On Saturday (08/09/14) at approximately 9:20 AM CDT TABEL-10 launched with a 600 gram Kaymont balloon and hydrogen as the lift gas, from south Mt. Juliet, TN (36.0986, -86.4991). The payload/flight string was 22 oz. and included: a small DV cam an APRS tracker package on 144.39MHZ that included an OT+SMT, SRB MX146LV, and a GT-320FW High-Altitude GPS Receiver on a custom made board to integrate the components and enclosed in a semi-hard shel GPS case a 24" Spherachute. MCW 50mw beacon on 146.565Mhz
Immediately before launch it was noticed that there seemed to be anomaly with the battery voltage on the tracker that was powered by a pair of 9v lithium batteries in parallel. Unfortunately this anomaly was ignored and apparently the batteries failed after the tracker reached 43,784 ft. The MCW 50mw beacon continued to work. The chase team moved into the vicinity of the projected landing in Northeast Murfreesboro, TN. We were hearing the MCW beacon well when it suddenly faded out and we determined TABEL-10 had landed at approximately 11:45 AM CDT. The last flight prediction (Ascent 5m/s, Burst Altitude 30000m, Descent 5m/s) indicated a flight time of 2hr25. The chase team split up in several directions to try and pick up the MCW bacon signal and to home in on it. The signal was picked up and seemed strongest in the vicinity of the electric substation at the corner of Highway 96 and Compton Rd. (35.9041,-86.3312). The chase team searched the area for about two hours before giving up the search. The search team noted that the MCW beacon signal was strongest while behind the electric substation and anytime we were in the vicinity of the high voltage power lines leading to the south of the substation. A map analysis Saturday night led us to believe that TABEL-10 had probably landed in the vicinity of a quarry about 2 miles south of the substation. On Sunday morning the recovery team drove to the suspected landing zone and used a 2m Arrow antenna (4 element yagi) and an attenuator box to try to direction find the MCW beacon. From the north end of the Quarry when we included 23db of attenuation we found the signal when away when facing NNW so we knew it was SSE of us. Driving a bit further South on the road fronting the quarry we spotted the parachute suspended between two cedar trees. after about 20 minutes we had TABEL-10 in hand. The DV cam only had about 40 minutes of video and since it was not insulated had shut itself down when it got too cold. Putting a fresh 9v battery on the tracker and it soon got a GPS position and started beaconing its position, however the signal seemed strange and the one position we recorded was the home position of KQ4TV. Later testing of the tracker seemed to show that it was working normally. It was discovered that a configuration mistake led to no voltage readings from the tracker after it switched to profile 2. The combination of ball bearing fishing swivels and the styrofoam balls and the end of 1meter long fiberglass rods helped to keep the camera from rotating but the flexibility of the fiberglass caused the camera to move so much that what video that was captured was not steady. While we do not know what altitude was achieved the flight time and landing vicinity would seem to indicate that 30KM altitude was reached. Thanks to everyone involved in the launch, chase and recovery of TABEL-10. TABEL-10 Launch crew: Bruce Martin, KQ4TV Terry Trapp, KE4PJW Holli Trap, AK4ER Sam Walton, KK4JZH Jeff Standifer, WB5WAJ Hilton Standifer, KE5OKL Doug Miller, W4DML TABEL-10 chase crew: Bruce Martin, KQ4TV Terry Trapp, KE4PJW Holli Trap, AK4ER Sam Walton, KK4JZH Jeff Standifer, WB5WAJ Hilton Standifer, KE5OKL Doug Miller, W4DML TABEL-10 recovery crew: Bruce Martin, KQ4TV Terry Trapp, KE4PJW -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NLUG" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NLUG" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
