Vacuum testing igniters 10-01-13

Yesterday evening some of the team got together to test igniters in a vacuum.

The broader context is developing a cut-down mechanism for high altitude balloons based off some existing methods.

In the picture below you can see that the portion of igniter charger in the immediate vicinity of the hot wire reacted, but that's only a small portion of the whole charge.
From the test it seems that the black powder needs gas around it to help transfer heat to adjacent grains.

Balloon Launch, Sunday 6th Jan 2013

On Sunday morning, January 6th, 2013, the team released a high altitude balloon.

This was a test for the radio and GPS systems to accompany another of our projects we have been working on for around a year (the rockoon- details to come soon).


Here are a bunch of pictures from the event, and a video of the balloon release.

The Payload box, planning the internal layout

The controls board, including a Battle Blimps board, and a SPOT GPS tracker

Removing the skirt from the weather balloon. Latex gloves at all times when handling the balloon!

Balloon with skirt removed.

Parachute and payload box. This was for a drop test to check the parachute size.

Recovery team set up. Yagi antenna and FunCube dongle. FLDigi decoding, and HDSDR.

The Recovery team, hanging out in Chertsey.

The launch site, next to Lake Emma.

Hydrogen tank

Setting up the balloon prep area.