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in any case, I'm wondering what the rules are for dropping random things from the sky.

This is a secondary source, but pretty good

http://www.eoss.org/pubs/far_annotated.htm

If you mean legal civil liability its not a whole heck of a lot different than dropping things from a bridge, or tossing something off the top of a building.

But you missed an important possibility: vacuum. You just need a gas tight sphere, strong enough to take outside pressure.

OTOH, with helium, you need a bag (it can even have a large hole on the bottom, see "zero-pressure" balloons) strong enough to wrap a salad bowl. Make a guess which one is far lighter and flies higher?

Groups like EOSS have been doing this for at least 30 years, probably more. It's very common for a balloon launch to be a featured event in a ham radio conference. Their budgets per payload are similar, although they are able to do more technical work than featured in the MIT students work and often design their own radios, command devices, etc. None of this, though, is out of the range of a dedicated amateur. Note that there is a software-defined GPS in development that might be the best way to get around the 20K foot altitude limit of consumer GPS devices. Its component cost is pretty low, despite the $495 cost charged for an assembled device at that site.

I have a friend in Colorado who wrote software to track his balloons. I remember him telling me that he forwards the info to the FAA so ATC can route air traffic around them. http://eoss.org/

Anyone interested in this sort of thing should also check out sites like ARHAB and EOSS. High-altitude ballooning has gained a lot of popularity in recent years, especially among ham radio hobbyists. It's relatively easy to build a payload that can reach an altitude of over 20 miles. I finally built one myself and launched it last month - it reached an altitude of over 106,000 feet and took over a thousand pictures between takeoff and landing. I posted a writeup on my website.

Basic payloads like mine don't really contribute much scientific knowledge, but they're a lot of fun and it's a good way to get kids interested in science. It's the closest thing to launching a satellite you're likely to get on a shoestring budget. For the record, my launch probably cost around $400, and everything but the balloon ($65) and helium (about $40) was recovered in reusable condition. Though I'll probably shell out another $8 for a new payload housing - the last one hit a dry lake bed at around 20-30 mph when the 'chute got tangled.

There will be an ascent Saturday in Northern Colorado. This one is planned to reach "only" 70,000 feet (21km); others by this group have reached over 100,000. Listen for it if you're in UHF radio range.

I have done a weather balloon project myself. Sounds like what you wish to do is a zero pressure balloon. You will need to read FAR-101 for regulations regarding free unmanned balloons.

My friend Bill Brown (WB8ELK) has flown more than 200 balloons and has had great success of long term flights with balloons that simply have a pinholes poked in them. One he launched in Alabama a few years ago flew all night and was last heard off the coast of Nova Scotia.

Balloons tend not to bounce back radar unless they have radar reflectors added to make them easier to find...

take a look at this ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/163652.s tm

they fired 1000 rounds in to the thing and it still took days to land...

If I recall correctly, they had a pretty hard time finding it once they lost it in the first place, balloons just dont show up to well on radar with out reflectors added.

http://www.eoss.org/pubs/faqloon.htm

A non-profit called Edge of Space Sciences has been doing this locally for over a decade.

They actually have great video of lots of flights, they have their payloads nailed down to designs that work and are practical, and they've been involved with helping University students all over the U.S. fly payloads for their aerospace engineering students.

Almost every major city has a high-altitude ballooning club similar to EOSS already.

This isn't news.

Reading about a bunch of guys strugging through dumb stuff they could have by-passed by asking some intelligent questions on a couple of ballooning mailing lists isn't interesting at all, other than the "let's enjoy this train wreck" factor.

If they were discovering something new about high-altitude weather ballooning, perhaps it would be worthy of a front-page post.

The groups who organize these launches follow strict safety procedures. Flight plans and advance coordination with the FAA are required. They will tell you where and when you can launch, issue the NOTAMs (NOtices To Air Men), and so forth. The launch group provides the FAA with position and altitude updates. That's why they plan and announce upcoming launches months in advance; these are no spur-of-the-moment affairs. While you're reading the articles, take a look at this group's efforts. Note the launch site for EOSS-90 is far to the north of Denver International Airport, and well to the east of the smaller Ft. Collins/Loveland airport. The planned and actual flight path stayed well away from the airports' traffic patterns. This is all according to plan!

If they are smart, they'll determine when the winds hit turnaround for their area and launch then.

The FAA permits these types of launches provided they meet certain criteria.

http://www.eoss.org/pubs/faaball.htm

Basically, total weight needs to be under 12 pounds. Most people try to keep it under 4-5. The FAA would like you to file in advance and inform them when you launch.

This group http://eoss.org/ has been doing this sort of thing for some time, check out their lastest flight http://eoss.org/ansrecap/ar_100/recap90.htm.
Lots of good info at this site.

This group http://eoss.org/ has been doing this sort of thing for some time, check out their lastest flight http://eoss.org/ansrecap/ar_100/recap90.htm.
Lots of good info at this site.

Yes, you can buy a GPS unit that can plug into a USB port. The newer models out are powered directly from the USB port.

As for how to extract the data from a USB GPS unit, that will depend on the vendor. I personally only know how to extract data via a serial port. I would recommend you try the Earthmate GPS from DeLorme. You can download an update to their software online that will emulate a COM port. Then you can just use VB to query the GPS. Use the NMEA 0183 V2.0 standard, here is a FAQ to get you started.

Hope that helps you!

Check out Edge of Space Sciences and Arizona Near Space Research for some good examples.

Balloons are a great opportunity to experience the engineering challenges of launching, tracking, and communicating with a payload under harsh conditions without the risk of things blowing up.

I haven't built my own yet, but telemetry encoders (site down at the moment, freaking DSL) I've designed have flown on a couple of flights, and I've got a K-size cylinder of helium in the garage begging to be put to use, so it's probably only a matter of time.

The radio hams have been doing high-altitude ballooning for years. The original poster will probably be quite interested in the site that maintains the unofficial records. Perhaps the most active organization in the area is Edge of Space Sciences, which has conducted 63 amateur balloon flights to date, and knows well how to grease the skids with the FAA.

It's not just the government funded agencies or commercial satellite companies that use command and control systems. There are many amateur high altitude ballonists that need a way to send commands and receive data from payloads attached to balloons. Here in Colorado, Edge of Space Sciences is a group of enthusiasts that launch and recover high altitude balloons with a variety of payloads. They are always looking for volunteers to help with launch and recovery. There are similar groups thoughout the U.S.