N4BWR's Amateur Radio & Technology Blog

I am excitedly, and somewhat impatiently, waiting for the jet stream to calm down so we can launch our next high altitude balloon. That’s because we will have lots of new electronics and sensors on board, and I am eager to see how they perform. Here’s a look at what we have.

•  Arduino Uno - Quite literally, this will be the “brains behind the operation”. This little microcontroller has so many potential uses and applications on our flights. It will be controlling the data logger, sensor, and the other module described below. (product link) 
  
• MAX31855 Thermocouple Amplifier (and thermocouple braid) - Capable of measuring temperatures as cold as -200º C (-328º F), this is perfect for a trip to the stratosphere. The temperature data will be logged using the data logger described later. (product link)
  
• ADXL326 Triple-axis Accelerometer (+-16g) - This will also be controlled by the Arduino and logged by the data logger. It will be interesting to see the tilt angles during the flight and the G forces after the balloon bursts. (product link)
  
• Emic 2 Text-to-Speech module - This module converts a stream of digital text into speech. It will be fed our balloon’s altitude and GPS location and will then speak that information over our amateur radio simplex repeater. (product link)
  
  
• GPS Logger Shield - This module will log temperature, accelerometer, and GPS data to an SD card. This will allow us to get detailed and interesting information about the temperature and how the capsule was moving all through the flight. (product link)
  
• T3-301 5-Watt VHF Transceiver with Integrated Tracker3 - The T3-301 from Argent Data Systems is an APRS tracker with an integrated 5 watt radio. It helps us save on weight, and includes features like profile switching for various altitudes and a scripting engine. (product link)
  
• ADS-SR1 Simplex Repeater - This simplex repeater from Argent Data Systems records incoming transmissions and plays them back on the same frequency. This will allow our recovery team to talk to each other through the balloon as we drive to chase and recover it. (product link)
  
• SRB MX145 Transmitter - This will be a lightweight and low power option to connect to the simplex repeater. (product link)