We used a new custom tracker design based around the Wio-E5 STM32WL (very similar to the RAK3172) module and Quectel L80R GPS module. It had a tx interval of 5 minutes and a spreading factor of SF10 was used. It was powered using a 500mAh battery taken from a disposable vape. The whole system weighed 23g, which probably ended up being 25g after all the tape and string we added. ...
We reused a left-over board we had from Pico-1. It’s good to keep documentation. We learnt that the hard way. Once we finally figured out what we did last time and where the latest version of the code was, we tested it overnight in the garden. It worked. We used a 550mAh battery from another disposable vape. We decided to launch on the 19/12/24 as the conditions looked favourable for a southerly flight. ...
Hello This post will fill in a bit of background when it comes to the balloon projects I have been involved in. HAB 2 onwards are with Isaac HAB 1 The first project was a fairly typical high altitude balloon project. 200g balloon, Raspberry Pi Zero and Camera, a LoRaTracker gps tracker (thanks Stuart for all those amazing resources!), a polystyrene box and a parachute. Not exactly cheap. Main problem was getting it back again. Turns out balloons can travel quite far and, when you live with Gatwick and Heathrow to the north and the sea to the south, there aren’t a lot of days where you’ll be able to launch. ...