Sending an iPhone into the sky via helium balloons without a tether line

[pianostar83]

Hi,

In the near future, I was maybe thinking about putting an iPhone 4 into a home made capsule suspended by a bunch of helium filled balloons. I want to let it float away into the sky with no tether line to retrieve it, so that I can have a chance to capture the HD video footage during the flight.

I don't know how to use proper GPS tracking devices to locate anything such as a SPOT GPS Tracker, except for this feature that I use in iCloud called "Find My Phone". Can that feature work while my iPhone 4 records the footage?

I am not using this for high altitude flights such as amateur balloon projects,
I just want to let it float skyward until it bursts at about 5 or 6 miles up in the air, but the iPhone 4 said it can only operate at maximum altitudes at 10,000 feet. What do I need to do?

 

[aerok]

Hi,

In the near future, I was maybe thinking about putting an iPhone 4 into a home made capsule suspended by a bunch of helium filled balloons. I want to let it float away into the sky with no tether line to retrieve it, so that I can have a chance to capture the HD video footage during the flight.

I don't know how to use proper GPS tracking devices to locate anything such as a SPOT GPS Tracker, except for this feature that I use in iCloud called "Find My Phone". Can that feature work while my iPhone 4 records the footage?

I am not using this for high altitude flights such as amateur balloon projects,
I just want to let it float skyward until it bursts at about 5 or 6 miles up in the air, but the iPhone 4 said it can only operate at maximum altitudes at 10,000 feet. What do I need to do?

Try to build a box that can widthstand higher altitudes.

And since GPS uses satellites, you should be able to track your phone using Find My Phone.

 

[Mrbobb]

Slow news day?

It's been done. I think they call it remote or model photography or something, instead of an iphone, they use a model airplane or model dirigible and some sort of remote camera.

But why so low goal when amateurs have sent home made stuff to photograph the curvature of the earth?

 

[Interstella5555]

Slow news day?

It's been done. I think they call it remote or model photography or something, instead of an iphone, they use a model airplane or model dirigible and some sort of remote camera.

But why so low goal when amateurs have sent home made stuff to photograph the curvature of the earth?

So because someone else has done it with better tools at their disposal the OP shouldn't even try? I bet these people did it on their first try out as well.

OP - I'm not sure if you'd need to go as far as a pressurized container, but some googling to check what others have used may help. Good luck, sounds cool.

 

[haruhiko]

Try to build a box that can widthstand higher altitudes.

And since GPS uses satellites, you should be able to track your phone using Find My Phone.

but Find My iPhone uses the INTERNET. How are you going to connect to the internet in the sky?

 

[darster]

but Find My iPhone uses the INTERNET. How are you going to connect to the internet in the sky?

Umm, you do know that the phones will still be able to connect to many towers along the way. Even if If you are 4 miles up, you are still in many cases only 4 miles or so away from a tower. You enable GPS on phone, and leave phone on, and most likely you will be able to track phone.

 

[balamw]

Here's a story about such an experiment.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/208081/iPhone_4_Launched_Into_Space.html

B