AnaSonde Flight and Operation

1
AnaSonde Flight and Operation
2
AnaSonde Information

• The AnaSonde-E and the AnaSonde-3M operate in the
  70-cm amateur radio band so an amateur radio
  license is required to operate them.
• See our FAQ at anasphere.com for important
  information about the legal issues surrounding
  transmitter operation.
• The typical receiver setup recommended by
  Anasphere is an amateur radio receiver paired
  with a directional antenna such as a Yagi.
• Complete receiver kit is available from
  Anasphere Yaesu VR-120D receiver, Cushcraft
  A430-11S Yagi antenna, and cables to connect
  them.
• The launch balloon and parachute are included in
  the AnaSonde kit all that you as the user has to
  provide is a 9-volt battery and helium.
• The other AnaSondes (Blink-E, Buzz-E, and
  SpectraSonde) do not fly, but are perfect for use
  in the classroom or outside in your backyard!

3
Photo of Receiver/Antenna
4
Flight Preparation
Skip the flight preparation slides for AnaSondes
that do not fly.

• Make a sun shield for the AnaSonde by rolling the
  1.5x5 index card into a tube and taping it.
• Lay the space blanket down on the mesh so that it
  is centered on the mesh with the gold side out.
  (This is called multi-layer insulation, much like
  that used on spacecraft.)
• Wrap the mesh/space blanket sandwich around the
  tube with the mesh side in and tape it in place.
  (This will protect the sensors that are sensitive
  to sunlight.)
• Slip the shield around the AnaSonde and tape it
  to hold it in place.
• The shield should cover the temperature and
  humidity sensors.

5
Flight Preparation

• Cut a 3-ft long piece of Dacron line and tie a
  small loop in one end of it, of about ½. (This
  will go to the cable tie that seals the balloon.)
• Tie the other end of this line to the loop on the
  top of the parachute.
• Use the remaining Dacron line (about 3-ft) to
  attach the AnaSonde to the loop where the
  parachute lines come together.
• When attaching the AnaSonde, it is best to tie a
  loop around the 9-volt battery snap such that the
  loop around the snap passes between the battery
  terminals. This way, when the battery is snapped
  on, the loop can't come off.
• Fill the balloon with helium.
• The balloon should lift about half again as much
  mass as the mass of the AnaSonde plus its
  battery.
• Typically, the AnaSonde 9-volt alkaline battery
  will have about a 60 gram mass. Therefore, the
  lift should be about 90 grams.

6
Filling the Balloon with Helium Tips

• Make up a dummy mass using small blocks of wood
  with holes drilled in them.
• Secure the appropriate mass of blocks to a small
  binder clip with a loop of wire.
• When you are ready to check the balloon lift,
  twist the neck closed and use the binder clip to
  hold the neck closed and to hold the weights to
  the balloon.
• You have the right amount of helium when the
  balloon can just lift the dummy mass.

7
Tip Pictures
Use blocks of wood connected to a binder clip to
measure the lift of the balloon. Pinch the neck
of the balloon with the binder clip to test the
lift without having to tie the balloon. Unclip
the neck and add more or release some helium
in order to achieve the right amount of lift.
8
Flight Preparation

• Take the end of the line that goes to the
  parachute (this is the end with the small loop in
  it that you tied in a previous step) and put it
  around the cable tie.
• With the balloon neck twisted closed put the
  cable tie around the neck and tighten it to hold
  the balloon closed and to attach the payload (the
  AnaSonde) to the balloon.

9
Setting up the ComputerFor All AnaSondes
Software

• In order to collect data from the AnaSondes, you
  must first have the software necessary to do so.
• SondeWorks is Anasphere's custom data acquisition
  software that is used to display the data from
  the AnaSondes.
• Download SondeWorks onto your computer from
  anasphere.com.
• Direct URL
  http//anasphere.com/education_anasonde.php
• CwGet is the software needed to log and display
  Morse code data in real time.
• Download CwGet from an off-site link on the
  Anasphere website located at the same URL
  highlighted above.
• AnaSonde-3M Programmer is the software used to
  program your customizable AnaSonde-3M.
• Download the 3M Programmer from the same
  Anasphere URL highlighted above.

10
Radio Setup

• 1. Be sure you have reasonably fresh batteries
  in the receiver.
• 2. Attach the receiver to the antenna using the
  BNC to UHF cable.
• 3. Turn on the receiver by holding down the
  power button.
• 4. Tune the receiver to 433.920 MHz (the typical
  frequency for the AnaSonde). If the frequency is
  way off from where you last used it, you may have
  inadvertently hit the band select (BND) button.
  Push it repeatedly until it shows a frequency
  closest to what youre looking for.

11
Radio Setup

• 5. Verify that you are in AM mode, as shown at
  the top of the display.
• 6. Verify that the attenuator is out (not
  showing AT at the top of the display).
• 7. Turn the squelch (outer knob next to antenna,
  labeled SQL) all the way down so that you may
  hear a background hiss.
• 8. Set the volume to the middle of the range.
• 9. Turn on the AnaSonde.

12
Radio Setup

• 10. When the sonde is transmitting, tune for the
  best received signal strength. Almost all
  AnaSondes have their main transmission frequency
  in the 433.800-434.000 MHz range. If you get
  outside of that, youve probably gone too far.
• It is best if no one is touching the sonde
  during the tuning process it is fine to be
  holding it by the string which supports it, but
  dont physically touch or come close to the sonde
  (especially the antenna).

13
Radio Setup

• 11. You can fine-tune the receiver by ear. When
  you are receiving the best signal, it
  will sound comparatively smooth, with a clearer
  600 Hz tone when you are slightly off
  frequency, it will sound more tinny and pitchy.
• 12. Now hook up the radios speaker output jack
  (under the rubber cover labeled SP)
  to the computers microphone input jack using the
  1/8-inch mono plug to 1/8-inch mono
  plug audio cable. Note that some operators
  have experienced trouble when using a laptop
  computer that was plugged into the AC power
  line.
• 13. Your radio receiver is now set up.

14
Antenna Set-up

• Obtain an antenna and set it up according to the
  instructions that come with it.
• Anasphere suggests using a Cushcraft A430-11S
  Yagi antenna.
• The cables to connect the receiver and the
  antenna are available from Anasphere.

15
Programming the 3M

• Download Programming Software
• http//anasphere.com/education_anasonde.php
• Open up the programmer on your computer after
  download completes
• First, select and set the value for Delay Between
  Transmissions or leave as the default value.
• You may next decide between a Radio option or
  Serial Port option. For most users and cases, you
  will choose the Radio option.
• Set the Morse Speed you would like for dot
  msec.
• Enter the Callsign of the operator. You must have
  a callsign to legally operate the flight
  AnaSondes. (See the FAQ section on the Anasphere
  website for more pertinent information.)

16
Programming the 3M

• The AnaSonde-3M is customizable because it has
  the ability for user-defined settings. This
  includes user-selected sensors and channels for
  those sensors.
• Set the Channel Configuration for the 3M next.
• To select a channel that is being used on the
  AnaSonde, check the box next to the corresponding
  channel.
• To change the sensor belonging to a certain
  channel simply click on the channel listing and
  another window will open up where the user may
  select which sensor is installed in that channel.
  
• This assumes that the user will leave the
  Standard Equation bulleted.
• Next, select the Com Port that the computer is
  using.
• You may ask the computer to search for Coms under
  the ComPort tab along the top of the programmer
  screen.
• Underneath the Help tab is a set of programming
  instructions to follow to finish the programming
  procedure.

17
(No Transcript)
18
CwGet

• CwGet is the software necessary for SondeWorks to
  receive the radioed data from the AnaSonde and
  interpret the data.
• After downloading CwGet, open it up.
• If you would like to be able to hear the code as
  it comes over the radio from the AnaSonde, choose
  the Setup tab gt Sound Output gt Sound Without
  Filtering. This will allow you to hear the
  transmission even when the radion is plugged into
  the computer.
• Also under the Setup tab, uncheck the Logarithmic
  Spectrogram (Alt-Z).
• This is for easiest viewing, though this is a
  user preference. These items (Logarithmic
  Spectrogram and Logarithmic Oscillogram) refer to
  the graphical displays at the top and bottom of
  the window, respectively.
• The Main Filter and Burst Filter (also under
  Setup) are variables that the user can
  investigate and experiment with to find the best
  fit.
• As a general starting point
• Set the Main Filter to 140Hz
• Set the Burst Filter to 50 LPM

19
CwGet

• When receiving audio from the AnaSonde, grab the
  vertical red slider bar in the top window and
  slide it onto the highest peak you see, right
  around 600 Hz.
• While receiving audio, press the GoToMax button
  to let the program fine-tune the location of that
  red bar. Do NOT use AutoGoToMax! If you do, the
  bar will wander during pauses in transmissions
  and get off frequency.
• After you get the top red bar centered on
  frequency, move to the bottom display which
  should be showing lots of vertical spikes (or, at
  low speeds, these would be seen to be dots and
  dashes over time). Move the horizontal red bar
  up or down until it is cutting through the middle
  of these spikes or peaks. At this point, what
  may have been gibberish in the center text window
  (lots of es, ts, ns, dots and dashes in curly
  brackets) should become legible data with /
  character delimiters.
• It is best if the spikes or peaks just reach
  to the top of the lower window or a bit beyond
  (become flat-topped). This is controlled by
  adjusting the volume on your receiver. As
  signals get weaker, they may not reach to the top
  any more in that case, just turn the volume on
  the receiver all the way up.

20
CwGet

• Adjust the horizontal red bar in the bottom CwGet
  window up or down to improve signal quality.
  Moving it up reduces sensitivity, but can block
  local RF noise sources. Moving it down improves
  sensitivity, but at the expense of becoming more
  vulnerable to noise.

21
CwGet
Set this vertical red bar to the highest peak
in the frequency left to right.
Legible data with / character delimiters will
show up in this box after the red vertical and
horizontal bars are adjusted.
Move the horizontal red bar up or down until it
is cutting through the middle of the spikes and
peaks.
22
SondeWorks

• Open up the SondeWorks program.
• Follow the prompts the program walks you through
• What would you like to do?
• For a new flight or data acquisition, choose
  
• Operate an AnaSonde
• To bring up past data, choose Work with saved
  files
• Click on the green arrow pointing to the right
  towards the bottom left of the window to move
  onto the next step.
• Enter in the configuration for the AnaSonde
• For the 3M Manually enter in the configuration
  that you obtained from programming the sonde with
  the 3M programmer.
• For the E The computer can automatically read
  the E's configuration. Simply click on the
  configure button and a change from a red dot to a
  green one signifies success. (The sonde needs to
  be on and transmitting for this to be
  successful.)

23
Changes in color from red to green with a
successful configuration.
Click the green arrow to move to the next step
(or to back up).
24
SondeWorks

• Enter the Launch Elevation next. This can be
  entered in meters or feet by making sure the
  bullet of the chosen unit is selected.
• Click the green next arrow again.
• A prompt will pop up telling you to click Run
  to begin collecting data. Double check your radio
  to make sure it is properly tuned and that CwGet
  is successfully acquiring the data and then
  click on Run.
• A Save window will then pop up allowing you to
  save the upcoming project.
• After you have saved, the acquisition into
  SondeWorks will begin.
• The telemetry will be scrolling along the bottom
  of SondeWorks.
• You may customize the graph appearance and
  parameters as the program is running by clicking
  on the various components of the graph you would
  like to change.
• Each data point will appear as a dot on the graph
  and as a numerical value in the chart below the
  graph.

25
SondeWorks

• If SondeWorks is having trouble attaining data
  points, double check the tuning of you radio and
  also that the highest peak is selected in the
  upper window of CwGet and the red line is
  intersecting the peaks of the transmission in the
  lower window and not getting cut off.
• Once you are done collecting data, click on
  Stop. A prompt will appear to ask you if you
  really want to stop collecting data. Click Yes.
  
• Click the green next arrow once more and there
  will be loading, saving, and printing options to
  choose from.
• Since you saved in the beginning, you may exit
  whenever you are finished and your project will
  be saved.

26
FlightFor Flight AnaSondes

• After CwGet and SondeWorks are set up and
  everything is working properly, it is time to fly
  your AnaSonde!
• Double-check that everything is working and that
  the batteries are fresh and that the attenuator
  is off and let it go!
• Sonde notes
• 1. Batteries The AA batteries should be
  Energizer AA lithium cells. The 9-volt should be
  an Ultralife lithium battery. The sonde would
  probably work with an alkaline 9-volt, but would
  be likely to have problems with alkaline AA cells.

27
In Flight
These instructions are to help with maintaining
a good signal for the longest possible duration.

• 1. The first thing to do when signal gets weak
  is to turn off the attenuator, if you havent
  already.
• 2. Be sure that the antenna is pointing at the
  sonde, or in the last known direction. Once the
  sonde gets far away, the beam width of the
  antenna is such that small pointing errors wont
  matter any more. Its okay to move it around
  some trying to get a better signal, but dont get
  carried away.
• 3. Turn the volume up so that in the CwGet
  window the peaks in the bottom window reach all
  the way to the top of the window...or as close as
  you can get them as the signal gets weaker.

28
In Flight

• 4. Adjust the horizontal red bar in the bottom
  CwGet window up or down to improve signal
  quality. Moving it up reduces sensitivity, but
  can block local RF noise sources. Moving it down
  improves sensitivity, but at the expense of
  becoming more vulnerable to noise.
• 5. Periodically check the tuning of the
  receiver. The transmitter may drift in frequency
  a bit with temperature or time. For low altitude
  flights (as with the 2G high speed profiler
  sondes), this is unlikely to drift more than
  about 5-20 kHz (thats 0.005 0.020 MHz, or just
  one to four clicks of the tuning knob). So, if
  you arent hearing a signal, or its weak, adjust
  the tuning a little bit. Dont get carried away!
  When in doubt, return to the last frequency that
  was working.
• You may find that it is easier to listen to
  the radio directly rather than via CwGet and the
  computer when checking tuning. Yes, tuning
  checks sacrifice a bit of data but if youre
  needing to seriously tweak tuning, chances are
  that data was already being lost anyway.

29
Operation Tips

• 1. After the sonde begins transmitting time
  data, waiting a minute or so before launching it
  will allow the sonde to acquire more accurate
  launch altitude data.
• 2. You may want to collect several seconds of
  throwaway data on the ground prior to launching
  so that you have a chance to check the tuning of
  the receiver.

30
Operation Tips

• 4. Keep the sonde at arms length so that the
  internal GPS antenna has the best view of the
  sky.
• 5. Keep your hands away from the radio antenna
  to avoid altering its frequency.

31
Troubleshooting

• If you arent hearing data but expect to, be sure
  the volume is turned up, the squelch is turned
  down, and the antenna is pointed in generally the
  right direction. Then try adjusting the tuning
  in small steps up and down. Dont go too fast,
  and dont get carried away! The signal should be
  within about 5-20 kHz or so (0.005 to 0.020 MHz)
  of your originally tuned frequency so just a
  click or two of the tuning knob up or down should
  get a good signal again.
• IF YOU THINK YOUVE HAD A SOFTWARE ERROR AND ALL
  DATA MAY BE LOST
• CwGet maintains a buffer with all characters
  received. Just use your mouse to select all of
  the characters in the CwGet window, copy them,
  and paste them into a text document in Notepad or
  another text editor program. That is your full
  record of raw telemetry, and we can help you
  retrieve the data from this file (or advise you
  how to do it).
• Also all SondeWorks programs maintain a
  secondary, backup data file independent of your
  main data file. This secondary file likely has
  your data as well, and we can help you identify
  this file if needed.

32
Common Problems

• 1. The squelch isnt turned all the way down.
• 2. The volume isnt turned up high enough.
• 3. The batteries are low.
• 4. The attenuator is in, as shown by AT on the
  display. Turn it off by pushing FUNC (button on
  the left side) and, while holding FUNC down,
  press the far right button (of the 4 on the
  front) labeled MODE (with ATT in white below it).

33
Common Problems

• 5. The automatic as opposed to manual tuning
  function is enabled, as shown by B on the
  display. Turn it off by pressing the second
  button from the right, labeled V/M. If the
  automatic tuning is operational, the incoming
  signals tend to be slightly clipped (more easily
  heard than seen), resulting in garbled data.
• 6. The receiver is not set to AM mode. Press
  MODE repeatedly until the top of the display
  shows AM (as opposed to FM or WFM).
• 7. The tuning step is too big (25 kHz instead of
  5 kHz). Refer to the radio manual to set the
  tuning step to 5 kHz to more accurately tune the
  sonde and improve signal quality.

34
Common Problems

• 8. The battery save function is on, as shown by
  S on the display. Turn it off according to the
  users manual.
• 9. Some PCs have advanced sound controls for
  bringing in audio signals, and these controls may
  attenuate your incoming signal. Refer to your
  sound cards instructions for troubleshooting
  this issue.

35
Finish

• You have now successfully acquired data from your
  AnaSonde!
• If you sent your 3M or E into the atmosphere,
  build another to enjoy another learning and
  exciting experience!
• If you have an AnaSonde that doesn't fly, try
  another location to see what other kinds of data
  you can receive!