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01 October 2004 Wanderings Ralph J. Coppola Come join us on the Wanderings Chat Room. --- (See info and instructions) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ===== Feature In "The Amateur Scientist" column in Scientific American for October 1990, our editor, Forrest M. Mims III, wrote about “A Remote-Control Camera That Catches the Wind and Captures the Landscape”. Forrest described how to take aerial photographs, using a low altitude helium balloon. Actually he used a BPTB lifting device, better known as the Black Plastic Trash Bag. 8-) Expanding on this theme, we can see that there are many amateurs who are who are involved in high altitude (>18 km) balloon activities.
It should be noted that this activity is not without an effect on the environment. Sea turtles have been killed by ingesting discarded plastic bags or helium balloons. This mistake these items for their main prey, jellyfish. Fortunately most of the problem seems to come from the toy and advertisement type balloon releases and not weather or amateur balloon releases. See A Study Of The Effect Of Balloon Releases On The Environment. Wanderings I was inspired by Michael A. Banks' excellent series on the life and work of Hugo Gernsback to do a quick search for a picture of his Telimco spark transmitter. Actually, I found a site that contained some selected pages from his Electro Importing Company: Catalogue No. 7 . This was better than I had expected. Once upon a time, when I was a wee tyke in the mid 50's, I experimented with a DIY spark transmitter that was similar to Gernsback's. I used a Ford Model T spark coil as the heart of the transmitter and a 1N34 crystal diode as the receive element. Unlike the Telimco, I used a proper antenna and ground system. Thanks, Michael, for bring back some early memories. 8-) A couple of other interesting sites that are worthy of a look are --- United States Early Radio History --- and --- A Chronology of AM Radio Broadcasting 1900-1960. The USSR's Sputnik satellite can be thought of as the father of the US Transit positioning system and the grandfather of GPS . The Rocket Rover Lander Challenge requires the competing teams to launch a sport rocket containing a simulated lander, to safely land the lander, and to deploy a rover. The rover must then be remotely navigated to a predetermined spot on the flying field Michigan Tech's Volcanoes Page aims to provide information about volcanoes and to complement other web based volcano sites. The Kids Room New initiatives to increase the role of women in science and engineering plan to introduce programs aimed at girls at the elementary school level to help stimulate their interest in science and mathematics. It is believed that giving young girls the opportunity to explore these subjects through a hands-on approach will encourage them to choose science and engineering as careers. Obtain your MS degree while working as a Peace Corps volunteer. Paul Doherty's Scientific Explorations And Adventures is an extensive listing of DIY science demonstrations that are suitable for the K12 age range. The Virtual Body interactive web site allows students to investigate the brain, skeleton, digestive system, and heart. Bio Interactive is an interactive web site exploring the world of biology. Be sure to take part in a "Virtual Lab." The Pfizer FunZone features the history of medicines and antibiotics, a virtual tour of microbes, and a virtual electron microscope. Build your own atom with the Science Odyssey: Atom Builder activity that can be found on the PBS Science Odyssey web site. This interactive web site demonstrates plate tectonics, neurological stimulation, atoms, DNA, radio waves, and changes in household technology, medicine, and human evolution. The What on Earth? interactive series investigates the structure and formation processes of the Earth. Teacher notes are included. Cool Science for Curious Kids contains activities for students about plants, classifying species, the air, butterflies, and making observations. Suppliers Being listed here does not constitute an endorsement by SAS or me of any information, product or service. The COCOM* regulations, that are imposed on civilian GPS receivers, sets their operational limits to an altitude of 18km and a speed of 515m/s. This prevents most off the shelf GPS receivers from being useful for high altitude balloon or rocket use. One exception is the Trimble Lassen™ SQ GPS module which allows either limit to be exceeded but not both. Also, its small size and low cost make it an excellent choice for balloon work. Has anyone any experience with the Lassen SQ? Please, let us know.
SpaceCAD is a computer program that will assist you in your design of amateur rockets. A 30-day trial version is available for download. On The Lighter Side John Baez has developed The Crackpot Index which is a simple method for rating potentially revolutionary contributions to physics. From The Far Side Why does the Discovery Channel (Canada) keep running features on Joe Newman and John Hutchison? What ever happened to “real” science?
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Copyright 2004 by Society for Amateur
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