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Amateur Rocket to Carry Ham Radio Payload to Space
n1ywb writes "An amateur rocket team this month will attempt to send a 21-foot-tall rocket carrying a ham radio avionics package into the fringes of space. The launch by the Civilian Space Xploration Team (CSXT) could occur as early as Monday, May 17. Some 20 months ago, the last CSXT try to reach space ended some three seconds after launch when the rocket's engine exploded. Avionics Team Leader Eric Knight, KB1EHE, says CSXT has since rebounded from that devastating blow with a newer, bigger vehicle. In terms of Amateur Radio, the GoFast rocket will transmit telemetry on the 33-cm amateur band and Amateur TV at 2.4 GHz using a high-quality color camera. The avionics also incorporate multiple global positioning system (GPS) systems to record the vehicle's precise location and flight path, redundant data acquisition and storage systems, and a variety of data sensors. Plans call for the solid-fuel rocket to zip upward from the desert floor and reach a speed of more than 4000 MPH in about 9 seconds. The suborbital vehicle will attain an altitude of 100 km or 62 statute miles--high enough to be considered 'space'--linger there for a couple of minutes then arc back to Earth some 26 miles down range. The whole thing will take somewhat less than a half-hour. If successful it would mark the first amateur rocket launch into space."
Imagine the rocket needed to take these three guys up there and back.
Mouse powered Chips, Open source Processors and Lego
I wonder if they'll do a webcast of the TV signal for those of us out of range/without HAM equipment.
"Hey, it blew up!"
"Guess we better build a bigger one."
Sounds like management at my company...
Does that model rocket come with an airbag?
;)
Honestly this is rather interesting. I've heard about the problems of establishing a GPS lock after a 25G sustained force- and that it's near impossible. Pulling it off is quite a feat.
I don't understand why they are returning to earth so soon, however- shouldn't a parachute (which arguably wouldn't provide much slowdown with ~1000 molecules/cm3) delay the reentry more than 1/2 hour? Unless they are expecting to lawn dart
Here's to their success
...that with all of the technology available nowadays we'd put something more advanced tham HAM radio into space. This is like using a submarine to deliver pizza.
BLING BLING. Meet the architecture that's changing everything.
I think most people don't realize the this is the FIRST non- governmental private ametuer vehicle to reach space. That by itselt is a VERY important milestone. I wish them well. !!
*--- Sometimes a majority only means that all the fools are on the same side. ---*
It's amazing that the department of homeland insecurity would let ordinary people launch a homemade missile...
Ha! Maybe so, but after BIGCO turns all our computers into useless purchasing appliances, the only cool hobby left will be ham radio.
This post brought to you by an "old geezer".
What?
I don't know if there is any real scientific value to this flight or not. But shooting a hobbists rocket into space is just cool. These folks are following in the footsteps of Goddard and the rest of the rocket pioneers. Not a bad path at all, they might even find something new. I hope they have fun, and everything works.
Professional Politicians are not the solution, they ARE the problem.
...to get my license ;)
:)
On that note, hams and electronics geeks in the midwest should note that it's time for Dayton Hamvention this weekend!
Holy shit, this is cool even if it's very suborbital. I wonder how many years it'll be until the amsat launches are truly amateur-done
The amateur anti-missle defense club will try to shoot it down.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
I realize that Ham radio seems passe' to the "basement full of Linux boxes" people, but its cool and this project, while rather unlikely to completely succeed would be cool to listen in on. For those of us who go outside, Ham is a great source of communication, as many people live where cell phone towers don't and many of the really cool places are not where cell phone towers are.
Why is the /. crowd so anti-amateur radio?
/. can still talk about how great pac-man was (with a straight face), and yet totally trash Amateur Radio.
It's like, the original geekdom, and while a LOT of the geezers out there are boring as shit to talk to, there's a LOT of cool stuff going on.
Tons of digital modes, (interfacing comps with radios), satellite coms, EME, meteor bounce.
Really, it's just confusing to me that as a group,
You want retro roots? THERE"S your roots.
Don't park drunk, accidents cause people.
PS: That award offer will have been outstanding for a decade come a year from this coming fall.
PPS: Does anyone know why the CATS prize had (and Ansari X-Prize has) time limits?
Seastead this.
that someone nerdier than you is doing this.
My Dad is an Extra licensed Ham, and there ain't no bigger nerd in the world than a Ham.
But apart from the joke value it would be real fun if they succeeded. Not truly important but nice to know that space exploration has become so "easy" that individuals can put a payload up there without needing a superpower to fund the project.
Good luck.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I've chased an Estes rocket launched with 2D's in stages nearly 1 mile before it came back to earth, and I don't believe it got over 3500Feet (damn air currents).
;)
I cant imagine what a 62 mile arc would give it
What a bunch of damn whiners. These are folks that are basically doing the Slashdot thing (learning, exploring, trying). Yes it amateur radio, but it is telemetry data and full motion color video. Hurray for them trying!
Yes, linger. The vertical velocity of the rocket decreases to 0 at the top of its trajectory and then accelerates downward due to gravity, therefore the rocket will spend a longer time at the top than at any other point in its journey (besides the ground...). Thus linger is the appropriate term.
If God had had a computer it would have taken him 7 months to create the earth...if he even bothered to do it at all.
Didn't you get the press release? They need to achieve an altitude of at least 50 miles in order for the broadcast to be heard over the interference of your local powerline broadband provider. Space has nothing to do with it.
In all seriousness I wonder what the impacts on a mission like this would be? Yet something else to consider in our BPL debate. Queue up the hams (I'm one of them) and the "broadband at any cost to the rest of the world" arguments!
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
After several launches and recoveries, I thought it would be a good idea to launch my hamster, Insomnia. When I found him, he looked like an overcooked waffle.
I dont think I realized until just then the implications of removing the parachute to create the hamsters "quarters".
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Actually the site says they intend for the recovery to be parachuteless, they decided to see what the effect of such a tall rocket would be if it impacted Lindon, Utah at several thousand miles per hour. Darl McBride will be waiting at the landing site with a target strapped to his forhead to aid in the experiment.
It would be great if someone could get an amateur rocket to put a satellite into orbit in October 2007 to celebrate the anniversary. At this rate, it might even be possible.
--
"Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
"Open source is evil." - Microsoft
APRS: Automatic Position Reporting System. It's a great way to use a ham radio to connect two devices together, especially for telemetry data.
I don't know about CATS, but the X-prize (before Ansari stepped up) was funded by insurance -- basically, the X Prize foundation found an insurance company willing to gamble that no one would be successful and the prize wouldn't be awarded. The time limit was necessary before the insurers would assume the risk.
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.
Bear in mind that the launch site is far away from populated areas on purpose. Over there in the deep desert, that presents a survival issue for anyone who comes unprepared. There is no city infrastructure that most people are used to - it's a wilderness. If you wander off and get lost and stuck, you may survive for days but not be discovered for weeks. That's why you should take this seriously.
Cell phones do not work out there. It's well over an hour's drive from the nearest cell site. Amateur Radio and satellite phones are the only reliable communications out there. If you don't have those, don't wander away from the paved roads and the launch site.
So if I haven't scared you away yet, here's some info that hopefully will help you survive out there. Remember that in the desert, bring your own drinking water - and lots of it. I have a web page about the Black Rock Desert. I have a page with a minimal camping checklist. Even if you're planning to stay in a motel, bring enough camping gear to survive overnight and wait for a rescue if you get stuck. (Overnight temperatures are usually in the 20's and 30's this time of year.) But don't go wandering off where no one knows to look for you. And lastly, see our page about "How to avoid needing a rescue at Black Rock", which we wrote after participating in many rescues of stranded people out there.
I'm going to be out there with the Stratofox Aerospace Tracking & Recovery Team. We consider it an enormous privilege that CSXT has invited us to assist at their launch.