iHAB-4 - [Saturday - April 30, 2011]

Mission Recap:

First, we are thankful for everyone who participated in the iHAB-4 launch. What a GREAT way to spend a WINDY spring day! Thank you to the Marion Homeschool Assistance Program and ALL the Parents & Kids who showed up to watch!

iHAB-4 was a cruiser, staying aloft for 2 Hours, reaching a burst altitude of 85,300ft and traveling 80+ miles down range. It landed in a 60ft tree, 2.6 miles West bearing 278° from Bellevue, Jackson County, Iowa, United States

There was a digital camera malfunction, and unfortunatley, there are no photos from this launch. The simplex repeater worked well at lower altitudes. We believe this is due to poor VHF antenna performance.

The CutDown Module failed due to a faulty solder joint on the CutDown controller board. For those that were at the launch, you will recall a "premature burn" of the CutDown module. That was caused by this controller board issue.

Special thank you to Gregg Lind - KC0SKM and Joe Spinks - AA0KW for chasing with us!

iHAB-4 - Mission Goals

  • Sponsored by: Marion Homeschool Assistance Program

  • This demonstrations will expose students to various aspects of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in a fun and interactive setting. Topics relating to this event include, earth science, weather, geography, physics, mathematics, and engineering.
  • Obtain high altitude imagery of Near Space
  • DTMF Payload Cutdown Module - View Test
    Ground based control station will cut the balloon free from the payload before reaching burst altitude. This will initiate a controlled decscent.
  • Demonstrate control of HF beacon from a ground based station.
    20m HF beacon (14.059mhz) will turn ON at the top of each hour, and be remotely shutoff from 55-59min after each hour. The beacon will continue this cycle until LOS.
    Example:
    ON - 15:ØØZ though 15:55Z
    OFF - 15:55-15:59Z
    ON - 16:ØØZ though 16:55Z
    OFF - 16:55-16:59Z
    ect...continued until LOS
  • Operate VHF simplex repeater.
    147.5ØØmhz PL 1ØØ.ØØ
    Repeater will record up to 3Øsec of uplink audio, then rebroadcast.
    NOTE: Controller is VOX controlled. It is anticipated that uplink transmissions may get clipped, so be prepared to begin each transmission with the word "check" to ensure your call is completely heard. BE PATIENT. This is a "Parrot Repeater" so each transmission is transmitted twice. (uplink then rebroadcast) BE PATIENT and courteous to stations trying to work the payload.
= Successfull = Successfull with error(s) = Failed

 

iHAB-4 - Flight Prediction

Burst Altitude: 25,042m - 82,138ft - 15.5 miles
Range: 108mi, Flight Time: 108min

Burst Altitude:

25,042m - 82,138ft

Ascent Rate:

5.1m/s

Time to Burst:

81.76 min

Neck Lift:

3086g

Launch Volume:

126.83cu/ft

 

 

  • Launch:

  • Call: W0OTM-4
  • Sunrise: 6:05a.m.
  • Sunset: 20:04p.m.
  • Launch: 10:00:00
  • On: 2011-04-30
  • Lat: 41.7535
  • Lon: -91.7198
  • Base Elev: 750 ft.
  • Ascent: 952 ft/m
  • Max Altitude: 80288 feet
  • Descending: 1500 ft/m
  • Burst:

  • At: (42.17934, -90.58215)
  • Max Alt.: 79896 feet
  • Radio Horizon: 348 miles
  • Flight Time T+: 84 minutes.
  • Down Range: 66 miles.
  • Touchdown:

  • At: (42.35388, -90.24607)
  • Total Time T+: 109 minutes.
  • Bearing: 60.8 deg
  • Down Range: 86 miles.

iHAB-4 - Flight Recap

Flight Analysis


Telementry Analysis - HERE

Launch Video

Recovery Video #1

Recovery Video #2


 

iHAB-4 - Photos

Pre-Flight

photos by: Marlin Webb WD9HZU of Milan, Illinois

Recovery

Payload Phots (after recovery)

 
   

 

Media Relations

 

Media Contact:


Daniel Leon

daniel_leon28@yahoo.com

 

eHAM Article:
http://www.eham.net/articles/25900

 

QRZ News:

http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?294797-iHAB-4-Launch-Announcement

 

 





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