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I took a screenshot of one of the videos: http://i.imgur.com/nppgVPG.jpg http://i.imgur.com/nppgVPG.jpg Perhaps Iridium refers to the Iridium satellite constel

I took a screenshot of one of the videos: http://i.imgur.com/nppgVPG.jpg http://i.imgur.com/nppgVPG.jpg Perhaps Iridium refers to the Iridium satellite constellation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellatio...) (Edit: or maybe one of their products http://www.iridium.com/Products.aspx http://www.iridium.com/Products.aspx) and "SBD service" refers to something like this: http://www.iridium.com/products/IridiumSBD.aspx?section=support http://www.iridium.com/products/IridiumSBD.aspx?section=supp... ? Edit 2: Perhaps they were tracking the balloon?

nowarninglabel 13y ago
It would likely not use the Iridium satellites, they are bandwidth constrained, quite slow (due to roundtrip distance) and very expensive. It also wouldn't be offering much advantage over connecting to the satellite directly asides from that I guess you could connect via normal wi-fi perhaps as opposed to needing a satellite receiver on the ground. Perhaps they could be using one of their products though. At least, that's what my experience working with Iridium satellite systems would lead me to believe.
wmf 13y ago
Iridium is the ultimate backup connectivity (for balloon control, not for data). It's very slow and very expensive, but works everywhere and requires a small antenna.
bcn 13y ago
It looks like they're using the short burst data (SBD) service to 'control' the balloons. (Email) : SENT : B1 > power on rocket RESPONSE : B0 > SUCCESS(0) RESPONSE : B1 > SUCCESS(0)
espadrine 13y ago
Looking at the solar information (on the left), power doesn't look too good. Would these balloons still work during the night? Would they need to stay in the day? Would that even be possible, given the speed of the wind?
- wmf 13y ago
  It says on the site that they charge during the day and run off batteries at night.

nowarninglabel 13y ago

It would likely not use the Iridium satellites, they are bandwidth constrained, quite slow (due to roundtrip distance) and very expensive. It also wouldn't be offering much advantage over connecting to the satellite directly asides from that I guess you could connect via normal wi-fi perhaps as opposed to needing a satellite receiver on the ground. Perhaps they could be using one of their products though. At least, that's what my experience working with Iridium satellite systems would lead me to believe.

wmf 13y ago

Iridium is the ultimate backup connectivity (for balloon control, not for data). It's very slow and very expensive, but works everywhere and requires a small antenna.

bcn 13y ago

It looks like they're using the short burst data (SBD) service to 'control' the balloons. (Email) : SENT : B1 > power on rocket RESPONSE : B0 > SUCCESS(0) RESPONSE : B1 > SUCCESS(0)

espadrine 13y ago

Looking at the solar information (on the left), power doesn't look too good. Would these balloons still work during the night? Would they need to stay in the day? Would that even be possible, given the speed of the wind?

wmf 13y ago
It says on the site that they charge during the day and run off batteries at night.