Tracking with an Android phone is a great idea for a backup, and I can only imagine calling a helpdesk trying to get tracking information. "I think there's something wrong with our system... it's registering your phone to be about 30km above ground." "No sir, that's because it IS 30km above ground." ...(silence)... Great idea overall and I wish any of my schools had done something like this. Not in school anymore, but I'll keep an eye on this to see how you all come along.
Hmmm, I hadn't considered that the phone company might have a problem when the signal lifts of from the planets surface at speed. I'll call customer services before we send it up, maybe they can put a note on the file.
LOL, I was somewhat joking but glad it spurred some more serious thought in that area. I imagine there could be issues somewhere in the system, probably with acceptable tolerances from data values... and when the values are exceeded by a factor of x100... things might get wonky
We have taken a good profit from the Samosa sale and now have enough for our own radio! We have also had the offer of a smartphone, a LG Optimus 7 for a price well within our budget. Any money from now on will cover damaged kit and we can begin saving for a HD Video Camera. Things are going very well and we are attracting a lot of interest from pupils, parents and staff.
Posters, smartphones, wonky altitude estimations and a confused building manager. It can only be another update to Project Horizon.
Latest update: We have a venue for our drop tests (the first of many tests that will shape the project). Rapid Electronics have featured our project on their website and we just got the first version of the flight computer up and running. Check out the news in detail above!
A few updates and a request: if anyone has a Canon A series digital camera or a Windows 7 compatible Webcam gathering dust please consider donating it to our project. We have a thread with more details: UK Wanted Forum Thread.
If you like the look of Horizon and want to see what happens on the Launch Day/follow the flight then simply check our website for details. There will be links to a live tracking page where the position of the payload (HORIZ2) and the chase team (HORIZ2_Chase) will be updated in real-time. Our twitter account will be updated throughout the day with live news and photos, there may also be a live video stream of the launch available.
Horizon 2 will launch on Saturday 9th March between 09:30 and 10:30am. Predicted flight path as of Sunday is worryingly close to Rutland Water (this will change a lot between now and Saturday). If the weather conditions are poor we will cancel the launch on Friday 8th March. We have the following two Saturdays (16th and 23rd) in reserve in case of bad weather (light/heavy rain or strong winds).
Just a few small updates today about the progress of the Sensor Array team, our publicity drive and the plan to offer a live video stream of the launch is grounded by school network issues.
I love this thing. I read the whole thing and I actually feel moved by your loss of balloon. You are one of those teachers this world needs. Keep on doing this. Edit: also, I used my 1000th post to tell you this. That's because I mean it
@Alpaca - Thanks, your post put a smile on my face whilst I was getting ready for work. I plan to keep on doing this for as long as I can. I get as much of a buzz out of it as my pupils.
The weather predicted for Saturday would make a launch difficult and the high moisture content in the air could potentially damage some of the electrical systems. With this in mind we're planning to postpone the launch and use one of the two reserve dates.
The thread has now collected over 6000 views! Here is the latest news: We've got a new date picked out for the launch: Saturday 23rd March 2013. Horizon 2's flight computer is up and running, we've acquired a new smartphone, we've been featured in the Walsall Advertiser and the predictions are looking good for Saturday's flight path (see earlier posts for the full story).
And is the sim card registered this time? And some more 'bring me back' documentation inside? Maybe an incentive? Keep us updated!
It stinks that unit1 was nipped. I don't think all the documentation will work if it falls into the lap of a rotten person. Extra batteries on the gps might have been more fun than the actual launch. You could've tracked it as it made a tour of all the local pawn shops.
@Cheapskate: It was lost because of an oversight, one we have planned to avoid this time around. Several new updates about launch predictions, equipment tests and weather.
Nice work. But isn't it about time that we stop wasting precious helium on projects such as this? Surely Hydrogen would be perfectly fine for an instrument package such as this? Thoughts?
While you are right in that helium is starting to become an endangered resource, I think this is one of the things it is good for. Keep in mind this project uses a few kubic meters once or twice a year, which is peanuts in relation to the use in partyballoons each day. I also agree that this project would be so much cooler on H2, but that brings a whole host of problems with it, and the thing is built by a bunch of young students, so I hope you can consider labeling this as a 'good' use of helium.
