BamaSat 4 is back home
We found it. I'll see about pictures later.
BamaSat 4 retrieval
We launched at 6:47, then went back to the office to check the transmissions and make sure it was following the predicted path before we headed out. This is when I made my previous post. We finally left about 8 and drove to Columbiana. During the drive, we stopped receiving data from the primary transmitter again. The secondary transmitter was low power, so we didn't expect to hear from it again until the descent, so we pulled over until we got another update. We had a system in the van to receive data from the two transmitters but never got another signal from them. The main purpose of this flight though was to improve recovery, so we had a GPS cellphone on it as a second backup. There was some deal with SouthernLink so they could track it back at the office over the internet.
Around 10, we got a signal from the cellphone with the location 33° 7' 56.0" N, 86° 32' 13.8" W, near Columbiana, AL. We drove out there, walked about 200 ft into the woods and it was right there. Well, 20 ft up in a small tree, but it was there. We got it down and, in the process, some of the team uprooted some smaller 15' pine trees. There's probably some negative karma for that second part, especially since it's Earth Day.
We're still not sure why we weren't getting data on the first hour. Both times it went out, we could still hear the radio transmitting but there wasn't any GPS data. When we found it, the GPS antennas were tangled up in the parachute, so we figured it got tangled when the balloon burst and the GPS unit was able to receive a signal. The problem with this theory is that the temperature, humidity and pressure data indicates that it didn't come down until about 10. Since we lost contact around 8:30, it would have taken 1.5 hrs to descend for our theory to be right. Maybe we can figure it out after we get a chance to look at more of the data. The professor has the pictures and data now and is going to burn it onto CD's for us.
The next launch is tentatively scheduled for mid-May. We're launching a design project from the EE dept that includes more or better data recorders and a cut-away system. The cut-away system will separate the payload before the balloon bursts to avoid the tangles we've had on previous flights. At altitude, the balloon is about the size of a bus, so I've been told, and it's rather traumatic for the parachute and payload when it pops.
** LJ's spellcheck doesn't recognize lj, GPS or EE? **
** Edit: I found out I was wrong in my previous post. BamaSat 1 was found the same day. Just 2 and 3 weren't.
BamaSat 4 retrieval
We launched at 6:47, then went back to the office to check the transmissions and make sure it was following the predicted path before we headed out. This is when I made my previous post. We finally left about 8 and drove to Columbiana. During the drive, we stopped receiving data from the primary transmitter again. The secondary transmitter was low power, so we didn't expect to hear from it again until the descent, so we pulled over until we got another update. We had a system in the van to receive data from the two transmitters but never got another signal from them. The main purpose of this flight though was to improve recovery, so we had a GPS cellphone on it as a second backup. There was some deal with SouthernLink so they could track it back at the office over the internet.
Around 10, we got a signal from the cellphone with the location 33° 7' 56.0" N, 86° 32' 13.8" W, near Columbiana, AL. We drove out there, walked about 200 ft into the woods and it was right there. Well, 20 ft up in a small tree, but it was there. We got it down and, in the process, some of the team uprooted some smaller 15' pine trees. There's probably some negative karma for that second part, especially since it's Earth Day.
We're still not sure why we weren't getting data on the first hour. Both times it went out, we could still hear the radio transmitting but there wasn't any GPS data. When we found it, the GPS antennas were tangled up in the parachute, so we figured it got tangled when the balloon burst and the GPS unit was able to receive a signal. The problem with this theory is that the temperature, humidity and pressure data indicates that it didn't come down until about 10. Since we lost contact around 8:30, it would have taken 1.5 hrs to descend for our theory to be right. Maybe we can figure it out after we get a chance to look at more of the data. The professor has the pictures and data now and is going to burn it onto CD's for us.
The next launch is tentatively scheduled for mid-May. We're launching a design project from the EE dept that includes more or better data recorders and a cut-away system. The cut-away system will separate the payload before the balloon bursts to avoid the tangles we've had on previous flights. At altitude, the balloon is about the size of a bus, so I've been told, and it's rather traumatic for the parachute and payload when it pops.
** LJ's spellcheck doesn't recognize lj, GPS or EE? **
** Edit: I found out I was wrong in my previous post. BamaSat 1 was found the same day. Just 2 and 3 weren't.