A project to attempt high altitude imaging, run by Nigel Smart & Antoine Karukchi located in Cardiff, South Wales.

A.T.S-1 will be the test launch / platform for the flight computer and associated hardware and to gain experience in launching and tracking of payloads.

A.T.S-1 will launch no earlier than March 2011.

Currently A.T.S-1 Consists of :

Flight Computer - Arduino Mega
GPS Unit - Lassen Iq + Antenae
Radio Transmitter - Radiometrix NTX2 434.650mhz
GSM Backup - Sony Ericsson T68i Mobile Phone
Data Logging - Sparkfun SDCard Shield SEE NOTES SECTION
Temperature Sensors - LM335Z (Internal), DS18B20+ (External)
Payload Container - EPS Box from Ebay
Power - 8 x Energizer Lithium Batteries as recommended by Tim
Radio Reciever - Yaesu ft790r
Aerials - 10 element Yagi

Yet to Aquire :

(Ebay auction!)
Whip
Balloon - Seems to be a shortage of Totex balloons at the moment? :(
Helium - Will order from BOC
Parachute - Located a good store online, will order once we decide on size
Braided Nylon Cord - Not decided on cord diameter yet, 1.4mm ?


As A.T.S-1 is a test flight and a checkout of hardware and software, there will be no cameras installed, lots of work to be done on code, guys in #highaltitude have been an amazing source of information and inspiration, project page will be updated as often as possible.

It appears that using the Arduino Mega 2560 is slightly more problematic for someone who is new to electronics, so I shall be posting notes here that have helped me find my way with the Mega2560.

Using the Sparkfun MicroSD Card shield with the Arduino Mega 2560 Sparkfun MicroSD Shield

I thought this MicroSD shield was simply plug and play, but it appears not to be the case, and due to some design changes on the Arduino Mega 2560 the shield will not work without a little extra work, so thanks to a post on the SF site, here is a solution to anyone encountering a problem with the Arduino Mega 2560 & the MicroSD Shield.

You *can* get this shield to work with the Arduino Mega. For those who have tried and failed, here is how. You do not need to change anything software-wise.

The SPI pins for Arduino Mega are located elsewhere (pin 50-53 instead of 10-13).

Simply bend out pins 10, 11, 12 and 13 on the shield so that they do not go into the Mega.
Stick the shield in.
Put a jumper wire in the headers of pin 10-13 and route them as follows:

Shield pin 10 –> Mega pin 53
Shield pin 11 –> Mega pin 51
Shield pin 12 –> Mega pin 50
Shield pin 13 –> Mega pin 52

This applies to all SPI shields.

Congratulations, you just saved youself a real headache! the software & code on the SF product page for the MicroSD Shield is very helpful, do read it!