radio waves to send and receive messages.
- I will possibly test the GPS again in the week to check that it will work in its intended way. - A hand warmer, possibly the most important part for this test, did just the job. As you can see from the graph, 7 degrees was the coldest it got in the two hours....and that's with constant -18 degrees centigrade exposure!!
- I was really impressed with the hand warmer....it's still warm now nearly 7 hours after being used! If we can, I will use another one just for good measure on the actual launch.
The pressure is building up to the big day. This time next week, we could have launched and hopefully retrieved the balloon! We intend to do some more building mid-week, just to finish it off and then we can get some more pics up for you guys before the launch!
I feel like I have so much to tell you but not sure if I have covered it or not!? If you want to know anything, just leave a comment below.
And before I go, can you check for me where the predictor reckons the balloon would land?
Go to this link: http://habhub.org/predict/
And use the following information to find your prediction:
- Launch site: EARS
- Launch time: Your choice between 9am and 2pm.
- Launch date: Either the 1st or 2nd of October 2011.
Now click where it says 'Use Burst Calculator' and payload mass = 1000g, balloon mass = 800g and target ascent rate = 5.5. Then click 'Use Values'.
- Now click the button at the bottom saying 'Run Prediction', wait for it to load and hope for it to be inland and close to the launch site!
As we're only at the beginning of the design and build process, we may encounter problems or decide to change the design based on other factors. We'll try to keep everyone updated on the changes and will explain why we have done so.
Please leave a comment or if I have missed any vital information, let me know and I'll edit it!
TMSB: Launch Dates Confirmed!
YES! We have launch dates CONFIRMED!
You never thought we'd get round to it....and well, if I'm honest, I didn't either!
But we have and we are proud to announce that, weather permitting*, we will be launching the balloon on either the 1st of October or the 2nd of October this year. A little over 14 days....around 338 hours....30325 minutes....you get the idea.
We have confirmed the launch site as Cambridge, UK. This is unfortunately a few hours drive for us but it suits us just fine as there are no permission or insurance issues to worry about.
* Weather permitting....if the sun is shining and the winds are low, we will have the all clear signal. However, we have to remind ourselves that this is England. If for any obscure reason, the weather is not perfect, we will have to postpone the launch until we have a clear day. Best not to think about that just yet.
So now we have a busy rush to get everything finished. I have some more pictures ready to upload and we will shortly be revealing the other unique modification being used in the project.
The payload is looking good and everything seems to now be going too fast.
Things to remember for the day:
Charge the battery.
Turn the tracker on.
Press record.
Pray for a safe retrieval.
LAUNCH THE BALLOON!!!!
You did press record didn't you?....
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TMSB: Payload Assembly #1
I started by cutting out rough measurements of aluminium foil and placing it on the inside walls on the payload. This will help reflect the heat that is given out during the flight, maintaining a warm temperature.
Our next step was to measure, on the bottom of the payload, the position for the first camera. This camera will also contain one of the unique modifications, so we had to keep that in mind before the next step.
This next step was cutting out the hole in order to make a place for the camera.
After cutting it out, we realised that the payload was far too thick to compensate for the unique modification. To overcome this, we sliced it through the middle.
Now we are left with the foam cut-out to hold the camera. It is placed back into the payload and will eventually be secured with something like our old friend- gaffer tape!
It is now ready for the camera (arriving this week hopefully!) and it will be tested along with the unique modification to ensure it all works in the desired way.
We then poked holes through the payload on each wall for the string that attaches the payload to the parachute.
Unfortunately, I was unable to get pictures of the other unique modification- the gymbal based mod. A brief explanation should make this clearer.
It will be positioned slightly above the payload, using plastic rods to support it. It will be made up of a polystyrene ball with a window cut out for the camera. The camera is placed in the middle of the ball, atop the design and motor.
The motor and camera is complete and ready to be positioned within the polystyrene ball. I hope to have pictures of this in the next post.
It finally feels like we are getting somewhere now.
The payload is being defined into its launch state and we have confirmed a launch site and helium for the balloon. Once built, we can arrange a date and launch, providing the weather holds up long enough! Fingers crossed for the end of this month!
To finish the build, we need to secure the components into place, build a shelf for our GPS, hand warmer and other devices and then build the payload so that it's attached to the parachute and the balloon. We then can finish the outside of the payload with our sponsors and fundraisers list.
Eager to launch now!
As we're only at the beginning of the design and build process, we may encounter problems or decide to change the design based on other factors. We'll try to keep everyone updated on the changes and will explain why we have done so.
Please leave a comment or if I have missed any vital information, let me know and I'll edit it!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TMSB: Camcorders
Camcorders- to capture and record footage of the flight.
The Creative Vado HD is the camera of choice for my project. Strangely, this has been the trickiest part of the project to complete as there are so many specifications of which the camera needs to meet.
In order to find a camera, I needed to meet these design specs:
- A good quality or HD recording mode.
- A battery duration of roughly two hours.
- The ability to record continuously until the memory card is full or battery is drained.
- An ability to withstand a good range of temperature, although not vital.
- A fairly light and portable camera.
- Easy to use functions and a good reputation.
Now you can appreciate just how specific the camera has to be for this project. After several trial cameras, I landed on the Creative Vado HD which hits all of the above specs.
At first I got a Sony Bloggie which seemed to fit the bill. It has a decent picture quality, a nice, sleep and portable design with the added bonus of a rotating lens.
However, after a quick test to see the record time, I was disappointed to find that it will only record a maximum of 20 minutes of footage before stopping to save the file. This means that I would not be able to press record again when the balloon is thousands of feet in the air.
Next, I tried a camera from China. Big mistake. Fair enough, it fitted all the specs perfectly and seems like the real deal. Almost too good to be true and over half the price it would sell for in the UK, I quickly grabbed the opportunity to buy it. It came nicely packaged but I was unable to understand the badly translated manual. With the lack of an LCD screen, I had to rely on a flashing light to tell me when the device was on, off, recording, paused etc. etc. This led to all sorts of problems and a day of effort just to figure out when it was recording.
Satisfied that I figured out which button did what, I left it to record continuously for a couple of hours. When transferring the footage to the computer, I found it had decided to record whenever it felt like it. Maybe 5 minutes to start with and stopping before recording a few more minutes here and there over the two hours.
I sent them back to China (after much effort just to get a return address) and am awaiting the refund to be processed back to my bank account. Lesson learnt.
I am now about to order the Vado and am confident it will do the job. Whether I order 2 of these is another question. I'm tempted to just order one and go ahead and launch the balloon as soon as possible without the second unique modification....or do I wait potentially a few more months before the launch for the addition of the second mod?
Everything seems to get busy when you don't want it to. I have just moved into a flat with my lovely girlfriend who is very encouraging and motivates me to finish this project. The flat is the opposite. Although it's a beautiful place to live, it has decided to make it's worth known by providing me with plenty of bills to pay. Hello real world. Without access to broadband, I may not be updating as much as I can but rest assured, the project will be completed!
As we're only at the beginning of the design and build process, we may encounter problems or decide to change the design based on other factors. We'll try to keep everyone updated on the changes and will explain why we have done so.
Please leave a comment or if I have missed any vital information, let me know and I'll edit it!
TMSB: Parachute
Parachute- deployed to slow down the descent of the payload as it travels back down to Earth.
The parachute is made by Spherachutes. Visit them here: http://spherachutes.com/
'A Spherachute is hemispherical in design. Its 3-D shape makes inversion of the 'chute nearly impossible and it has less opening shock then a conical 'chute. Spherachutes are made with 1.9 oz. ripstop fabric, to prevent tearing. All panels are sewn together using a 4 thread serge stitch, for extra reinforcement.'
I made sure to choose a chute that would be suitable for the payload descent by figuring out the chute size against the weight of the payload.
There are possibilities that the balloon may not burst completely, leaving debris around the payload increasing the weight and therefore, the descent.
The parachute will be deployed with our friend, gravity. On the way up, it will be pulled taught by the balloon ascending whilst also, supporting the payload. When the balloon bursts, air will rush up into the canopy of the chute and force it to expand and pull against the payload descent.
We're so close now! I've just got to buy the 2 x camcorder (hopefully coming soon) and then we can start the testing stage.
We have a month to cover all the tests needed, which should hopefully enable us to launch by the end of August.
Hope you're enjoying the blog so far! Please spread the word about it. :)
As we're only at the beginning of the design and build process, we may encounter problems or decide to change the design based on other factors. We'll try to keep everyone updated on the changes and will explain why we have done so.
Please leave a comment or if I have missed any vital information, let me know and I'll edit it!
TMSB: Weather Balloon
Weather Balloon- A balloon filled with helium which is often used to assess the weather from high altitudes.
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| A fantastic website with lots of help: http://www.randomsolutions.co.uk/Random_Aerospace/Welcome.html |
The weather balloon that we will be using for the launch is an 800g Totex balloon from http://www.randomsolutions.co.uk/Random_Aerospace/Balloons.html
The balloon will be filled to a volume of 3 meters3 (if our payload remains at it's 800g weight.). At it's highest point, it will expand to around 20 meters before finally bursting, deploying the parachute.
A helpful tool I used to calculate the speed of ascent/decent, burst altitude and helium required was this online calculator made by the Cambridge University Spaceflight group, found here:
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~cuspaceflight/calc/
You can see our results if we were to go ahead and fly with an 800g balloon and 800g payload:
For more information on weather balloons, click here.
At the moment, we may change the payload weight and get a bigger balloon to handle it. This is because we have been kindly offered an arduino (a custom computer to track our flight and altitude) by one of the best high altitude balloon people out there. He has offered to help is out by providing the arduino and helping us on the flight, also providing helium.
His arduino system is roughly 300g which means that we can either:
- add that to our 800g balloon and make our payload only 500g.
- get a bigger balloon to compensate for our 800g payload and his 300g arduino set up.
Decisions, decisions, decisions!
Also, let me take this opportunity to thanks Steve for helping us out. Without him, I don't think we'd be able to complete the project this year! Thanks Steve!
As we're only at the beginning of the design and build process, we may encounter problems or decide to change the design based on other factors. We'll try to keep everyone updated on the changes and will explain why we have done so.
Please leave a comment or if I have missed any vital information, let me know and I'll edit it!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TMSB: Heating Device
Heating Device- to maintain a temperature within the payload that allows the other devices to operate fully.
We had originally planned to make a unique heating device for the payload, however, we were unable to go forward with the idea due to time restraints. We still think it's a viable option and are hoping to use it in future experiments.
Because of this, the unique change will now be implemented into another way of filming the event, which will be covered soon.
The warmers are activated by removing them from their protective airtight packaging to expose them to air. The blended ingredients of iron, salt and water, combined with the oxygen from the air, causes the rapid oxidisation of the iron particles. This reaction produces heat.
The heating temperature and duration are controlled by the amount of air ventilation, which passes through the many tiny holes on the inner packets.
The heating temperature and duration are controlled by the amount of air ventilation, which passes through the many tiny holes on the inner packets.
If you would like to find out more information about these hand warmers or purchase some, then please visit: http://www.mycoal.co.uk/index.html
As we're only at the beginning of the design and build process, we may encounter problems or decide to change the design based on other factors. We'll try to keep everyone updated on the changes and will explain why we have done so.
Please leave a comment or if I have missed any vital information, let me know and I'll edit it!
TMSB: Orders Placed!
They funding has been put through and the spending has begun.
So far, we have ordered the following:
- 1 x 800g Totex Weather Balloon
- 1 x 36 inch Parachute
- 1 x Roll of braided nylon string
- 2 x Oxygen reaction hand warmers
- 1 x Camcorder (If tests provide a decent overall picture, we may purchase another one of these)
The Helium, Launch Site and Internet Dongle have all been accounted for but cannot be purchased until a date has been secured for launch.
After the delivery of the above items, we will now have our complete basic package to launch and can go ahead and build and test the payload and balloon. This will cover only a few posts on the blog as we are keen not to over-test so as to reduce the risk of breaking the equipment before launch!
Let's keep our fingers crossed for a quick delivery....
We are still looking to launch in August although it doesn't feel like enough time. I think this is only because we're 'waiting' for our goods to be delivered and each day that goes past, is another day of waiting and not progressing. We know what we need to do and we're still very confident with the results we are seeing so far....we're just too keen to go ahead and launch it! :)
We are still looking to launch in August although it doesn't feel like enough time. I think this is only because we're 'waiting' for our goods to be delivered and each day that goes past, is another day of waiting and not progressing. We know what we need to do and we're still very confident with the results we are seeing so far....we're just too keen to go ahead and launch it! :)
As we're only at the beginning of the design and build process, we may encounter problems or decide to change the design based on other factors. We'll try to keep everyone updated on the changes and will explain why we have done so.
Please leave a comment or if I have missed any vital information, let me know and I'll edit it!
TMSB: Funding Success & Unique Modification #1
SUCCESS! We have managed to raise the £500 on Crowdfunder in order to get the remaining parts of the project. From here, it really is about to explode with progression....
We will be buying the products in the next week or so and then testing begins!
As a thank you to everyone who funded the project and spread the word, I will reveal a snippet of one of our unique modifications!
Below are a number of pictures explaining the modification. You can view them but you'll have to decide for yourselves what it's going to be as there will be no explanation text to go with it.
Stay alert for our next post!
I must admit, I was skeptical at whether or not I could raise all the money for the project. It really makes you sit back and take a look at the situation a bit more. I've learnt from this project, that money is probably the hardest product to come by. No pun intended!
I'm excited now for the balloon launch....it's so close, yet so far.
As we're only at the beginning of the design and build process, we may encounter problems or decide to change the design based on other factors. We'll try to keep everyone updated on the changes and will explain why we have done so.
Please leave a comment or if I have missed any vital information, let me know and I'll edit it!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TMSB: Funding Help Needed!
Hey everyone!
Sorry I haven't been around for the last week or so, as I was on holiday with the family.
However, I'm back now and fresh on the Space Balloon project!
We've nearly reached our funding goal!
At this time, £360 of the £500 target has been donated....PLEASE if you could spare a tenner, you will have your name travelling up to 100,000 ft into near Space.
I need you to donate now though as we've only 11 days left to reach the target.
If we fail to reach it, no money will be donated and therefore we will have to completely re-think the whole project or, even worse, delay it!!
As soon as the funding has finished, I will be posting allot more pictures and even videos of us testing everything out.
We have had to re-think about our unique modifications already, so it will provide a very interesting blog post....or two.
Hope everyone is well and remember, this is your project too so please leave comments, suggestions, advice or anything else!
Josh. :)
TMSB: Funding
Here's how you can get involved with my project!
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| Click HERE to fund my project! |
Being so close to completing this project, I am hoping you can get involved and help fund my project. I'm relying on your help now and have offered several rewards as incentives to donate towards my project!
Fund my project here: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/investment/balloon-to-the-edge-of-space-189
Now you can get involved! If you can help me raise the money to fund this project, I have offered various rewards (as shown on the right) in return for your generous donation.
When you click on the link, you'll be taken to a page where I have pitched my idea to the world. Please have a read of it and also there is a small section about me too!
I am looking to raise £500 and have clearly labeled where the money is being used, in the pitch. So far, I have raised 44% of the target but, at the time of writing, there are only 24 days left to raise the money!
The process is simple. Create an account, pay using Paypal and then fund my project with the money in your Crowdfunder account.
If you do fund and I am not successful in raising the money, do not worry, as the money will not be taken from your account.
If you do fund and I am not successful in raising the money, do not worry, as the money will not be taken from your account.
I decided to use Crowdfunder as it's a safe, easy and effective way to fund raise projects.
'Crowdfunder is a new way for people to pool small amounts of money to back a good idea or project.'
I've also decided to start writing a paragraph or so at the end of some posts giving a little more insight to my personal opinions and feelings towards the current project or task that has been laid out.
I wasn't sure at first how to go down the funding route. I started off phoning around to local and national funding schemes but to no avail. The most common reply I had from them was that this is not a 'community' project....therefore they could not fund it. *Dial Tone*
I sat down and had a re-think about funding with my neighbour, who is also heavily involved in helping me with the project. He suggested to start with people I knew. Friends and family.
At around the same time, I got an email from a friend suggesting the website, Crowdfunder. I hadn't heard of it before but it looked like a great way to collect the funding and show people how much I'm raising, all in one place.
At around the same time, I got an email from a friend suggesting the website, Crowdfunder. I hadn't heard of it before but it looked like a great way to collect the funding and show people how much I'm raising, all in one place.
Now I'm glad I have found a way to fund raise. So far relatives have put in over £100 and a good friend of mine who I previously worked with has donated another £100 so that he can design or choose his own object to put into the payload going up to near Space!
Please leave a comment or if I have missed any vital information, let me know and I'll edit it!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TMSB: GPS Tracker
GPS Tracker- To locate the payload on launch and retrieval and provide vital statistics during the flight.
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| GPS Tracker donated by www.trackershop-uk.com |
This GPS Tracker was kindly provided by Trackershop-UK (www.trackershop-uk.com) for us to use as our primary tracking device. It will track the launch until it's out of GPS signal and then, upon it's return, it will pick up the signal again and continue to track the descent until it's finally landed. The GPS sends the information to online software at Trackershop-UK's website.
The disadvantage for us however, is that we do not have the knowledge to custom build and use this device. We may look into it later on in the project or ask if anyone would like to use their pre-built one on our flight.
The tracker has a long battery life of 4 to 7 days at a time! It also has a panic button, which if pressed will inform us if its location.
It comes with it's own protective case and will be fit into the wall of the payload. It will be set to report its location every 5 seconds and this will be tracked online with Trackershop's unique software.
One quick test has confirmed that the tracker works within the payload as I drove my car a certain route and found it tracked and saved in real-time, ready for me to analyse the results.
The software is very user friendly and provides numerous clever functions allowing me to command the tracker to do an action such as reporting at time intervals, re-booting the device, check the GPS level, check the battery level and much more.
It also displays information such as how fast the tracker is moving and gives a detailed graph of the history of the tracker.
Thanks to Trackershop-UK for providing the tracker and being so supportive with this project.
As we're only at the beginning of the design and build process, we may encounter problems or decide to change the design based on other factors. We'll try to keep everyone updated on the changes and will explain why we have done so.
Please leave a comment or if I have missed any vital information, let me know and I'll edit it!
TMSB: External Power Pack
External Power Pack- allows us to externally power a device through USB to extend device running time.
Supported by www.gomadic.com
The external power pack was very kindly provided by Gomadic (www.gomadic.com) as a way to help us power any devices that may need a longer running time over the course of the flight.
The flight duration is likely to be around two and a half hours long so keeping the devices running is essential.
Luckily, the GPS has an extremely long battery life and so we only need to concentrate on keeping the cameras running.
A series of LED indicators shows me the current battery level of the power pack.
The output has an exchangeable tip, which allows me to use the pack for different devices. An idea is to use a USB port splitter for the different devices.
Previous calculations on paper have shown that it should be suitable as we have to take into account the device battery as well.
Heat produced from the power pack will also help maintain a better temperature for the equipment to operate in.
Thanks to Gomadic for the help and support with the project.
As we're only at the beginning of the design and build process, we may encounter problems or decide to change the design based on other factors. We'll try to keep everyone updated on the changes and will explain why we have done so.
Please leave a comment or if I have missed any vital information, let me know and I'll edit it!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TMSB: Payload
Payload- the capsule that contains the equipment for the flight.
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| A 10p sits inside to show scale. |
The payload is made of polystyrene and weighs around 200g. We chose this as it's remains lights but at the same time, a very good heat insulator and sturdy enough to hold the equipment.
The walls are around 45mm thick meaning more heat will be retained during flight. Essential when the outside temperature can drop to around -50 degrees!
The lid will be secured down with a strong adhesive tape and we are thinking of attaching the payload to the balloon with some strong string.
An important note to remember is to leave a few gaps for air to circulate as the pressure of the atmosphere can sometimes cause the payload to expand and break.
We have to allow room for:
- 2 x cameras
- 1 x GPS
- 1 x heater
- 1 x external power charger
As we're only at the beginning of the design and build process, we may encounter problems or decide to change the design based on other factors. We'll try to keep everyone updated on the changes and will explain why we have done so.
Please leave a comment or if I have missed any vital information, let me know and I'll edit it!
The payload was purchased from Ferribox at www.ferribox.co.uk.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Taylor Made Space Balloon
The official title of this project is:
Taylor Made Space Balloon
or TMSB for short!
We are ready now to frequently update everyone on the progress and tonight, I will upload the first of many pictures and videos for everyone, taking you step by step through the project, problems and successes.
Thanks for your continued support and please tell everyone about the TMSB project!
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As you are probably aware, my main interest and also current job is in the media industry.
Where is the media then?
I hear your cyber shouts and so I'm posting to say FEAR NOT! I will be posting all sorts of videos, pics and what nots to make it more interesting for everyone to view this blog.
At this stage of the process, we are currently buying/making the equipment needed in order to continue.
Unless you want pictures of my credit card details or my letter box, then you'll have to wait just a tad longer until we have everything.
Here is an overview of the basic equipment we need:
- Weather Balloon....obviously.
- Polystyrene Box for payload. ✓
- Parachute for payload descent.
- Helium for the balloon to rise. ✓
- String to connect the payload, parachute and balloon.
Inside the payload we'll need:
- 2x camera to capture footage. ✓(working on)
- 2?x GPS units for retrieval. ✓ (working on)
- External battery for power.
- Heating system to maintain a decent temperature to enable the above to run. ✓ (working on)
- SD cards to capture footage onto the camera.
- Accessories to finish off such as gaffer tape for securing, letter asking for payload to be returned if we don't find it and other little things that we are likely to forget until the last minute. :)
At this time, we have either bought or working on the products ticked above.
We're still heading for a launch of June/July time and in the months leading up to that, we will be testing it all and bringing you the results via video, posts and pics!
Stay tuned for that but until then, have a good day!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------GPS needed = Geeky Programming Support needed.
So the first unique item for the weather balloon arrived in the post the other day. I took it up in a friends hot air balloon to test it and got some fantastic results.
Unfortunately, I can't tell you or show you just yet as....why spoil a surprise? It'll keep you guessing as to how I'm making this weather balloon flight different.
However, I'll happily share with you some problems we are facing. :/
As simple as it sounds to get a hot air balloon up and down with a GPS, it turns out that a required amount of coding is needed.
Coding anyone?
We basically have to compute our own GPS to do something. So i guess I just write something like 'do what you were designed to do:gps:loop signal'.
My other friend, Ed Bishop, who's helping on the project has kindly agreed to take on the task of configuring the GPS with a little help from a book of Amazon. Details will follow....hopefully.
In other news, progress is being made slowly and we are looking to buy the actual payload box soon. We have decided on a polystyrene box to provide good insulation along with it being a light weight.
A big thanks to a good friend of mine, Chris Bridger, who has provided with me a contact to a friend of his who has also done a project like this. Best to talk to the guys who have done it before and learn from their mistakes! :)
Feel free to email me, comment me or re-post me. This is your project as well guys!
Thanks to everyone for their continued support and help in spreading the message. The more people we reach, the more exciting this project will become.
Skies are clearing....launch date is nearing....
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The Details
After a bit of promotion, I feel I'm ready to start posting more frequently! Lots of subscribers and followers but please spread the message to everyone you know and ask them if they want to become part of this project.
Catch-up: So actually, I've been working on this project now for the last couple of months.
It all started when an enthusiastic neighbour encouraged me to attempt the project after I showed him a video of another guy doing it in America.
A friend in the village (also my age-20yrs), who is a very keen scientist (he does all the geeky bits) quickly showed his interest and together we started putting together a little info pack on what we need to cover and equipment, law regulations, money....
....2 months down the line and we feel we can start the practical work. We stuck to an aim of successfully sending a weather balloon into the stratosphere and capturing it on camera. Simple...but still so damn tricky!
We've got two modifications on our balloon's payload to make this unique. Whether it works or not will be down to some testing that will come here soon.
Please ask me questions about this as I want to get as many people involved as possible. There is also a 'Donate' button on my website if you feel like you could help us out....
....it's all being paid for with our hard earned beer money! :)
Next post will give everyone and even deeper insight into the project....maybe you would like to suggest what the next post should be on? The balloon and payload? How we're covering airspace regulations? Why we're crazy enough to so something like this?
All responses welcome.
Have a good day!
Josh.
Amazing!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks! :) Keep following my projects.
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