Stratos High Altitude Balloon Launch During the 2017 Solar Eclipse

Video Livestream of the August 21, 2017 Solar Eclipse from 100,000 feet!

Using ATV, VHF Digital, and APRS for live video and data (Frequencies TBA)​

A group of young hams from Greenville SC is building a high altitude balloon payload that will record scientific data and send a livestream video to the ground during the August Solar Eclipse. We are going to be using APRS for tracking the balloon, amateur television (ATV) for sending live video, and we will be using a foxhunting transmitter as a beacon to find the payload in case if the other two transmitters cease to work.

We have a few basic goals for this project:

• Successfully launch and recover the payload.
  
• Obtain live video & scientific data of the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse.
• Introduce young people to the world of HAM radio.
• Analyze data from the atmosphere during the solar eclipse.

Our project fundraising goal is $1700. We will be spending it on:

• Helium
• 800g Weather Balloon
• Instruments
• ATV transmitter
• APRS transmitter
• Foxhunt Transmitter
• Cameras
  
• Antennas
• Batteries
• & a lot of small parts for connecting it all together.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook: Facebook.com/GRVHAB

Twitter: @HABStratos

Please donate using the GoFundMe link:
https://www.gofundme.com/live-stream-from-the-edge-of-space

 

Neato!

Can you kindly detail who is in charge?

From my standpoint, that info = $$$$....hint hint.

73
Chip W1YW

 

KJ4IQS is the project manager, and we are working in conjunction with the IEEE Piedmont Student Branch.

 

Some more information:

James is a senior in college. He is an Eagle Scout and was a senior patrol leader. He has done several large scale electronics projects, including building and utilizing a home solar observation station in cooperation with Stanford University as well as designing & building a working model submarine. James is a technician class amateur radio operator (KJ4IQS).

James may be reached at: james@jameslabadorf.com

I am the Team Lead for Engineering and Communications for the project. I am a freshman engineering major, as well as a general class amateur radio operator. I have 7 years of electronics experience, including being a certified Aircraft Electronics Technician (NCATT AET) for a year and a half. I have also worked on a previous (successful) balloon launch.

I may be reached at: kj4zwa@aol.com

We are going to be posting a short informational video in the next couple of days.

If you have more questions, feel free to email either of us, or reply on this thread.

 

Cool.

I will be in touch.

73
Chip W1YW

 

Fleet--
Great stuff.
I am by no means trying to insult you or James, but it would increase confidence a bit if there was a teacher or 'elder Elmer' overseeing, especially the cost/money end.

That comment is driven by experience of knowing there is someone accountable beyond the young minds driving the effort.

I'm interested in assisting on some of the costs...

73
Chip W1YW

 

Chip,

We have two professors at the university working with us, as well as a physicist, an engineering PHD candidate, and a retired engineer as consultants.

I hope that that answers your question.

73,
Fleet KJ4ZWA

Edit: That was a very good question to ask. Thank you for asking it.

 

Excellent. I am prepared to provide matching funds for the first $250 to get you guys started.

But you need to be more clear who else--names--is involved: maybe put that on the funding page?

The biggest issue is permission and liability. Where do you plan to launch; are you out of the flight lanes; do you apply for FAA waiver; where will this land; do you have insurance so it doesnt bean Bigfoot ?

Those stupid issues easily become launch-killers. Its unfortunate that you live in times when launching an Estes rocket can be construed as a terrorist act, for example.

73
Chip W1YW

 

As far as permissions and liability, we will be under the 4 pound limit mandated by the FAA; we will still apply for a waiver so that we can use more robust suspension lines, however.

We will be out of the range of the major flight lanes, and we will be filing a NOTAM before the launch.

Due to the nature of weather, we will not be able to determine a launch site or approximate a landing site this far out.

The general launch zone will be anywhere fromPickens, SC to northwest GA or eastern Tennessee. The general landing zone will be somewhere between Greenville, SC and Columbia, SC.

As far as your other questions, I will get those answers and start up a FAQ section on the GoFundMe page.

73
Fleet KJ4ZWA

 

Excellent.

You can list me as providing matching funds for the first $250. "Dr. Nathan Cohen of Fractal Antenna Systems will provide matching funds for the first $250 we raise."

Let me know when $250 is hit and I will paypal over the matching $250.

I am saying all this publicly to give you guys a good start and some additional cred.

73
Chip W1YW

 

We reached $320 from local donors from the Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Society this morning.

Thank you very much for your generous support!!! We all have been totally overwhelmed by the amount of responses that we have gotten so far to this project.

73
Fleet KJ4ZWA

 

Awesome.

You guys need to provide a paypal link, so I can send over the funds.

 

Launching a balloon is not a difficult endeavor and not that expensive. HAB projects are launched regularly. No permission is required. All that is recommeded is to notify the FAA before launch (unless things have changed in a year).

Also, when someone starts a conversation with "I am by no means trying to insult....," you can expect the next words to be an insult. "Adult" does not equal responsible. Eagle scouts are some of the most responsible people on the planet. Also, if someone takes the initiative to obtain an AET certification at such a young age, you can bet that person is responsible as well. Also, "old" doesn't equal Elmer. These two people could be the best Elmers on the planet. It is sad that there are so many "older" hams that are so judgemental.

73
Tony KF5WKW

 

Thanks for the lecture Tony.

Please don't tell me how to vet when I donate funds. I am not new to that game. You are a silly person to tell me, or anyone else, how to donate their money.

FYI, if the donation is made to a minor and an enterpise goes belly up for unsavory reasons (for example), the plaintiff has limited recourse. Perhaps you would prefer that I said: 'what person has legal responsibility for this enterprise?'

My attorney is a ham and has cautioned me on just these issues in the past. Giving money away is a lot more than writing the check.

You should be embarrassed for trying to diss me in this way.

Dumb.

 

As promised, I have made a $250 donation to the Stratos project and they are now more than 1/3 of the way to their goal.

I urge others to help this team out as well.

73
Chip W1YW