MISSIONS
► LAUNCH 2 : MENDOTA, ILLINOIS TO LINCOLN, INDIANA - 12/30/2012
| DATE: | Sunday, December 30, 2012 |
| LAUNCH: | 6:11 AM CST, Mendota, Illinois [ 41.560118, -89.133282 ] |
| WEIGHT: | 7 lbs (including chute, lines, and radar reflector) |
| ALTITUDE: | Apx 95,000 to 100,000 feet |
| BURST TIME: | 9:47 AM CST |
| LANDING: | 10:40 AM CST, Lincoln, Indiana [ 40.6068, -86.20472] |
| DURATION: | 4 hours, 29 minutes |
| DISTANCE: | 178 miles |
► THE GOAL ► THE STORY ► EQUIPMENT ► MAPS & DATA ► PHOTOS ► VIDEO ► LESSONS LEARNED ► COMMENTS
► THE GOAL
Launch 1 was such a nerve wracking experience I promised never to do it again. However, a few days later I ordered another balloon.
A major goal of Launch 2 was to obtain video footage of the entire flight and find a way to avoid the lense fogging that plagued the previous launch. Additionally, a second PowerShot camera would be added for experimentation positioned for portrait shots. And lastly, instead of a 2000 gram balloon, Launch 2 would use a 1500 gram balloon. The test would be if it could achieve a similar altitude to Launch 1.
This time consulting with Kaymont Balloons their advice was to use the payload weight plus 50% that value as the dead weight when filling the balloon (meaning the ideal amount of helium for maximum altitude would be in the balloon when it hovered 9 pounds in the air). In Launch 1, the dead weight had been payload weight plus 1 pound. Kaymont felt the extreme distance the balloon traveled in that instance (apx 340 miles) was partly due to a less than desirable volume of helium resulting in too slow an ascent allowing the balloon to become stuck in the jet stream for too long. With payload weight plus 50% and a 1500 gram balloon, Kaymont felt I should see an ascent rate of about 800 feet per minute (4.1 meters per second) and a maximum altitude of 95,000 to 100,000 feet.
► THE STORY
The Launch
It
was 13 degrees Fahrenheit when my brother and I left the Comfort Inn at 5am in Mendota and headed to the soccer fields at Mendota
Lake Park (which we scoped out the previous afternoon). The plan was to launch at 5:45am. It didn't happen. Working under the moonlight
in the cold and bare fingered was slow going. One plastic zip tie after another became brittle and broke.
Following Kaymont's instructions I used 9 pounds of dead weight to hold the balloon down (roughly payload weight + 50%). Once the first M sized cylinder of helium was empty I attached the second. The balloon hovered above me, roughly six feet in diameter. Still the dead weigh did not rise. When the second tank was nearly gone I became concerned. There could have been as much as 250 cubic feet of helium in the balloon. According to Kaymont with a 6.6 pound payload and 208 cubic feet of helium you could make 100,000 feet. Too much helium and the balloon would burst at a much lower altitude. Discouraged, I cut the spigot before the cylinder completely emptied. I wasn't sure how much helium was in the balloon. The dead weight had lifted, but was not quite hovering.
The
only task remaining was turning on the cameras and securing the lid of the payload box with duct tape. However, with frozen fingers I had
trouble getting the hacked firmware started on the still cameras. Finally loaded and bolted in place, they started clicking away. Next I began
wrapping duct tape around the box, but in the damp cold found that it wouldn't stick. Flustered, I snatched some line and quickly looped a
piece around the box, tied a knot, and hoped it held. No time was wasted and the balloon was unceremoniously released. After a
minute or so, it, and the twenty foot payload stack, were no longer visible. Meanwhile, the batteries in
both the still and video cameras at hand to record the liftoff from the ground had died in the cold. My brother, having
stood stationary for an hour holding the balloon, later said it wasn't until the next day that his feet felt warm again.
The Chase
After
tanking up with gas by the I-39 on-ramp we headed south to pickup I-80 east in Peru. Cellular coverage was good. On an iPad we were able to
access both the AccuTracking and Spot GPS websites for real-time balloon position reports. At 7:37 AM we lost AccuTracking coverage from the
cell phone as the balloon crossed I-80 by Ottawa at over 23,000 feet. The Spot GPS device would be our only intermittent link
for the next several hours.
The CUSF prediction had the payload landing near Rensselaer, Indiana. We determined the seemingly fastest way there. This took us south off I-80 at Morris on Highway 47 to Dwight, where we picked up 17 east to Kankakee. Somewhere directly overhead was the balloon. At Kankakee we turned south on 1. Then we got lost. The plan had been to enter Indiana on 114, which leads straight into Rensselaer. Finally, after what seemed an eternity crisscrossing isolated county roads we stumbled into Beaverville and found our way out of Illinois on County Highway 3.
While racing across rural Illinois and Indiana we were simultaneously watching the Spot GPS webpage. Spot only provides the latitude and longitude. We had no idea if any given signal was coming from 60,000 feet up in air or 60 feet in a tree. Then, inexplicably, the Spot updated three times from one location. Quickly checking the satellite view on Google Maps it appeared the payload might have landed amidst piles of junk and wrecked cars in the front yard of dilapidated farm property.
Luckily, by the time we reached I-65 at Rensselaer not only had Spot updated again, but so had the AccuTracking website. The cell phone was active. The signals consolidated and stayed in one place. The payload had landed.
The Recovery
Judging by the satellite view, and knowing GPS may only be accurate to 15 feet, we could see on the iPad that the payload had landed either in a tree, on a railroad track, a road, or in a field right next to the road. The main route between Longansport and Kokomo is Highway 35. The payload had parachuted down right over 35 by Lincoln and landed on the east side next to a small parallel road called South Lincoln Pike. A farm house stood only a few hundred yards away.
Racing
as fast as possible down 35 from Logansport we passed through the small hamlets of Walton and Lincoln then turned onto South Lincoln
Pike. While 35 was a busy road, it seemed unlikely there could have been much traffic on the Pike. If somebody picked up the payload we could have seen
where they were going in real-time. However, several hundred yards down the road there it was, three feet off the side in the snow. Directly overhead was a powerline. The shredded remains
of the balloon still clung to the rope. It was 11:45 AM. The balloon had landed at 10:40 AM. Over 5 hours had elapsed since the
launch. I walked up to the payload box and could hear one of the still cameras clicking away. Turning the box around I looked right into the Go Pro's lense, a red light
indicating it was recording my face. The payload box, hanging under nine feet of line below a 70" parachute with the remains of
the balloon hanging ten feet off it had swooped right down over the passing motorists on Highway 35, clipped the top
of a tall tree, ducked under a powerline, and landed right beside a road. It was very convenient.
► EQUIPMENT
1500 gram balloon from Kaymont (sells Totex balloons from Japan), the most popular choice
- Cost: $120
- Website: http://kaymont.com
- Note: You must call them, no online shopping
70" Parachute from Top Flight Recovery in Spring Green, WI
- Cost: already owned
- Website: http://topflightrecoveryllc.homestead.com
- Note: Chutes from http://www.the-rocketman.com seem to be the most commonly used
Davis Emergency Deluxe Radar Reflector
- Cost: already owned
- Website: purchased on Amazon.com
- Note: per FAA FAR 101 regulations. You could easily make your own with some cardboard and tin foil.
Spot GPS Personal Tracker Device
- Cost: already owned
- Website: http://findmespot.com
- Note: You can do without this if you use a smart phone that has excellent coverage, but you run a risk without a backup device
Samsung Android Smart Phone, from US Cellular
- Cost: already owned, $60 for 1 month of service
AccuTracking App for smart phone
- Cost: $8 (for 1 month w/reverse address lookup based on lat/long)
- Website: http://accutracking.com
Garmin Edge 500, data logger meant for bicycles
- Cost: already owned
- Website: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=36728
- Note: Logs distance, speed, location and elevation with GPS. Uncertain if it will work above 60k feet.
Go Pro Hero 2 camera, easily the most commonly used camera for a project like this
- Cost: already owned
- Website: http://gopro.com
- Note: I bought a 64gb SD memory card for $65 with the hope of getting more recording time.
New Trent iCarrier 12000mAh External Battery Pack, dual USB ports
- Cost: $76
- Website: http://www.newtrent.com/store/iphone-external-battery/icarrier.html
- Note: I bought the extra battery pack for more recording time for the Go Pro. The Go Pro will not record while connected to a powersource via USB unless you have the extra BacPac battery for the Go Pro itself and plug the USB cable into that. It's a bit heavy weighing in at 10oz.
Canon PowerShot A1100 IS (uses AA lithium batteries)
- Cost: already owned
- Note: I used the CHDK software to hack the camera for fifteen second interval shooting. It's very important to use lithium batteries as they can still function in the extreme cold of the upper atmosphere.
Canon PowerShot A3300 IS, positioned for portrait photos
- Cost: $120
- Note: I bought a new 32gb memory card for $20, using CHDK I found the battery will last 2 hours and 40 minutes with the exposure interval set to 30 seconds. It would be nice to find a camera that could take pictures and charge simultaneously while plugged into the New Trent iCarrier.
1 Proheat Reusable Hand Warmer, supersaturated liquid (doesn't require air to work) - used to heat the payload box
- Cost: $6.50
2 HeatMax HOTHANDS warmers (requires air to work)
- Cost: $2.50
Miscellaneous including: duct tape, plastic zip ties, Everbilt 5/32 in. x 75 ft. Diamond-Braid Poly Cord, a Styrofoam cooler, and PVC plumbing pipe and hardware, all from Home Depot on Capitol Ave. in Milwaukee
- Cost: $40
Helium from Aero Compressed Gases in West Allis, WI
- Cost: $168
- Note: The cost would be a bit less if I could have found the exact amount needed, I had two M size cylinders. You can use hydrogen as well, but due to it's explosive nature, while a lot cheaper, it's not generally recommended for amateurs.
GRAND TOTAL: $586.50
Driving to Illinois and Indiana, gas, hotel, tolls, food counts as extra!
Cost: $190
► MAPS & DATA
- Click here to view the CUSF predicted flight path (Google Earth KML file -- rename to .kml)
- Click here to view the Spot GPS tracked flight path
- Click here to view the AccuTracking flight path (Google Earth KML file - rename to .kml)
- Click here to view the Garmin Edge 500 data (Google Earth KML file -- rename to .kml)
Spot GPS Map:
AccuTracking Maps & Data: (Google Earth KML file - rename to .kml)
(Records with red Report Time are cached records; red Lon/Lat are cell tower locations; green Lon/Lat are network locations)
|
Garmin Edge 500: (Google Earth KML file -- rename to .kml)
► LESSONS LEARNED
- If the timing of the launch is critical to your plans, give yourself more setup time than you think is necessary. Unexpected problems always seem to crop up.
- Given the right input the CUSF landing prediction can be fairly accurate in terms of path (a smaller parachute would probably have meant a landing much closer to the prediction)
- When chasing the balloon stick to major roads. There is better cellular coverage and inevitably you will get to your destination quicker.
- Don't chase the Spot GPS signal. Wait until your secondary cell phone running a tracking app also starts communicating.
