My dad and I arrived at Intermet at 11am with our box, the laptop, our cameras, a GoPro setup in the car and some duct tape ready for mission 1. After doing a quick vlog it was time to get everything set up inside. We met Michael and got straight to work on the tracking software, as this was the first time we were seeing if it actually worked on real data or not.
After a bit of tweaking, laptop was tracking the radiosonde in the room, and it was time to get the show on the road. Or in the air in this case. We headed out to the cricket ground down the road to the same place we did the first launch and started setting up all the equipment. In order to simulate the weight of the payload, I filled the box with sand until it was approximately 1200g, which is what we calculated the weight of the payload to be. Once this was closed and duct-taped together, it was time to fill the balloon.
Once the balloon was inflated, we called ATC (air traffic control) and asked for permission to launch, which we were granted. Next it was time to attach the parachute and payload to the balloon, after which we got the cameras rolling for: “Three, two, one, liftoff!”
Once the balloon was in the air, we had no control over it, which only really dawned on me a few moments later. However I was prepared for this, so I knew it would be okay. I checked to see if the tracker was working, and it turns out it wasn’t. After a brief moment of extreme mixed emotions, I found that it was because the tracker had been unplugged, so I decided to keep that one to myself and pretend it was a glitch.
Since this was the first time we were tracking with the software, I had no idea how much power the tracking station actually used, and by the time we reached the N2, it was down to 30% and falling fast. This was a major problem, so we decided to head home quickly and get it charging, since I had also forgotten to bring the laptop charger.
Once at home we got everything going and I was actually able to see it from our garden. Since it didn’t seem to be moving that much, my dad and I relaxed slightly, as we knew it would be a while before it burst. I did a quick vlog saying what had happened and what the plan was, however during this the balloon burst 6km earlier than expected, so it was time to leave immediately.
Trying to get out of the city in Friday afternoon traffic was not all that thrilling, however it sure did add drama to the event. For some reason the payload was falling like a brick, reaching speeds of 150km/h! This was concerning as there was an urban area directly beneath it. While on the road we lost the GPS signal when it was 24km up, which was concerning as there was now a brick equivalent falling out the sky hurtling towards the ground towards civilization. When we finally got the signal back the balloon was over Stellenbosch, and we were still 40km away. It had slowed right down, which meant that the parachute was working, although it was still falling too fast for my liking. We continued tracking it until it was 400m above the ground, before we lost the signal again. We made our way to the last known location, which was a place called Dornier Wine Estate, in Stellenbosch. Once there we got another lock, which said it was 1km down the road.
When we reached the location, we searched the area for 10 minutes before realizing that the location had jumped to where we had just been. With rising confusion we made our way back to Dornier Wine Estate. We got a lock on signal, which said it was in the restaurant next to the parking lot we were in. However when we went inside, everyone thought we were absolutely nuts, as they had no idea what we were talking about and no one had seen it. At that moment I lost the signal, so I assumed someone had taken it and it was on the move.
The managers were very nice and said we could search the grounds if we wanted and we were free to go where we wanted, however they couldn’t help. We thanked them and started searching the grounds. We searched for 10 minutes with no results, and the signal was too weak to get a lock. However I soon realized that for some reason the D-MET software had jumped to a different frequency and I hadn’t bothered to check that. After changing it back to 405.5MHz, we got a lock again, which said it was in the restaurant. Determined it was there, we used the decreasing signal strength to guide us to the location of the payload. It was at its strongest at the entrance to the restaurant. We were standing on the exact spot on the map, and still no tracker. Then we realized that we were probably being dumb, and the thing had fallen out the sky, meaning it was on the roof.
Sure enough, it was lying side-on on the roof, waiting for someone to collect it. With a sigh of relief we told the managers what had happened, and they told us that we would be able to retrieve it after 5pm, as they didn’t want to disturb customers during open hours. We said this was fine, as we wanted to inconvenience them as little as possible.
We spent the next few hours sipping away at cool drinks and discussing new ideas for the next launch and how we can improve the launch. We concluded that the landing area would definitely have to be further east, as this was just too close to people. We were really lucky that it landed on a roof and not on somebody, as it was falling incredibly fast.
As closing hours came and went, we asked if we could retrieve our package, and they gave us the go-ahead, however they didn’t have a ladder, which they said they would organize for us a few hours ago. Seeing as the roof was about 3m up, it wasn’t going to be easily accessible and we were stuck. It was starting to get dark and we were running out of options. Finally, one of the waiters called Josh, who seemed like he was a Stellenbosch student came to our aid and asked for a boost up onto the roof, so he could walk along and get it. The retrieval was successful and we gave our many thanks before heading home after a successful launch.
When we arrived home, I messaged Michael to tell him that everything was a success and that I would contact him when I was planning to do my next launch.
After a full day of excitement and ultimate success, it was time for bed, as rest had been earned.
