Arduino weather balloon

Projects General Guidance
1

Hi

I would like to build a weather ballon. A weather balloon is a balloon filled with helium with a payload attached, which rises to near space (40 km ?) and then drops down with a parachute.

I would like to do a couple of measurements during the ascent and take pictures.

I guess the tricky part will be finding the balloon again. I've been looking at a couple of different tutorials online for weather balloons, however they all are a bit vague.

Any suggestions on how to find it?

Also I would be happy for any Ideas, suggestions and other inspiration regarding this project.

2

gps in payload data logged
cell phone / sms to txt you coordinates after touchdown

3

There are several web sites devoted to amateur high altitude ballooning. Example1 Example2

4

bestanamnetnogonsin:
I would like to build a weather ballon. A weather balloon is a balloon filled with helium with a payload attached, which rises to near space (40 km ?) and then drops down with a parachute.

Or Hydrogen

I guess the tricky part will be finding the balloon again. I've been looking at a couple of different tutorials online for weather balloons, however they all are a bit vague.
Any suggestions on how to find it?

They can be atricky to find, although normally the balloon is tracked on the way down so you should have an approximate idea where its going to be. In a lot of places in the World they use APRS, amateur licence needed, in the UK its FSK RTTY since we cant use our licenses airborne.

What you need to plan for is that the baloon lands somewhere remote, so solutions relying on APRS or SMS are of little value, its very likley there will be no handy telephone mast or APRS station to pick up the signals.

Some sort of RF beacon is needed. A simple FM tone beacon is enough, you can use a yagi or similar type of directional antenna to get a fix on your balloon.

However technology moves on and a LoRa tracker is highly recommended. The LoRa device sends the position data from the trackers GPS and you pick it up on a simple handheld receiver, finding the balloon is then straight forward.

LoRa balloon tracker are very simple to build, and a worthwhile addition to a balloons payload even if you are using APRS.

Lots of information here on searching for lost things;

LoRaTracker

There is a link there to a Dropbox which has reports on my various searching adventures.

Of particular note is the article on the relay;

"How to Search 500 Square Kilometres in 10 minutes"

A simple LoRa relay board taken to a few hundred feet with a small RC plane or quadcopter can mean an end to long periods of bushwacking with a pointy antenna.

5

Although I'm quite experienced with arduino in general, I have never really done anything with Radios. This is why Im still quite lost with all of this.

What I seem to need is 2 things:

  • A way to track my balloon at altitude

  • A way to track my balloon on the ground

I really don't know how to do either of these things. Some people recommend gps. However this doesn't work at altitude and is too imprecise/vague for finding it on the ground I expect(?). Also a cell phone tracker stops working at -20 or so. Does it start working when it warms up, or does it usually break completely?

Others (like srnet) recommend various ways of radio communication. Unfortunately I'm a bit confused about all the different types and Methods. Also It is Illegal to use Radios with more than 10mW were I live. I did not think that would even transmit as far as 1 km or so? So how can I use that to track a balloon?

If possible, I would prefer not to use an arduino for the tracking, as using a pre-made tracker would be a lot easier, and I want to use the arduino for other measurements.

6

bestanamnetnogonsin:
Others (like srnet) recommend various ways of radio communication. Unfortunately I'm a bit confused about all the different types and Methods. Also It is Illegal to use Radios with more than 10mW were I live. I did not think that would even transmit as far as 1 km or so? So how can I use that to track a balloon?

You might want to read some of the stuff I posted the link for, all the tracking mentioned is at 10mW, which is the limit for unlicensed use here in the UK too. The differences between line of sight (ground to balloon) and ground search range are described in several examples.

With a reasonable omni receiving antenna at the base station (6db gain say) the very simple LoRa balloon tracker here, which costs around $15 (+GPS) to make;

http://www.loratracker.uk/?p=30

Is good for around 250 to 450km at 1500bps and 10mW. It should go 3 times further if you drop the LoRa rate to 100bps. Surely that is enough ?

Oh, and my LoRa trackers are 2-way, you can remote control what the tracker is up to.

And obviously there are GPSs that work at balloon altitude, if anyone told you different they are wrong.

7

I'm going to look at the LoRa transmitters.

Meanwhile I found this: Radiometrix - Radio Modules - RF Modules - Wireless Modules | MTX2

Some people seem to use this for Weatherballoons. Would this work at altitude? Meaning: Is there a way for me to receive It on the ground?

If yes, what is the difference between this and a cheap 2$ 434Mhz transmitter? Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I am really new to radios...

8

bestanamnetnogonsin:
Meanwhile I found this: MTX2 - Radiometrix

They are used and do work in high altitude balloons, but one way comms only.

LoRa modules will do all that one of those modules will, at a fraction of the cost and weight.

You can reasearch radio modules as much as you like, but at the moment LoRa is just so much better than anything else that is available for this purpose.

9

Ok Lora definitely sounds interesting.

The LoRa Module used in the tutorial you posted was the DRF1278F

However the Tutorial is a little to advanced for me (at the moment) to follow step by step so i found a shield which uses the same module. See here

I assume that would work?

Now are there any libraries (except the one from the manufacturer) which simplify the use of it? The Code in the tutorial is still over my head...

10

bestanamnetnogonsin:
Ok Lora definitely sounds interesting.

The LoRa Module used in the tutorial you posted was the DRF1278F

However the Tutorial is a little to advanced for me (at the moment) to follow step by step so i found a shield which uses the same module. See here

I assume that would work?

Now are there any libraries (except the one from the manufacturer) which simplify the use of it? The Code in the tutorial is still over my head...

It might work, if all the jumpers are in the right place, and all the logic level shifting is correct.

My trackers use 3.3V Pro Minis, far simpler, smaller and cheaper.

There are some LIbraries out there, I found them not suited to purpose and wrote my own. The issue is not so much the LoRa library but tying it all together to read a GPS and send then receive the LoRa position data.

11

There is this;

http://www.habduino.org/

12

The shield certainly would be good for my level. In any case, how would you go about receiving the signal? What is the easiest way?

13

From what you have said so far, I dont think you would find any of the receiving 'easy'. Like any techinical subject it will take time and effort to understand.

Cannot comment on APRS reception, never used it but it can be recieved on an RTL SDR dongle or proper amateur radio receiver.

FSK RTTY can also be received on an RTL SDR or Amateur Radio receiver.

The above two will benefit from using a decent LNA.

See here for lots of info;

https://ukhas.org.uk/

http://community.balloonchallenge.org/t/hab-tracking-methods/669