Research is vital. \u00a0Read up on existing projects – many people run blogs or have web sites showing how they developed their flights. \u00a0The UKHAS wiki<\/a> is invaluable and is probably the best single source of HAB information on the internet.<\/p>\n Testing is vital. \u00a0If you’re developing your own tracker hardware and\/or software, then you have plenty more testing to do – does it work in the cold? \u00a0does the software work across meridians? \u00a0how long do the batteries last? \u00a0Even if you buy a ready-made radio tracker, you need to test your tracking setup and skills. \u00a0Don’t leave that to the flight itself – it will all go terribly wrong.<\/p>\n Do not rush.<\/strong> \u00a0My very first flight took 5 months from the idea to the execution. \u00a0Overall it was a success although some things did go wrong. \u00a0Not many flights are perfect in every way, so please do everything you can to make your flight the best it can be. \u00a0Do not set a launch date before you are ready\u00a0<\/strong> – this is a tried and well tested method of ensuring failure.<\/p>\n High Altitude Ballooning is all about sending up a payload (containing tracking equipment and often sensors and\/or cameras) to a high altitude. \u00a0Typical flights get to 30km or so (about 100,000 feet), with the balloon expanding from a typical 1 metre or so diameter at ground level to 8 metres or so at altitude, where the latex gives way and the payload falls by parachute to the ground.<\/p>\n Sounds simple, right?<\/p>\n It is, but you probably have (and should have) many questions, for example where can I get one of these balloons? \u00a0How much gas? \u00a0How do I get that gas inside the balloon? \u00a0How do I get permission for the flight? \u00a0How can I tell it where it will land? \u00a0How do I find it afterwards? \u00a0Read on for the answers.<\/p>\n This comes first because it’s the most important factor in recovering your payload. \u00a0If tracking doesn’t work then all you’ve done is launch a big fat party balloon.<\/strong><\/p>\n The best method of tracking depends on where you are launching. \u00a0Here I will concentrate on the UKHAS 70cm system because in the UK that is by far the best option as we have a wide tracking network that will help you track during your flight. \u00a0There are however other options:<\/p>\n The above shows how the UKHAS system works. \u00a0Your balloon carries a radio tracker that sends its position (and perhaps sensor data, or even images) down to the ground, where it is received by one or more listening stations. \u00a0I strongly recommend that you set up 2 such stations – one at a fixed location (e.g. launch site, home, school) and one in the chase car.<\/strong> \u00a0In addition, if you are in a country where there are existing listeners (the UK and Poland have good networks, and there are listeners in many other European countries) then if you inform them of your flight, they will listen out for it. \u00a0However\u00a0do not rely on them<\/strong> – the responsibility for tracking your flight is your own. \u00a0In many countries you will be the closest, and therefore most important, listener to the payload as it lands. \u00a0Also, if you aren’t tracking at the launch site, you won’t know if the tracker is working. \u00a0Do not launch unless your tracker is working.<\/strong><\/p>\n A typical radio tracker comprises a GPS receiver (UBlox models are very popular as they work at up to 50km altitude), a radio transmitter (Radiometrix NTX2B-FA is very popular as it’s reliable, stable (the frequency does not drift as it gets colder), and frequency agile (so you can set the radio frequency away from those used by any other balloon flights in the air at the same time), and a small microprocessor (e.g. AVR (Arduinos are popular) or a PIC).<\/p>\n Soldering a tracker together is easy for anyone who can solder anything. \u00a0The UBlox devices can be purchased on breakout boards, so all you need is one of those, an Arduino prototyping board and that radio transmitter, then you can build a tracker in less than an hour.<\/p>\n There’s a guide<\/a> to show how to connect a radio transmitter to an Arduino.<\/p>\n Here’s a nicely laid out radio tracker by Kevin Walton showing just how simple this can be:<\/p>\n As above, you should set up a station at a fixed location, plus a separate station in the chase car. \u00a0You will need (for each station):<\/p>\n dl-fldigi will decode the signal (i.e. convert the bleeps and whistles into data) and will then upload that data to the UKHAS servers. \u00a0However, those servers need to know what information to expect from your payload. \u00a0This is done using a “Payload Document” which describes what fields (e.g. latitude, longitude, altitude, temperature, pressure) your payload is transmitting.<\/p>\n To create a payload document, go to the UKHAS Payload Generator<\/a>. \u00a0If you wrote the tracker code yourself then you will of course know exactly what it is sending. \u00a0If instead you are using a pre-built tracker with the supplied software, then refer to the supplier’s documentation.<\/p>\n Once the payload document exists, and dl-fldigi is decoding and uploading, then your payload should appear on the live map<\/a>. \u00a0If it fails to appear, then probably the payload document is wrong – see the logtail<\/a> which will show you why.<\/p>\n Prior to your flight, create a Flight Document<\/a>. \u00a0This tells others where and when your flight will be, and allows them to easily set the correct radio frequency and decoding parameters for your flight.<\/p>\n Here you can use your imagination to build something visually interesting, but remember the following key points:<\/p>\n As an example, see my TARDIS<\/a>\u00a0payload, which included support lines embedded in the walls, heavy items (batteries) at the bottom, UHF aerial underneath and GPS aerial near the top. \u00a0Everything fixed to the base, so the batteries could be inserted and everything checked before the top (body) was put on.<\/p>\n If you are making the payload box from sheets, use a sharp knife or a hot-wire cutter to cut. \u00a0Remember that the white expanded foam can make a lot of mess unless you use a really sharp knife, which is one reason that I prefer the slightly heavier extruded foam. \u00a0For glue,\u00a0do not use a standard solvent glue<\/strong>\u00a0as it will destroy the foam. \u00a0Only use UHU Por which is designed for the task. \u00a0Hot-melt glue is an alternative but beware that the glue can get hot enough to melt the foam. \u00a0Some guns have 2 heat settings and those are safe to use on the lower setting.<\/p>\n Final closure of the payload can be done with duct tape, which is available in a wide range of colours to suit your aesthetic needs, and not just silver-grey!<\/p>\n There are 3 main options for near-space photography:<\/p>\n A popular question is “Should I use a case for the camera?”. \u00a0The GoPro for example comes with a case, with clear lens, to protect it from impact during use. \u00a0Do not use a case<\/strong>. \u00a0It will very likely trap any airborne moisture inside the case, where it will eventually condense on the coldest part of the case which is directly in front of the camera lens.<\/p>\n Balloons come in various sizes and from 3 main manufacturers. \u00a0For the widest choice and best service buy from Random Engineering<\/a>.<\/p>\n All the above parachutes have loops at the top for attachment\u00a0to the balloon. \u00a0Choose the size using the calculator on that page, aiming for a landing speed of 4-5 metres per second. \u00a0You will need to know the payload weight, which you can estimate by adding together the weights of the heavier items and allowing 100g for the container and duct tape.<\/p>\n The larger the balloon, the higher the flight will go and, usually, the further it will land from the launch site. \u00a0Anything above 25km will get good photographs, and 30km is a good figure to aim for. \u00a0A typical size might be a 800g or 1000g balloon, but you should use the calculator<\/a>\u00a0to find out what size balloon you need for what altitude. \u00a0Aim for an ascent rate of 5-6 metres per second, and remember that your payload weight should now include the weight of the parachute.<\/p>\n The calculator will tell you several things, and not just the burst altitude:<\/p>\n In the UK, you must obtain permission from the CAA. \u00a0No permission means no launch. \u00a0Click here<\/a>\u00a0for more information and a downloadable form.<\/p>\n The CAA request that you send the form in at least 28 days prior to launch, and I recommend that you do just that. \u00a0However you will not know at that point if you will be able to launch on the date you requested. \u00a0So I recommend the following:<\/p>\n If permission does not arrive before the launch, do not launch. \u00a0If the permission includes restrictions (e.g. on the wind direction) that you cannot meet, do not launch. \u00a0Remember that\u00a0obtaining permission is a critical safety step in the process.<\/p>\n Even with permission, you should only launch with a safe flight path. \u00a0This primarily means having a landing area that is well away from cities, large towns, airports or motorways. \u00a0Remember that balloons may burst rather lower or higher than you planned for, due to manufacturing tolerances or your ability to fill the balloon with the correct amount of gas (see section on Filling below), so you should run predictions for early or late bursts as well as your planned burst altitude.<\/p>\n Also, do not plan a flight that lands close to the sea. \u00a0No flight exactly follows the prediction. \u00a0There are many variables such as the accuracy of the wind forecasts and (especially) the amount of gas put into the balloon, and\u00a0as a rule of thumb I suggest you allow for a landing error of at least 5 mile radius, with an additional “distance from launch” error of 5% of the distance travelled. \u00a0So a typical 100 mile flight would have a possible landing area of approx 10 miles long (in the distance travelled) by 5 miles wide (at right angles).<\/p>\n You can run a prediction online using the CUSF Flight Predictor<\/a>. \u00a0This works up to about 6 days prior to the flight, but generally does not start to be accurate until about 3 days prior. \u00a0It is worth running a prediction every day up to launch, to gauge how much they change from day to day – if they don’t change much then you will know that the prediction is quite predictable, which is good.<\/p>\n Another thing to check is how much the prediction changes from hour to hour during the launch day. \u00a0Launches frequently (in fact, almost always, run late) and you should run a prediction for 1 hour after launch, as well as at the target launch time, to see if it changes much. \u00a0A large change is bad because it makes the landing spot highly dependent on what time you launch.<\/p>\n As you run predictions, you will probably notice that the balloon direction changes throughout the\u00a0flight. \u00a0This is because the wind travels in layers with different layers travelling in different directions and\/or at different speeds. \u00a0Generally, ground level winds travel from west to east, but of course any direction is possible. \u00a0Higher level winds tend, in the summer months, to travel from east to west meaning that your balloon will at some point reverse its direction. \u00a0Here’s a typical example, with the flight travelling south, then east, then north, then west on the way up, and then turning in the opposite direction during descent:<\/p>\n In the winter months, much depends on the jet stream. \u00a0If you balloon hits this then it will be swept towards the continent at up to 200mph, making a UK landing impossible and recovery difficult.<\/p>\n Remember to run a final prediction soon before your launch, so you have the most accurate data.<\/p>\n The section on Balloons earlier mentioned a thing called “Neck Lift”, which you need to know in order to fill the balloon with the correct amount of gas. \u00a0Newcomers seem to get confused about what this number means, so I should explain.<\/p>\n For simplicity, I will assume a 1kg balloon and\u00a0a weight of 1kg for the payload and parachute. \u00a0Obviously if you put the balloon on some scales, it will register (give or take a few grams) 1kg. \u00a0Now let’s put some helium gas inside. \u00a0As the helium fills the balloon, the balloon starts to displace the surrounding air. \u00a0Because we are displacing air (which has a mass of over 1kg per cubic metre) with helium (which has a mass of about 10% of that), the more gas we put in the lighter the balloon becomes. \u00a0At about 1 cubic metre of gas, the balloon will be light enough to just lift off the ground.<\/p>\n Of course at this point the balloon isn’t much use to us – we need it to lift the payload too! \u00a0So we’ll put about 1 more cubic metre inside. \u00a0Now we’ve displaced enough air to give us about 1kg of lift. \u00a0Remember that our payload is 1kg, so if we closed off the balloon neck at this point and attached the payload, it’s going nowhere! \u00a0We need more lift to take the payload up into the air. \u00a0As it happens, we need about 1 more kg of lift and so about 1 more cubic metre of helium. \u00a0Here’s a calculation for this example:<\/p>\n So that’s how the gas provides enough lift to send the balloon and payload up into the air, but how do we know we’ve put the correct amount of gas inside the balloon? \u00a0That’s where the neck lift comes in. \u00a0Remember that for the above example, we wanted 1kg to just lift the payload, and another 1kg to send the payload up at the right speed (5 metres per second), so that’s a total of 2kg. \u00a0This is the “Neck Lift” and is 2.082kg in the screenshot above. \u00a0Neck Lift is how much upward pull the balloon has. \u00a0So now we know what it is, how to measure it?<\/p>\n To fill a weather balloon, you need something to get the helium\u00a0from the cylinder to the balloon. \u00a0We call this a “filler” or “filling assembly”, and it’s basically a length of ordinary garden hose but with a fitting at each end.<\/p>\n The balloon\u00a0opening (or “neck”) is a large diameter tube of relatively thick latex. \u00a0It’s much too large to fit over the hose, so instead we fit the hose inside a larger tube (typically standard 40mm waste pipe which is sold by any DIY store). \u00a0The gap between that tube and the hose needs to be filled with something that won’t leak gas. \u00a0Expanded foam filler (also from a DIY store) is a common but rather messy choice. \u00a0Or you can use a length of pipe insulation (also from … OK you know), sealed at each end with silicone sealant (guess…). \u00a0Try this guide<\/a>\u00a0for how to make one.<\/p>\n The helium cylinder will come with a valve\/regulator\/filler that screws in to the top of the cylinder. \u00a0There are 2 designs of these device, but for either you should be able to squeeze the hose over the opening and fix it down with a combination of duct tape and hose clips.<\/p>\n Suppose that the filler assembly (see below) weighs 300g, and you want a neck lift of 2kg. \u00a0If you can attach something weighing 1.7kg (2.0 – 0.3) to the top of the balloon filler, then when the balloon has the desired neck lift (2kg) it will\u00a0just<\/strong> be able to lift the filler (0.3kg) and added weight (1.7kg).<\/p>\n The one problem with the above is the wind. \u00a0Any wind will try to move the balloon sideways. \u00a0If you’re holding the balloon (to fill it) then the air going past the balloon will produce lift. \u00a0If you measure the total lift then it will include this aerodynamic lift, so you can only measure the neck lift accurately when there is no wind. \u00a0A slight wind is OK – carefully let go of the balloon and see if it goes up or down, before grabbing it quickly! \u00a0Or wait for the wind to stop or at least calm down enough for you to let go briefly.<\/p>\n As a rule of thumb, if the predicted winds are stronger than 10mph, postpone the launch.<\/p>\n This is an approximate list, to use as a starting point. \u00a0Don’t go buying anything until you have a good understanding of the entire project. \u00a0Some items (e.g. parachute, balloon) depend on the weight of many of the other items, so these should be the last things you buy and not the first. \u00a0I often get emails asking me for a list of items to buy, and it’s an impossible question to answer. \u00a0Moreover, it’s the wrong question – it should be “what do I need to learn to make my flight safe and successful?”, and everything else should follow from that.<\/p>\n That said, here’s a list to help you make your own list.<\/p>\n A good place for GPS receivers, radios etc is HAB Supplies<\/a>.<\/p>\n Or you can buy a ready-made radio tracker (e.g. Pi In The Sky<\/a>, HABduino<\/a>)<\/p>\n A GSM-GPS tracker is useful as a backup, or if you contact someone in UKHAS they may be willing to supply a spare tracker – useful if you’ve built your own and don’t know for sure that it will work.<\/p>\n So, the big day has come. \u00a0Your tracker has been working for weeks now, and you’ve tested that you can track it on the ground from a mile away. \u00a0You have permission from the CAA and your flight predictions show a nice landing far away from any hazards. \u00a0Your base station is set up and you’re ready to put the kit in the car for the chase. \u00a0You have the balloon, gas, filling rig, ground sheet, parachute, completed payload, cord and plenty of duct tape. \u00a0You’ve created both payload and flight documents, you’ve seen your balloon on the map, and you’ve alerted the other UK balloonists of your flight. \u00a0You’re ready to launch!<\/p>\n Get the car unloaded. \u00a0Put a table up if you have one (much nicer to work on a table than the ground when your putting the final touches to the payload, or getting your laptop tracking set up). \u00a0Lay out the ground sheet and peg or put weights on the corners to stop it taking off. \u00a0Put the cylinder and filler on the ground sheet, together with the other items that the person filling the balloon will need.<\/p>\n The tracker is the first thing to get working. \u00a0Make sure that you can receive and decode the transmissions. \u00a0Wait till it has a GPS lock. \u00a0Make sure that you have internet connectivity and that the balloon has appeared on the live map. \u00a0Make sure you’re using new batteries and not ones you’ve been testing with!<\/p>\n Put the tracker inside the payload box, and connect the aerial to the tracker. \u00a0Check the tracker is still working. \u00a0Make sure all cameras have fresh \/ fully charged batteries. \u00a0Make sure the SD cards are empty of all images! \u00a0Start up the cameras, and photograph your contact label in case the label is lost during the flight but the camera is recovered. \u00a0Preferably put one label inside and another on the outside.<\/p>\n Start the cameras recording stills\/video. \u00a0Insert the cameras and close off the payload lid (fix it down with tape). \u00a0Check that the tracker is still working and still has a GPS lock. \u00a0Check that the cameras are still recording.<\/p>\n Measure roughly 10 metres of braided nylon cord out. \u00a0Tie one end to the top of the payload, and the other end to the\u00a0bottom<\/strong> of the parachute. \u00a0Measure out another 5 metres of cord, and tie one end to the\u00a0top<\/strong> of the parachute.<\/p>\n All knots should be pulled\u00a0hard<\/strong> to make sure that they do not slip at all. \u00a0Remember that these are the only things stopping you from dropping a payload from 30km up without a parachute. \u00a0Put a piece of tape over each knot to stop it coming apart.<\/p>\n Put the free end of the top line (the one above the parachute) on the ground near to the person filling the balloon.<\/p>\n Now it is time to fill the balloon. \u00a0Remove it from the wrapper and lay it out on the ground sheet. \u00a0Fit the filler assembly to the helium cylinder and make sure it’s a tight fit. \u00a0Open the cylinder valve.<\/p>\n Fit the balloon neck over your filler tube, leaving enough of the beck free for sealing later. \u00a0Then tape down with duct tape over the end. \u00a0Fit 2 cable ties to stop the balloon from escaping.<\/p>\n Check the weight of your water bottle, making sure that it matches your neck lift calculation taking into account the weight of the filler. \u00a0Attach the bottle to the filler with cable ties.<\/p>\n Open the gas valve and allow the balloon to fill. \u00a0Fill until it can hold the water bottle\u00a0in the air without the bottle coming back down. \u00a0If it’s windy, wait for a lull in the wind before doing this. \u00a0If in doubt add more gas.<\/p>\n When you have enough gas, tie 2 cable ties around the neck of the balloon, about 10-20mm apart. \u00a0Get someone to come over and help at this point. \u00a0Tie the free end of the top line around the balloon. \u00a0Cut off the cable tie ends and put tape over the knot and cut ends. \u00a0Wrap the line around the cylinder or have someone hold it (they\u00a0must<\/strong> wear gloves) to stop the balloon escaping if you slip up. \u00a0Have someone hold the balloon neck (where that line goes) whilst you remove the cable ties that are holding the balloon neck on the filler tube, and remove the tape. \u00a0Fold\u00a0the balloon neck back over itself, put on one more cable tie, cut off the loose end and tape over it.<\/p>\n First, check that the tracker still has a GPS lock and you are decoding the transmissions. \u00a0Check that all cameras are still recording. \u00a0Check that the payload train is tied together properly and that no idiot put the parachute on upside-down.<\/p>\n If your CAA permission tells you to call Air Traffic Control for clearance, do that now. \u00a0Follow their instructions (they may well ask you to wait for an aircraft to pass).<\/p>\n Have someone hold the payload.<\/p>\n Check the sky for planes – look and listen.<\/p>\n Start allowing the balloon to rise. \u00a0Gloves are very, very important for this bit as you could get a bad cut from the nylon line. \u00a0Lift the line up, keeping a good grip at all times, feeding the parachute through your hands and keep going till you are holding the payload.<\/p>\n Check the sky again.<\/p>\n Now it’s time to let go! \u00a0So long as it’s not windy, then this is easy. \u00a0If it is windy, you will find that the balloon isn’t above you, but is about 15 metres away and possibly only a couple of metres above the ground. \u00a0See if you can wait for the wind to let up, at which point the balloon will start to rise. \u00a0Start walking towards the balloon, and it should rise. \u00a0Walk faster, allowing the balloon to rise till the line is almost vertical. \u00a0You may well need to run at this point. \u00a0Do not release until you can see that when you let go the payload will go up (or at least horizontally) and not down into the ground!<\/p>\n Once everything is packed up you can set off after the balloon. \u00a0Generally, the best plan is to make sure you’re not far from the balloon when it bursts. \u00a0You may well be tempted to drive straight to the expected landing point, but that’s generally a bad idea as you won’t know the landing area until after the burst.<\/p>\n Whatever you do, try and be near the intersection of 2 major roads so that you can head off in any direction once the balloon has burst and the landing prediction starts to be more accurate.<\/p>\n You can then head for the expected landing point shown by the live map. Again, try to find a good road junction to park near. \u00a0Or, if it’s a hilly area, the best idea is to get to the top of a nearby hill; this is much better than being in a valley where the radio signal is likely to cut off early.<\/p>\n When the payload has landed, the signal will probably stop. \u00a0If it hasn’t stopped, then either you managed to find a place very close to the landing position (typically within 1 mile) or it’s in a tree!<\/p>\n If you don’t have a final position, then getting one is your absolute top priority. \u00a0Drive to the latest payload position that you do have, or to the predicted landing spot (shown by the live map). \u00a0Use the yagi aerial if the signal is too weak to decode, or find a small hill to drive up. \u00a0So long as you can get to within 1 mile of the payload, without a hill in the way, you should get a decodable signal.<\/p>\n Once you have the final position, write it down and tap it into a sat nav. \u00a0Drive to the closest you can by road. \u00a0If you have a 3G signal, switch the live map to satellite view and see where the payload is and how you’re going to get there. \u00a0Or, use Back Country Navigator Pro on a tablet or phone, to view where you are and where the payload is on an Ordnance Survey map (download the map before the flight!).<\/p>\n Almost always, the flight will be on private land so you should always try and find the landowner and get permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" High Altitude Ballooning makes for a challenging project that sometimes\u00a0turns into an engrossing hobby. \u00a0Whilst it’s not “rocket science” it does encompass a wide range of fields (sometimes literally) and there’s a lot to learn before you send your first flight up into the sky. A failed flight (and these […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1732"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1732"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3135,"href":"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1732\/revisions\/3135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Overview<\/h1>\n
Tracking<\/h1>\n
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UKHAS Radio\u00a0Network<\/h2>\n
![\"system-1024x813-500x396\"](\"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/system-1024x813-500x396.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nUKHAS Radio Tracker<\/h2>\n
![\"ardpro_jimbob_real.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/ardpro_jimbob_real.jpg.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nUKHAS Receiving Station<\/h2>\n
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UKHAS\u00a0Uploading<\/h2>\n
Payload Design and Build<\/h1>\n
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![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/tardis-211x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCameras<\/h1>\n
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Balloons and Parachutes<\/h1>\n
![\"burst\"](\"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/burst.png\")
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Permission<\/h1>\n
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Predictions<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/1-1024x741.png\")
<\/p>\nBalloon Neck Lift<\/h1>\n
![\"burst2\"](\"http:\/\/www.daveakerman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/burst2.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFilling<\/h1>\n
Bill Of Materials<\/h1>\n
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Launch Day<\/h1>\n
Preparation<\/h2>\n
Tracker<\/h2>\n
Payload<\/h2>\n
Payload Train<\/h1>\n
Balloon<\/h2>\n
Launching<\/h2>\n
Chasing<\/h2>\n
Recovery<\/h1>\n