/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>614992
sounds more like you got a theoretical degree in physics

>>614993
I am 100% serious
100% theoretical physicist
100% complete inept for anything practical
lab was fucking hell

Not to be offensive but, you don't sound like a theoretical physicist because you seem to be rather clueless.

>>614995
urgh
I only mentioned my profession to *emphasize* that I am clueless about practical implementation. In retrospective, it was an error. If you don't want to believe it, don't, it's not relevant to the question. I am just asking for some guidance. And a reality check if you think this is not doable without some familiarity with diy and a lot of money.

You could get up to two or three thousand feet with a model rocket. (with a booster stage.) I'm sure you could get much higher with a home made rocket but local authorities in my area frown on anything that might bring down an airplane by accident. Balloons and model airplanes are other possibilities. But you can get areal images on google or bing so why do it yourself?

>>615009
Have you done your research? Maybe googling how others have done it? Lots of amateur balloons going up these days.

>>615025
ahah no, no rockets, I am talking a simple setup. Besides, I need the authorization anyway, even for a baloon

>>615028
all I find is vids of people who have made it and vague instructions. I have no data of how many people have failed and how. I'm feeling a bit unsecure and so I would like to hear what some more diy-savy people would think would be the difficulties one has to work with.

Send one up. If it fails, try to find out why. Do it again. Solve the problems as they arise and overcome them. You're just doing this for fun anyway, won't that add to the satisfaction?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5JxXka50Gw

For fun

>>615032
And that is how a hands on person is born.

>>615032
I doubt there's any satisfaction in paying for a weather baloon, a camera, and a gps tracker multiple times because I don't want to pay attention in advance to what kind of tape I use

>>615035
http://www.amazon.com/Tracking-Vehicle-Motorcycle-Monitor-Tracker/dp/B00F6MBGNC/ref=sr_1_14?s=gps&ie=UTF8&qid=1395519987&sr=1-14

Cheap enough to send a few dummy loads up and perfect your retrieval techniques before you launch a camera. To each their own I guess. I would have more fun figuring out how to do it than actually doing it I think.

>>615035
The weather balloon, I have no idea about. But as far as learning the ins and outs of retrieval, I bet you could simulate it using cheapo balloons and helium even if it only goes a few thousand feet up. The principles of locating it afterwards should be the same.

thanks great answers!

Theoretical physicist? Stick to Kerbal Space Program, You aren't going to die that way.

>>615066
I can kill myself with a weather baloon?

>>615067
hypothermia, epoxia, falling, whiplash from high winds, getting stuck over water and dieing of dehydration or starvation. Plent of others.

>>615068
why the fuck would I get ON the balloon? I just wanna send a camera

>>615082
This is what happens when you literally read 2 sentences in the entire thread. I guess you could get your ankle tied to the balloon accidentally.

>>614992
>>I wanted to ask you if you think this would be a crazy project or not
no it is not crazy
>>My plan would be a weather balloon filled with helium from a party shop, tied with some stupid rope to a polystyrene box containing presumably a cheap camera and a gps tracker, or maybe I could pull an old smartphone that can do both. I would make a hole for the camera and seal it there, slightly pointing down.
that should work

>>Is it possible to buy weather balloons for cheap?
yes
>>How do I avoid or survive the fall?
a parachute

>>How far from the sea should I be to launch?
you figure this out from local wind currents

You're a theoretical physicist it should be too hard to calculate how far it will go from wind

You could even put a camera pointed at a scintillator in the box and detect cosmic rays FROM SPACE!!!

Honestly this is one of the most reasonable projects I've seen on /diy/

>>I feel like a fucking crackpot. I'll never make fun of an engineer and his magnet motor plans again.
Engineer here, please make fun of engineers who actually think magnet motors will work. Engineers should know better that magnets don't make usable work

>>614992
>. Is it doable for cheap (<150-200

You'll pay that much in helium.
I think the cost would be t least 700€ if not more.

Just the special batteries can cost over 30€. (batteries that work at -30ºC)

Most industrialized nations have an agency that controls the airspace with rules, permits and accountability.
The USA FAA requires flight information 6 to 24 hours before launch, with balloon altitude and position to be recorded every two hours. A GPS-based APRS beacon should be included in the payload. Sometimes RDF fixes and barometric altitude telemetry will be acceptable. Then a radio beacon and telemetry link as part of the payload is necessary and associated ground based equipment.
(U.S. Federal Aviation Regulations 101)

It's not as easy as tying a camera to a party balloon
I'm not sure what legal repercussions would be if you did this without government approval. Since 9/11 countries are a bit more concerned what is flying in their airspace.

>>615035
>tie a fucking string to the baloon
no where will you get 40km of string?

Wow, OP. I applaud you. This level of trolling is so subtle, it's masterful.

>find successful DIY project from a few years ago
>present it as a "hypothetical" idea
>let /diy/kes argue over how fucking stupid it is
>how expensive it will be
>
>turns out, it's been done
>for $150

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/the-150-space-camera-mit-students-beat-nasa-on-beer-money-budget/

http://space.1337arts.com/

Well done.

>>615102
>>>How far from the sea should I be to launch? you figure this out from local wind currents

He would need the wind speed on all altitudes. Sounds like a calculation which has lots of uncertainties.

Just calculate potentials stresses and strains. Don't fear real life just approximate! :o

>>615273
you can actually obtain this, as airplanes need to know this, lrn2internet

>>614992
dont even bother. this is banned by ICBM treaties. you will get raped. this is as serious as building a reactor in your back yard or purchasing a ton of amonia

>>615295
I'm aware of that and with that info in mind, it still sounds like a calculation which has lots of uncertainties, starting from the balloon burst height.
That said, >>615269's link has a balloon trajectory calculator. No idea about the its accuracy.

Oh, and I'm perfectly fine with this level of trolling.

>>615264
I think some of you just haven't understood what I actually want to do. Maybe I should have been clearer

>>615297
murrican teenagers on youtube do it and don't get assraped; I am an adult in (southern) Europe. I doubt it's as serious as a nuclear reactor in your backyard, especially if I get permission.

about the uncertainties, weather forecast IS uncertain, especially in the upper troposphere. The system of a balloon pushed by turbulent winds seems to allow only for extremely imprecise prediction. What I expected to be able to do was to just draw a big red circle on a map to guess how far I should need to go to retrieve it. If I could get even a vague probability distribution on the direction that would be excellent. In the vids I've watched the balloons move horizontally more than thrice the altitude they get to, this sounds messy

How do I do the parachute? Do I buy it or is it possible to make it? Do I just leave it hanging over ascent, or do I design a mechanism to have it open at the right time?

Anyone has any suggestion as to what kind of glues/glue alternative to use?

As for those who worried about temperature, the tropopause is the coldest point (I hear about -50,-60 ?C) and then temp rises again. Yeah, I'd love to hear tips on how to have stuff not fail. Am I better off trying to insulate the thing?

>>615330
turns out you're right. you just need to keep the payload under 4 pounds and its legit apparently.

apparently they used electric hand warming gloves in a sealed styrofoam box to keep the camera at an operational temperature.

After poring over Yeh's Web site and studying the regulations, the Federal Aviation Administration concluded that the experiment did appear to meet federal rules because the balloon's payload was under four pounds, said FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2009871154_bellevuespaceballoon16m.html

>>615295
protip: this is impossible to know and causes most accidents at landing. pilots suddenly hit a slipstream just before landing, making them drop like a brick.

>>615269
I stated in the OP I have already witnessed other people do it. It's not a new project. Why are you people so dense, why don't you actually read my post.

>>615332
thanks, the gloves are genious.

>>615025
>why DO IT YOURSELF

Get out.

bump

Hey! I only got a bachelor's in physics. They made us build oscilloscopes, function generators, and power supplies, though.

I'm going to throw out an idea for you: gyros. If you look at all of those videos, the cameras spin madly. You'll want to stabilize that shit. Yes, it is more mass, but ... if you want a good picture ...

>buy a GoPro 3 silver
>buy heating pads
>buy cheap 3g GPS enabled android phone
>install GPS tracking software on phone
>shove everything in a strofoam box surrond the box with cardboard
>buy a weather balloon
>buy helium
>use http://weather.uwyo.edu/polar/balloon_traj.html
>release the balloon
>??????
>profit

Dont over engineer your first balloon - just make sure the balloon has enough lift and release it

hey guys, It's OP

the idea is now a full-flegded project involving more people.

I am going to use a polystyrene box with some cheap ass camera with an sd card, a gps tracker, and probably a raspberry pi with termometer and barometer. Still wondering about backup gps. I estimate payload in the 500-1000 g range.

Balloon I'll order from the UK (1200 g, that's 35-36km burst height) and helium from a party store. For prediction of path there's a cool website that does it in real time. The parachute I made it today from plastic bags, ~ 1 m aperture, tested with some weigths and it works just fine. I'll have to modify though because I used tape and I doubt that's a legal move at -50? + humidity, think I'll just sew it.

Total price: under 300? assuming I can get the camera for free somewhere (I think I can.) 200? if I drop the onboard computer.

(for those who are wondering: this would be 70? less if I lived in the UK and didn't have to order the balloon.)

Is it true that knots in ropes are weakened by water? How and how do I prevent it?

>>617184
this fucking phone changes all my euro signs and degrees to ? I am fucking mad

>>617184
do party stores sell canisters of helium then? do you have to return the canister afterwards?
also whys it cheaper in the UK?
me and some friends want to get a project like this together sounds fun

>>617465
generally you buy the balloon prefilled. I dont even know where you'd buy weather balloon sized balloons.

>>617465
You would be better off getting the helium from a builders merchant, you rent to the bottle. Most just swap a working bottle for a filled one.

Much cheaper than a party store.

>>617184
I don't know, but sailors have amazingly strong knots, you could look for a few of them. I use of them, double-eight, in wall climbing, and I trust it. It has never failed me.

>>617494
how much less? I need 2-3 m^3, unless we get sponsored party helium might be prohibitive

>>617502
I got myself a sailor and a scout. God tier knots all over

Dont forget heating pads. Li-ion batteries dont work so well at low temperatures.

>>614992
Doable-yes but hard
$150 to 200-in your dreams

Practice skydiving if inexperienced. Research this some more. I have little doubt you can do it, but to go in even semi or slightly blindsided yields a moderate to high probability of your venture being disastrous.

>>619135
He doesn't want to get ON the balloon, just send a camera and get some nice pics