HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOON DDF Team Leader: Josh Beighle Group Members: Adam Chen, Aaron Seyfried Faculty Advisors: Dr. John Wu, Dr. Joseph Slater Industry Advisors: Bruce Rahn, Nicolas Baine June 08, 2012

Overview Launch 28 Launch 29 Launch 30 Final Results Final Outcome Lessons Learned

Launch 28 (Richmond IN) Data acquisition was unsuccessful Beacon was not transmitting (power supply was not plugged into beacon) Further plans to prevent same mistake Placement of another member of the team at the launch point to prevent any mistakes

Launch 29 (Bellbrook OH) Initial Experiment Record two sets of data for each launch 29 and 30 Complications Adam: Unable to calibrate kit due to beacon malfunctions APRS signal obstructed New task: Foxhunt package on launch 29

Launch 29

Launch 30 (Bellbrook OH) Updated experiment New setup locations Complications Lack of setup time New locations insufficient for updated experiment

Launch 30

Final Results Launch 29 Launch 30

Final Outcome Doppler Direction Finders are not a viable means of high altitude balloon tracking Why? Kits not designed to handle change in altitude Kits not sensitive enough Solution Larger antenna assembly More sensitive equipment Some are sensitive to within one degree

Lessons Learned Learned how to work cohesively in a group of diverse engineers. Learned how to document findings to relate the findings to peers. Learned how to present findings to peers. Even minor complications can destroy large scale results. Prior planning ensures smooth operation on launch day. Full scale testing should be accomplished well before implementation.

Sponsors  The Ohio Space Grant Consortium (OSGC)  Wright State University Curriculum Development Grant  National Science Foundation (NSF)

Summary Launch 28 Launch 29 Launch 30 Final Outcome Final Results Lessons Learned

Questions Josh Beighle: Adam Chen: Aaron Seyfried: