I’ve been looking at some of the previous journal entries and there are a few things that I left a bit too open ended and unanswered. After more research and a better understanding of how everything fits together, I can answer the “danglers” with more confidence than before.
The first is from my third entry, titled “An Idea”. The first mistake I made was talking about a rig. This is confusing as I also used the terms “payload”, “package” and “housing”, which were used interchangeably. I also had an entry about “The Rig Guy”, who could possibly help me design a rig, which would contain the housing. However, I have since learned that that is not viable or useful in any way, so I have discarded the idea and from now on will only be using the terms: “Payload”, to define everything that trails behind the balloon and parachute, and “housing”, to define the actual box holding the cameras inside.
This brings me to my second revision, which is about the cameras. In the entry titled “Oh Boy…”, I said that I wanted 3 or 4 different type of cameras, each for different purposes. Due to a minimal budget, I have had to simplify the project and I will probably be using only 2 or 3 point and shoot cameras contained within the housing. I might use a second hand GoPro, also to be contained within the housing, but there will be no “selfie cams” or the 360° GoPro Fusion camera, or a DSLR, as the cost is just too great.
Despite the minimal funding, I have decided to hold off on the crowdfunding campaign, as I currently have nothing to show. I would rather do what I can with my own budget for now, and only start campaigning after I have content to show people what it is about. Also, with all the plays going on, it could get lost in all the chaos, so I will just wait until everything dies down a bit.
I can safely say that any chances of guiding the payload back are extremely remote, as the octagonal design that I came up with is not feasible or possible with my knowledge and the amount of time that I have. Trying to fly it back with a parachute will also be incredibly expensive is also highly impractical. The only way I can retrieve the payload is by tracking its location and then driving out there and getting it.
This brings me to my last amendment, which is about tracking. In “I can see it, but can I track it?”, I said that the use of GSM networks wouldn’t work because the balloon would rise to 30km, where they are rendered useless. However, once the payload falls back to Earth, it would get signal again and be able to broadcast via a mobile connection. This sounds like the best option, but I still don’t trust it. In my experience, mobile technology almost always fails, and since the equipment might be slightly damaged, or frozen, there is an increased risk of it failing. Also, it could land in a place that doesn’t have a signal, which is actually likely, as it could land in the mountains. So in order to be one hundred percent sure that I would be able to retrieve my precious payload, I will try and track it via radio, as shown in my [rough] diagram.
This will be my last entry before the plays, as I have a busy 6 weeks ahead of me and I will be shelving the project altogether during this time.
