BARREL 2009 Test Campaign


A. flight 4 quicklook info


Here are data files from the port-a-moc.
The fourth test flight (payload 3) was launched at about UT 22:30 on 16Dec09. This payload has a modified solar panel mounting scheme. Two panels are mounted as before, and two are mounted below the payload. This allows the lower two panels to better radiate away heat, and they do run cooler than the first flight panels. Panels 2 and 3 are high and panels 1 and 4 are lower. All four solar panels showed problems. This balloon was a leaker, losing altitude faster than nominal, and was terminated at UT 15:58 19Dec09. balloon track

quick-look pdf plots from flight4 of the test campaign



B. flight 3 quicklook info


The third test flight (payload 4) was launched at about UT 01:??:?? on 15Dec09. This payload uses battery power, with no solar panels. Since the energy capacity is lower, modem contacts are less frequent. balloon track

quick-look pdf plots from flight3 of the test campaign



C. flight 2 quicklook info


The second test flight (payload 1) was launched at about UT 00:33:00 on 6Dec09. Solar panel problems occurred very soon into the flight. The payload was brought down using the BARREL terminate system later that day at UT 12:21, and has been recovered. On landing, the payload tipped over and the DPU restarted. The plot routines do not correct for the restarted DPU, resulting in two sets of traces near the left side of each figure. balloon track

quick-look pdf plots from flight2 of the test campaign



D. flight 1 quicklook info


The first test flight (payload 6) was launched at about UT 01:01:30 on 2Dec09 (pictures and commentary) and reached 37km ceiling altitude at about 02:57. Upper winds are slow, so the payload isn't doing that boldly go thing. All science and engineering measurements seem fine. Voltage and current monitors indicate all 4 solar panels and/or their control electronics have failed. balloon track

Here are plots of current/voltage/temperature associated with the solar panel 1 failure; the solar panel 4 failure; the solar panel 3 failure; and the solar panel 2 failure.

quick-look pdf plots from flight1 of the test campaign



E. UNIT 6 prehang

These are plots of payload 6 output taken after the peak detect board's FPGA was re-seated in its socket. This action fixed the corrupt bit problem that had been seen in earlier testing.
Last update at UT 21:35 27-Nov-09.

F. UNIT 3 hangtest

Here are plots the prehang (UT 23:38 on 24Nov) and hang test (UT 03:00 on 25Nov) for payload 3.
Last update at UT 00:50 26-Nov-09.

G. UNIT 5 testing

A link test was started on 28Sep09, and will continue for several days. Here are throughput measurements from the most recent session of this test. The system was started at UT 18:22 on 2-Oct09.
Last update at UT 18:02 6-Oct09.

Here are throughput measurements from the second session of this test. The system was started at UT 16:04:52 on 30Sep09 and powered off at UT 20:47 on 30Sep09.

Here are throughput measurements from a first session of this test. Testing started UT 22:05 on 28Sep09 and ran until UT 15:18 on 30Sep09. Switching to battery power shut the system down surprisingly quickly.


H. GSE software

The distribution kit for the UW testing gse uses the PC COM1 port. One also requires a harness between the DPU box and a PC running the gse software. The housekeeping data labels and calibrations have not been updated from the piggyback flight.

Harness connections

DPU (DA15P) direction PC (DE9S)
6 --telemetry--> 2
5 <--commands-- 3
1 DCD <--- DSR 4
9 or 13 sig gnd 5


A toggle switch in the gui switches the state of the PC's DSR line, which should be wired to the DCD input line at the DPU. This line mimics a carrier detect (call-on) signal to the DPU and causes the DPU to emit data. Alternatively, one could wire the DCD line high at the DPU box connector so that the gui toggle switch is ineffective and data is always emitted. This software version works with 194 byte frames. Bytes received by the PC from the DPU are stored in a file named for the program start time (YDDDHHMM.dat).

The gse zip file includes the source code, the uir file, and an executable. Therefore the PC must have CVI installed. I run the software from a DOS window, invoking it thus: barrel_gse [filename] where the optional filename is used to replay a saved data file rather than pulling data from COM1.

The t3m code also runs in a DOS windown on a LabWindows (v7.0) capable PC. Connect PNI's serial cable to the T3M unit and COM1 on the PC. Apply power (5V or so) and verify the current consumption at about 17 mA. Then start t3m in a DOS window. With no argument, the code acts like the DPU and tries to read the mag 10 times. This works when the mag is correctly configured. With argument b (t3m b) the PC tries communicating at 6 baud rates in an attempt to identify the mag's present setting. With an argument of the numeric baud rate (t3m 19200), the code configures the magnetometer, using the specified baud rate, to work correctly with the BARREL DPU. Since my mag is already configured, I haven't been able to test this last feature very well.

  • zipped source code for UW gse, test flight version (from 30Sep09)
  • zipped executable and source code for magnetometer configuration