Fun writeup! I was surprised by the part about styrofoam boxes though:
Despite their popularity, they have a few disadvantages:
They come in predefined sizes which mandate a certain weight allowance
They cannot be flexible for your specific payload, making it hard to be efficient with payload layout
They are expensive compared to more custom solutions
This shocks me, as styrofoam is one of the easiest materials in the world to cut, shape, fasten, and customize to your heart's content. I'm all for 3d printing stuff, but in the theater world we build a ton of very detailed (and shockingly durable) stuff out of foam all the time....
Buying a styrofoam box and just accepting that it's gotta be that shape and size feels like a huge waste.
I think another point I hadn't included was the flexibility I had with prototyping different boxes. The hardware was changing all the time, and being able to just 3d print another revision was very convenient.
If I did something like that with styrofoam, it probably would have gotten pretty expensive. The precision you get from printing was also a plus, as there needed to be slots for cameras, antennas, and circuit board mounting holes.
In my intro Industrial Design class long ago we fashioned styrofoam and many other kinds of foam into every shape imaginable with a hot wire, some utility knives, and contact adhesive. A wood rasp worked well for organic and rounded forms (wear a mask), though that’s probably not needed in this application.
I found that surprising too! This probably isn't a completely accurate number, as the sensor is black and likely experienced some heating from the sun. Something also worth noting is that different layers of the atmosphere experience different temperatures www.noaa.gov/jetstream/atmosphere/layers-of-atmosphere
Amazing. I love that i didn't know this. When i was studying weather as part of my pilots license i noted the basic mental math that i'd lose ~2 degrees celsius per 1000ft, but never did i take a second to ask, what happens when i go up 28,000 km.
Images are all in order, but some have missing packets.
The problem with SSTV is the power required. From some looking it seems that transmitting would need at least 5 watts. This wouldn't be feasible running on the balloon, as it was powered by Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries.
Buying a styrofoam box and just accepting that it's gotta be that shape and size feels like a huge waste.
If I did something like that with styrofoam, it probably would have gotten pretty expensive. The precision you get from printing was also a plus, as there needed to be slots for cameras, antennas, and circuit board mounting holes.
This is all very cool but this temperature reading caught my eye as unexpected.
The problem with SSTV is the power required. From some looking it seems that transmitting would need at least 5 watts. This wouldn't be feasible running on the balloon, as it was powered by Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries.
What is it using then, LoRA type stuff?