Nova 20
Nova 20
Nova 20 was the first test flight of the Wombat r1 board (ADF7012 radio), the third launch of the Squirrel Nexus One smartphone, and the first use of the Bronkhorst helium mass flow meter.
Launch Card
Details copied from the launch card filled out at the launch site.
| Date | 11/03/12 |
| Description | Wombat Test Flight Squirrel Launch 3 with SSTV & GSM tracker test |
| Launch Time | 1100GMT |
| WX | Calm with sunny intervals |
| Balloon Size | 350g Totex |
| Target Neck Lift | 1.5kg |
| Target Asc. Rate | 4.2m/s |
| Neck Load | 750g |
| Neck Lift | 2.00kg |
| Parachute Details | 30" Spherachute |
| Estimated Burst Altitude | 19800m |
| Cutdown Criteria | None |
| Telemetry Details | Squirrel: 50 Baud RTTY on FM @434.075MHz (for Wombat see below) |
| Notes from Launch Card | Used mass flow meter for filling, calculated 2300l, filled to 2700l (based on confirmation with fish scales) |
Flight Vitals
| Maximum Altitude | |
| Ascent Rate | |
| Sea Level Descent Rate | |
| Landing Spot | Sheering, Bishop's Stortford - http://g.co/maps/c7bdj |
| Telemetry Log | |
| Flight Computer Log | |
| KML File | |
| Photos | |
| Videos |
Notes and Details
It's flying a very very tempermental ADF7012 radio, which will cut out at the slightly provocation (change in temperature). To mitigate, it retunes the radio every three sentences (which will be duplicates). If it can't lock the radio in five seconds, it tunes down 0.06MHz and retries, until it reaches the bottom of the band or manages to lock. It will retry from 434MHz every three sentences, and it takes five seconds every tune-down attempt, so catching it on those won't be easy -- I've programmed them into my radio for quick selection. You are nevertheless welcome to attempt.