Digital camera launched to 90,000 feet = success!

[codykodes]

Hello,

 

Wasn't sure who this would interest, but I launched a weather balloon with a Canon A540 digital camera payload attached on September 5th, which was lost when the GPS device failed, then recovered by a farmer on Sept 21st, who then contacted me so I could retrieve it! The pictures are great, and just wanted to share my story. I am an aspiring engineer student who hopes to attend U Texas at Dallas in 2011.

 

You can view additional information at my website: www.aerialparade.com

 

Thanks for your time, and shoot me questions if you got em!

 

[the.archer]

I went through your website, too bad I could not see the images, something which made me anxious to visit the website. I should wish you best of luck though.

[Klaynos]

Very nice, do you any pictures taken as the balloon ascended? How did you set the camera to automatically take pics?

[lemur]

where are the stars?

[codykodes]

Camera's SD card was programmed with CHDK and a script written in BASIC called Ultra Intervalometer allowed the camera to snap pictures every 10 seconds. 1900 pictures in all, 631 of which while in the air, the rest are of it in the ground. The youtube video on my website under the media tab is a compilation of all those images. With the next launch we plan to launch at night with better cameras in hopes to capture the downtown Dallas landscape, stars, and sunrise, with HD camcorders as well as possibly an SLR camera for higher res pictures.

 

Also planning on adding sensors for temperature readings, barometer stats, altitude readings, and g-force sensor for impact measurements.

[Klaynos]

A smart phone with logging software could do lots of that.

[codykodes]

A smart phone with logging software could do lots of that.

 

Anything relying on a cellular signal is lost over 10,000 feet roughly, if not quicker. Unless your referencing the ability to program code and take pictures, then your limiting your quality of the picture to the lack of a lens on a phone... possible, but why do it!!!

[Klaynos]

I was more suggesting it for GPS logging, accelerometer logging, you might be able to get one that can do temperature, not sure on that.... None of that requires cell signal, and it's a quite compact box with a relatively light battery...

[codykodes]

I was more suggesting it for GPS logging, accelerometer logging, you might be able to get one that can do temperature, not sure on that.... None of that requires cell signal, and it's a quite compact box with a relatively light battery...

 

If the phone uses an actual GPS device, and does not rely on cell towers, then it would work. Otherwise, the altitude limit is in affect.

 

But even with a true GPS, they hold an altitude limit of around 60k ft. So for solutions, I have to come up with something that can read out this limit without relying on a GPS to do so. I have seen some people build PCB boards with basic sensors to do so. Still researching on all of that. As far as temperature, speed, etc... the idea is to basically have a miniature computer board that can gather all data. I have a 4 pound limit, and we were right under 2 pounds with cooler, camera, and cell phone. So it leaves me some room to play around with equipment ideas and extra cameras.