[K3PZN-List] Hamfest and PICetSAT Flight

[n3sb at qis.net]

Hi Folks;

Fortunately we had good weather for the Mason-Dixon Hamfest today. I  
think the hamfest went well; thanks to everyone who came out to help!

Our Technical Presentation today featured Pat N8PK and Rich N3III, who  
talked about Amateur Radio High Altitude Balloons. Pat discussed
all the planning activities his team of students have been working in  
preparation for the SimSat-4 launch, now scheduled for Saturday  
October 31.
Rich showed off several of the PICetSAT modules he'd built, and handed  
out some parts kits to the attendees.

The presentation culminated in a PICetSAT Balloon launch. The payload  
was a PICAXE based module that contained a temperature sensor (a  
thermistor)
and a light sensor. The downlink transmitter was a 10 milliwatt garage  
door opener transmitter module, operating near 433.920 MHz.

The PICetSAT balloon flight was a huge success! We were able to copy  
the telemetry using HTs and rubber duck antennas for over an hour!  
Using Rich's
Arrow antenna, we copied over two hours of telemetry from the launch  
site at the Ag Center. The balloon took a Southern flight path away  
from the Ag
Center, and based on signal strength measurements with the beam  
antenna, may have turned a bit to the West. When the telemetry  
downlink signal faded
below our ability to copy, the balloon appeared to still be in flight,  
and was probably still climbing, with a good battery.

This was a great demonstration, and its going to be really hard to top  
this demo at next years' hamfest.

I've included the received telemetry below. You should be able to  
import this info into your spreadsheet and plot the data too see what  
PICetSAT was
doing during its flight. If anyone as able to copy additional data  
frames, please pass them along. Rich may be able to give us some help  
with translating
the temperature telemetry data to temperature values - either C or F.  
It might also be interesting to perform some fourier analysis on the  
Light sensor
data to determine if there was a predominant flight capsule rotation rate.

73; Steve, N3SB

Note: I missed a couple fields:
Temperature - Frames 26 and 135
Light - Frames 152, 162, and 165
I've entered interpolated values in those locations to that the  
plotted data doesn't have huge glitches.

Frame,Temperature,Light
4,498,953
5,500,958
6,495,969
7,492,986
8,490,991
9,490,940
10,490,949
11,491,972
12,488,935
13,479,962
14,469,946
15,458,935
16,447,936
17,438,956
18,433,950
19,432,981
20,429,951
21,430,970
22,429,948
23,427,942
24,421,948
25,418,950
26,415,947
27,410,971
28,412,949
29,415,973
30,419,954
31,421,980
32,424,961
33,428,989
34,434,953
35,438,983
36,437,965
37,436,952
38,439,954
39,442,991
40,445,965
41,447,995
42,447,969
43,447,976
44,448,965
45,445,963
46,446,947
47,449,996
48,451,995
49,454,971
50,452,950
51,447,986
52,442,947
53,436,975
54,429,951
55,423,950
56,417,978
57,414,978
58,416,962
59,419,959
60,421,954
61,428,960
62,429,992
63,430,992
64,428,968
65,424,946
66,419,948
67,414,963
68,411,953
69,410,951
70,412,964
71,411,955
72,408,960
73,405,956
74,402,977
75,399,952
76,397,979
77,396,950
78,395,953
79,395,987
80,395,968
81,395,959
82,397,958
83,401,971
84,403,959
85,403,986
86,402,966
87,399,962
88,397,986
89,400,973
90,408,971
91,414,972
92,416,986
93,415,997
94,418,956
95,421,957
96,420,984
97,419,982
98,418,956
99,418,957
100,415,977
101,407,951
102,401,954
103,397,985
104,395,953
105,395,965
106,396,991
107,398,981
108,397,954
109,394,962
110,392,956
111,387,954
112,382,979
113,376,985
114,378,964
115,381,998
116,388,997
117,391,960
118,387,959
119,381,967
120,377,960
121,372,982
122,365,954
123,359,974
124,353,959
125,348,952
126,343,973
127,342,981
128,348,961
129,350,961
130,347,954
131,344,971
132,338,971
133,333,955
134,327,971
135,322,974
136,318,958
137,314,953
138,311,955
139,308,953
140,306,968
141,305,959
142,305,964
143,304,958
144,305,988
145,307,956
146,306,956
147,305,960
148,306,957
149,307,970
150,309,970
151,313,957
152,311,958
153,312,960
154,314,961
155,312,969
156,309,959
157,308,965
158,305,959
159,301,958
160,296,959
161,292,966
162,289,962
163,285,957
164,287,955
165,290,955
166,286,955