Camera on a weather balloon

[The Viper]

I attached a compact camera to a weather balloon and set it to record, here is the result. Hope you enjoy,

[Mattscar]

Thats a great video. How did you track where the balloon came down to retrieve the camera?

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Great fun, thanks for posting

[The Viper]

I used a mobile phone, which I could text and it sent back GPS co-ordinates of its landing location.

[jammo]

That is amazing, so high :shocked:

[Stargazer33]

That was very interesting. Just like you see on those TV shows when they do it. Great idea using the mobile phone to find its location too, as long as it doesn't come down on a road/railway, in a lake or in the Sea. Did it have a parachute built in or did you rely on really good padding!

I presume you require special permission/authorisation to lauch such a device into civil aviation airspace?

[tich]

I'd love to have a go at this, great video thanks for sharing.

[The Viper]

yes you need to fill in a daap1919 form from CAA, Had a parachute attached, my biggest worry was the mobile having no reception where it landed, everything just went right on the day. It was great fun and nerve wracking at the same time.

[Stargazer33]

Glad everything went okay! Did you obtain any data or was it just a filming run?

[The Viper]

It was just a filming run

[Stevp]

Fantastic. Did you organise/create this yourself or did you use some sort of kit. I'd love to give this a go but living 10 miles off the coast I have a feeling it would probably end up going for a swim!

[The Viper]

I build a payload capsule from polystyrene to house the camera and mobile. The balloon and parachute was bought online, check Amazon that's where I got it. The most expensive thing is the Helium.

[mdstuart]

Really enjoyed it..

Mark

[robbie c]

What a great idea loved the video thanks for sharing

[helicalwave]

Great video, just wondering where the camera ended up? How far away?

[Cath]

Well done Viper!

Should have replaced the camera with a GoPro in High def mode

I'd be worried about it coming down in a built-up area and causing a road accident or something. Glad it all turned out OK though.

[Nibor]

A great adventure - thanks for sharing!!

[The Viper]

I just used a compact as I didn't want to lose an expensive camera, it landed 88.6 miles away.

[tingting44]

thats amazing!! im surprised the phone didnt break on landing tho! totally amazing tho mate!!! i love it lol, how do you send a text to get gps by the way? id loveeee to try something like this

[The Viper]

It was an android app called where's my droid.

[Space Ranger]

Brilliant! Got a shock when the caption came up saying it was launched from Hamilton - the town I was born in. I recognised Strathclyde Loch and the M74 from the footage, but struggled to pick out anything else - I suppose it's changed a bit since I moved away 24 years ago. Anyway, great work - glad it landed before reaching the North Sea.

[The Viper]

Its a small world, Hamilton certainly has changed, its nearly connected to East Kilbride with houses. The County Buildings can be spotted if you look closely at the start of the video.