Dear all,
last saturday I completed a launch of a CHDK-powered high altitude balloon over Italy.
The balloon has flown for about 100 km in a zig-zag fashion, the complete flight lasted about 2h 40m.
Maximum altitude was about 32 km. I say about because even if the manufacturer said the GPS wouldwork over 18km in this case it didn't and I had to extrapolate the maximum altitude:
The camera was an Ixus 80 (the same model I programmed for the launch in Florida) A total of about 1.000 photos, plus 4 videos (the first one lasts 6 minutes, the other ones 3 minutes each)
Some photos
About 15km over lake Trasimeno, the camera looking down due to strong turbolence
From high altitude (about 29km) looking west, you see the Tirrenian coast of Tuscany, with islands Elba and Capraia.
Further on you can clearly see Corsica. As we are extremely high, the sky is dark and you start seeing that the Earth is indeed round!
Again the Tuscan coast, mount Argentario, Giglio island. Far away you can barely see Sardinia
Looking east, you see the other coast of Italy (the Hadriatic sea). Along the sea you can see Ancona and the dark spot of Mt Conero. Far away, clouds over the Dalmatian coast.
The videosSorry for the crappy quality in youtube, I must learn how to compress them better!!!
Last preparations and launch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_61SOzNU4E#lq-lq2-hq-vhqTakeoff as seen from the balloon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgPVSiR5Lz0#lq-lq2-hqwonderful transition from kids playing and dogs barking to silent and winds, up to about 2.500 meters
7.000 meters, very strong turbolence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTnhi4kdJ1Y#lq-lq2-hq-vhq13.000 meters, still some turbolence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIzG68yfMF8#lq-lq2-hq-vhq24.000 meters: in the stratosphere.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvHZwX5Kitw#lq-lq2-hqAstounding silence!! Nobody is there to make noise, and anyware air is so thin (abut 3% of the pressure we are used to)
A couple of panoramas assembled from frames of the videosAt about 1.000 metes above the Chianti hills
http://francescobonomi.it/minihab/pano1/index.htmlin the beginning the balloon went up so straight that I annot even see my house, where I aluched the balloon, as it's directly beneath the balloon, in the "black hole" in the panorama
At about 13.000 metes above the Lake Trasimeno
http://francescobonomi.it/minihab/pano4/index.htmlThe turbolence was so trong that we have a very good coverage under the camera...
Some more stitching and mending and I'll complete it!
