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A quarter of the way up with only 11g

PostPosted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 2:05 pm
by SANEAlex
And its just finished "orbiting" once ;) :twisted:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/01 ... tes_world/

He seems to have two transmitters in that small package using both the 434.500MHz band and 2m amateur band

Re: A quarter of the way up with only 11g

PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 8:10 pm
by Jay
I have to admire the simplicity of it, but if he were American he would be in quite a bit of legal trouble with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for about a dozen violations of the rules regulating the flight of “unmanned free balloons” and for good reason. Those rules save lives.

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?rg ... 0.1.3.15.4

That balloon is cruising at the same altitude as passenger airliners. Even with a payload of only eleven grams, Leo Bodnar’s clever little circumnavigator is a potentially fatal air traffic hazard. If Bodnar doesn’t receive some kind of well publicized and meaningful punishment, the inevitable copycats will sooner or later have us listening to television journalists reciting yet an other body count.

Beyond that we are also forced to imagine how we will respond when those who have cold-bloodedly targeted airliners filled with passengers in the past now litter the world’s air lanes with thousands of inexpensive and virtually undetectable aerial mines equipped with contact detonators. Sorry for the negativity, but short-sighted thrill-seeking hobbyists risk too much to be ignored with stunts like this.

Re: A quarter of the way up with only 11g

PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 9:57 pm
by rick m
It would have been easy for him to have rendered the balloon 'visible' with a modest amount of lightweight mylar and streamers and super bright LEDs for the night flying though all bets are off while in clouds. Other than needing the jet stream for transport and the amount of lift such a balloon had, the 'why' for doing it in airspace populated with aircraft is a question I would have.

We have been working on a super lightweight combo solar/LTA balloon package students in schools could build that would rise to 80-100,000' (we hope) with payloads during the day and descend back to earth as the sun goes down or sooner with programmed cut down that would cost under $100 for schools to do. All this to be done within FAA regulations.

Re: A quarter of the way up with only 11g

PostPosted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:27 pm
by SANEAlex
An update its done its second lap and also crossed the north pole

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/22/bodnar_b_64/

Re: A quarter of the way up with only 11g

PostPosted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 10:24 am
by Jay
Just a note to wagster. The incorrigible “View active topics” link doesn’t seem to be noticing postings in the “Technical Forums” category. I suspect termites.

Jay