TigerCUB
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TigerCUB News
Spring 2006
TigerCUB-2 successfully launched and recovered!Clemson - The high-altitude balloon experiment TigerCUB was launched for the second time on April, 23, at 9:00 am EDT from Kite Hill on the Clemson University Campus and recovered around 3:00 pm in a pine forest near Clinton, SC. The 1200-gram weather balloon was filled with helium for a nozzle lift of over 9 lbs, and carried a similar payload as last year. A significant improvement was a cut-down system that severed the balloon about 75 minutes after launch, for a smoother descent by parachute. Also, the camera took 113 small movie clips instead of still pictures. Adding to the excitement, the GPS stopped delivering positions near 65,000 ft on ascent. Thanks to the morse code beacon, we could determine the direction to the landing site, and soon we received the GPS position again. The recovery operation took a few hours, but was much fun...
Many thanks to Clemson undergraduates Erik Pearson (Physics and recent KI4UZY), who took charge as his physics senior project, Max Thomason (ME), Matt Allen (Physics), Aaron Jones (Physics), and graduate student Justin Ingersoll (ECE/Physics KI4HOW). The entire physics machine shop helped with transporting the helium, filling and launch. The project was supported by the Creative Inquiry program of Clemson University.
Another happy balloon hunting party: Matt Allen, Erik Pearson, Aaron Jones, Max Thomason, Justin Ingersoll.
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=KI4CQJ-11 (observe the balloon path on the internet)
Launch date is
Monday April 23, 9:00 am
Launch site: Kite Hill, Clemson University
Predicted Landing Site: near Laurens, SC.
100 minutes, 104 deg, 53 miles down range.based on prediction from http://nearspaceventures.com with
latest map of prediction
ascent rate 1000 fpm, descent rate 1500 fpm, cut-off altitude 75000 ft.Modifications include:
- operating the digital camera in movie mode
- cut down the balloon after fixed time on ascent to avoid tangle up in parachuteFall 2006
Creative Inquiry ($$$ and ePortfolio!)
Undergraduate students who are interested in taking leadership for
- payload modifications
- additional experiments
- new flight and recovery operations
Course credit Physics 290 or Physics 475 available
Amateur radio license helpful or can be obtained with some trainingPlease contact glehmac at clemson dot edu (864-656-5977)
In the News:
http://www.ces.clemson.edu/earnest/spr_sum_06/student/balloon.htm
http://clemsonews.clemson.edu/WWW_releases/2006/May/newsbriefs.html
Message from Clemson University President Dr. Barker from 06/07/06:
I saw the news item about TigerCUB and its successful launch of a high-altitude balloon that took pictures and sent data back to earth before.
What a fantastic project and a real accomplishment! Congratulations to you and the students who worked so hard to make this feat a reality.
Please forward this message to all involved and tell them, "President Barker is very proud of you!"
Best wishes,
Jim Barker
It is finished! We launched "TigerCUB" this morning, April 9, 2006, ~ 8:54 EDT in beautiful conditions, observed the burst at ~97,000 ft, fell faster than expected, lost APRS and Beacon at ~20,000 ft (GPS had lost track), worried, met with the Ahead Team, estimated a new landing area based on our data, still worried, heard the FM morse beacon with the yagi, got closer, received packets again, and there its was at ~12:30 EDT: 20 ft from the road on a horse pasture at 1681 Lisbon Rd, Laurens, SC. A little chat with the county sheriff whom we had informed about the landing. Great pictures, temperatures, pressures...
Congratulation, Clemson Undergrads! (from left) Daniel Hoffman (KL1IE), Erik Pearson, Stuart Bishop, Phillip Martin (KI4ENF), Justin Ingersoll (KI4HOW), Clint Smullen (KI4HPA)
Huge thanks to Clint, Phil, Justin, Daniel, Stuart, Erik who were with me
on the hunt, to Russell, David, George, Liyu who helped with the launch, Alex,
Jose, Kyle, Jeff, and all other students who put in time and creativity, Sara
and CAR for the cover, and everyone else who helped tracking and wished us
luck.
This project was supported by the NASA South Carolina Space Grant Consortium
and Clemson University.
Sunday April 9, 2006. Launch time: 8:54 am. Location: Clemson University, Clemson, SC, Band Practice Field (~Latitude: 34.67778, Longitude: -82.83889)
Latest Prediction (image) (try your own http://nearspaceventures.com/w3Baltrak/readyget.pl )
04/08/06: Only minor changes in weather forecast and predicted flight path. We will try to launch from the Band Practice Field. Hope the winds are light and in the right direction.
04/07/06: Still looking good for Sunday morning. Current weather forecast: Sunny, with a high around 63. East wind between 7 and 10 mph. But only 41 F at 8 am. We will meet at 7 am at the front door of Kinard. Launch site may change to Band Practice Field behind the Brook Center due to winds.
04/06/06: The launch has been moved to Sunday 04/09/06 08:00am due to rainy weather on Saturday. On Sunday, the area is under high pressure with very light winds.
04/04/06: Forecast for 04/08/06: 40% chance of thunderstorms, jetstream still strong; balloon would travel 120 miles along I-85 (too far?); may fill balloon to 13.3 lb nozzle lift to go up faster (~1280 ft/min), since final descent rate may be only ~850 ft/min with 7-ft parachute.
03/30/06: The launch opportunity for April 1 has been cancelled (prematurely?). Next opportunity is April 8, 8:00 am. The surface weather forecast predicts cloudy and breezy conditions (10-20 mph) for Saturday. This could make the balloon release very difficult. Furthermore, the stratospheric winds (100-10 mbar) are still rather strong, transporting the balloon 80-120 miles away. Next week the stratospheric winter circulation (see for example http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/strat_a_f/) will slow down. The jet stream (at 250 mbar) has already weakened, but the direction will be less predictable. More helpers will be available next Saturday (hopefully). For the release, we will have to maneuver through the Bowman Field of Flags though.
APRS beacon 1.5 W: 144.390 (National APRS
frequency) Callsign: KI4CQJ-6
Primary FM audio beacon 2 W: 146.545 (transmits KI4CQJ in Morse code)
Secondary FM audio beacon 50 mW: 146.565 (transmits MOE KI4CQJ in Morse code)
Payload: 6.0 lb, Balloon: Kaymont 1500g, nozzle lift ~13.3 lb, free lift: 7.3 lb
New: Checklist for Balloon and Communications Operations (*.doc)
Here is an updated description of the balloon payload.
03/03/17: Announced project on Anderson 2-m repeater net: 146.790 MHz
03/03/13: Announced project on Seneca 2-m repeater net: 147.270 MHz
03/03/10: Tested payload in flight configuration for 3 hours in freezer, and then at room temperature. Temperature outside 0 deg F, inside 50 deg F. GPS battery gives up first after 8 hours.
03/03/06: Successful foxhunt with 2-W beacon around Clemson.
02/14/06: Getting ready for the launch of TigerCUB-1. Tested DF with 2-W morse code beacon. Tested new GPS and APRS. Test-inflated a 1500-g balloon up to 10 lb nozzle lift.
12/01/05: Fall 2005 activities. Test and troubleshooting of the payload timer which also send a audio signal to a second handheld radio. The GPS needed to be replaced.
04/03/05: Clemson Campus, behind library. 12:20 EDT. Release of a Kaysam 100g pilot balloon with small package (0.4 lb) transmitter (146.565 MHz, 50 mW, 30 sec on, 60 sec off) and pressure logger; chasing and tracking by RDF. Lost signal outside of Belton, SC ~13:20 EDT. Ended search 16:30 EDT. Flight path aft-cast (TBD)
12/08/04: For Spring 2005 this Balloon Project has been selected for the
Clemson Undergraduate Research, Discovery and Creative Activity Initiative.
06/18/04: StudentSat III workshop in Boulder, Colorado.
Attended by Alex Norwood (KF4UDQ).
01/27/04: Project/class meetings are held every Friday, 2:30 pm in Kinard 223 or 313B
List of the participants
01/23/04 Project Initiation Meeting
01/10/04: Announcing undergraduate balloon project in various physics and engineering classes.
A High-Altitude Balloon Project
for undergraduate students
Play a role in the Clemson University High Altitude Balloon Project!
All undergraduates welcome!
Learn about
- Mechanical and electrical design of space hardware
- Amateur Radio and GPS
- Balloon Tracking and Recovery
- Atmospheric Science
Many similar balloon projects are flown by radio amateurs, colleges, and universities around the United States.
We use as model design the successful BOREALIS balloon of Montana State University.
For more information of what is involved visit their web site:
http://spacegrant.montana.edu/borealis/
Details of the design and operations are described in the BOREALIS Handbook:
http://spacegrant.montana.edu/borealis/resources/Handbook/
Another big handbook has been compiled by EOSS in Colorado
http://www.eoss.org/ and http://www.eoss.org/handbook/handbook.htm
Lots of information and links can be found on the website of the StudentSat workshops
http://spacegrant.colorado.edu/studentsat/
A link with lots more links is http://users.crosspaths.net/wallio/
There are also mailing lists for high-altitude ballooning and related projects
sgsatellites at lpl
dot arizona dot edu
balloons-rockets at mailman dot qth dot net
If you are interested, please contact:
Gerald Lehmacher
Department of Physics and Astronomy
105 Kinard Lab
glehmac at clemson dot edu
(c) Gerald Lehmacher, 2002-2004