Development of a VHF/UHF-Band Video-Streaming Payload for Near-Space Operation and Lessons Learned

Sara Jones; Zachary Owen Dickinson; Andrew Donald Snowdy; Nicholas B Conklin; Wookwon Lee

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Conference: 2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference
Location: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Publication Date: March 22, 2024
Start Date: March 22, 2024
End Date: March 23, 2024
Page Count: 15
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--45613
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/45613
Download Count: 18

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Zachary Dickinson is a Cyber engineering student at Gannon University, Erie, PA, and expected to graduate in May 2024. His areas of research interests include embedded systems and hardware security.

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Andrew Donald Snowdy

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Nicholas B Conklin Gannon University

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Nicholas B. Conklin received a B.S. in applied physics from Grove City College in 2001, and a Ph.D. in physics from Penn State University in 2009. He is currently an associate professor and chair of the Physics Department at Gannon University, Erie, PA.

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Wookwon Lee Gannon University

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Wookwon Lee, P.E. received the B.S. degree in electronic engineering from Inha University, Korea, in 1985, and the M.S. and D.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering from the George Washington University, Washington, DC, in 1992 and 1995, respectively. He is currently a full professor in the Department of Electrical and Cyber Engineering at Gannon University, Erie, PA. Prior to joining Gannon in 2007, he had been involved in various research and development projects in industry and academia for more than 15 years.

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Abstract

Over the past few years, we have been developing a functional prototype of a real-time, multi-window video streaming system employing several Raspberry Pis and a pair of all-standard VHF/UHF/L-band modulator and demodulator. Our primary motivation for this effort stemmed from the 2017 total solar eclipse balloon flight. During the August 2017 total solar eclipse, we successfully conducted an experiment for real-time video streaming with four Raspberry Pis and four Pi cameras via a single wireless link between a pair of 5.8 GHz Rocket M5 modems. The real-time video streaming lasted about 7 minutes in flight before the radio connection was lost between the payload and the ground station which was stationed at the balloon launch site. From this experience, we desired to substantially extend the radio range between the payload and the fixed ground station to extend the time duration of video streaming between them. As a key enabler for this desire, we found a pair of VHF/UHF-band modems that could support the required data rates for video streaming. In our initial theoretical estimate, since the radio range is inversely proportional to the square of the carrier frequency, this new modem operating at the VHF/UHF bands would substantially extend the radio range for the same transmit power used by the 5.8 GHz Rocket M5 modems.

While our development and functional testing had been performed in a lab setting with a coaxial cable connecting the modulator and demodulator, we desired to test this video streaming system over a VHF/UHF spectrum band for application to future high-altitude balloon flights, including one for the 2024 total solar eclipse. With our goals set 1) to be able to test functionality in the extreme weather conditions of high-altitude ballooning and 2) to test the radio range at a VHF/UHF band utilizing an 8 MHz bandwidth for real-time video streaming, substantial additional efforts were made to convert what was for terrestrial operations to a battery-powered science payload that could properly operate in extreme weather conditions such as high-altitude balloon flights cruising near space.

This paper describes our development efforts and lessons learned, and is organized as follows. Section 2 provides an overview of our payload and key technical details of the payload subsystems under the constraints of extreme weather conditions and limited supply power. Section 3 provides our analysis of experimental data collected during a thermal and vacuum testing at the CSBF lab. In Section 4, our experience and lessons learned from our participation in the HASP 2023 balloon launch and data collection. Concluding remarks are provided in Section 5.

Citation
Format

Jones, S., & Dickinson, Z. O., & Snowdy, A. D., & Conklin, N. B., & Lee, W. (2024, March), Development of a VHF/UHF-Band Video-Streaming Payload for Near-Space Operation and Lessons Learned Paper presented at 2024 ASEE North Central Section Conference, Kalamazoo, Michigan. 10.18260/1-2--45613

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - Over the past few years, we have been developing a functional prototype of a real-time, multi-window video streaming system employing several Raspberry Pis and a pair of all-standard VHF/UHF/L-band modulator and demodulator. Our primary motivation for this effort stemmed from the 2017 total solar eclipse balloon flight. During the August 2017 total solar eclipse, we successfully conducted an experiment for real-time video streaming with four Raspberry Pis and four Pi cameras via a single wireless link between a pair of 5.8 GHz Rocket M5 modems. The real-time video streaming lasted about 7 minutes in flight before the radio connection was lost between the payload and the ground station which was stationed at the balloon launch site. From this experience, we desired to substantially extend the radio range between the payload and the fixed ground station to extend the time duration of video streaming between them. As a key enabler for this desire, we found a pair of VHF/UHF-band modems that could support the required data rates for video streaming. In our initial theoretical estimate, since the radio range is inversely proportional to the square of the carrier frequency, this new modem operating at the VHF/UHF bands would substantially extend the radio range for the same transmit power used by the 5.8 GHz Rocket M5 modems.

While our development and functional testing had been performed in a lab setting with a coaxial cable connecting the modulator and demodulator, we desired to test this video streaming system over a VHF/UHF spectrum band for application to future high-altitude balloon flights, including one for the 2024 total solar eclipse. With our goals set 1) to be able to test functionality in the extreme weather conditions of high-altitude ballooning and 2) to test the radio range at a VHF/UHF band utilizing an 8 MHz bandwidth for real-time video streaming, substantial additional efforts were made to convert what was for terrestrial operations to a battery-powered science payload that could properly operate in extreme weather conditions such as high-altitude balloon flights cruising near space.

This paper describes our development efforts and lessons learned, and is organized as follows. Section 2 provides an overview of our payload and key technical details of the payload subsystems under the constraints of extreme weather conditions and limited supply power. Section 3 provides our analysis of experimental data collected during a thermal and vacuum testing at the CSBF lab. In Section 4, our experience and lessons learned from our participation in the HASP 2023 balloon launch and data collection. Concluding remarks are provided in Section 5.

AU  - Sara Jones
AU  - Zachary Owen Dickinson
AU  - Andrew Donald Snowdy
AU  - Nicholas B Conklin
AU  - Wookwon Lee
CY  - Kalamazoo, Michigan
DA  - 2024/03/22
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Development of a VHF/UHF-Band Video-Streaming Payload for Near-Space Operation and Lessons Learned
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/45613
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--45613
ER  -