Ntellisonde Gyroc-like scale subject
 

Hello All,

Here is a very unusual scale subject (see: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1242204296...f6f14%7Ciid%3A1 ), the A.I.R. Airsonde Ntellisonde, which resembles the Estes--now made by Semroc--Gyroc helicopter-recovery model rocket kit (see: https://www.google.com/search?q=est...ent=gws-wiz%20). ). Also:

I remember seeing the Airsonde Ntellisonde weather balloon radiosondes in the 1970s--and possibly also in the 1980s. (Below, and in the next message below this one, I have posted 12 photographs of the Ntellisonde, which are from the above-linked Ebay listing for one.) The molded styrofoam Ntellisonde had two swept-back, "fin-rotor blades" much like those on the Gyroc. Another 'spinnersonde' of this kind, made either by another company, or as a different 'model' offered by the Ntellisonde's manufacturer, had very similar "fin-rotor blades," integrally-molded onto a hexagonal, blunt-tipped styrofoam body (which looked like a hexagonal prism quartz crystal).

I hope this material will be helpful.

Below are attached the 11th and 12th photographs of the A.I.R. Airsonde Ntellisonde helicopter-recovery meteorological sounding balloon radiosonde (other radiosondes use plastic or Tyvek--depending on the manufacturer--parachutes, which lower the radiosondes safely to the ground after their balloons burst at high altitudes).

I am not too very knowledgeable on these things, but I have never seen one shaped quite like that one. As a kid, I always wanted to find a ‘downed’ weather balloon/radio gear after it had fallen back to earth. Alas, never did.

Earl

The auto-rotation-braked radiosondes like the Ntellisonde weren't around for more than 15 - 20 years or so. It could have simply been a matter of cost, with the "cardboard or styrofoam box with internal pass-through airflow 2-dimensional venturi (like the F-15's air intakes)" radiosondes being cheaper to manufacture. The current Vaisala radiosondes (and their earlier models), and the Lockheed Martin and Space Vector ones that were once standard, are/were the simple boxes, lowered to Earth by fabric, plastic, or Tyvek parachutes after their balloons burst, and:

On Ebay, and from military and government surplus stores and mail order/online vendors, you can buy current (see: https://www.google.com/search?q=RS8...0&bih=789&dpr=1 ^and^ https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...osonde&_sacat=0 ) and earlier-model radiosondes (the Vaisala RS80-15GH GPS radiosonde https://www.ebay.com/itm/4009802642...8gAAOSwMmBV0zb8 was standard when I worked at Fairbanks International Airport, and is likely still in use). Those vendors also offer the sounding balloons and parachutes for them, as well as the similar but smaller 30 gram and 100 gram pibals (pilot balloons), and the 10 gram ceiling balloons (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceiling_balloon ). In today's mail, I received a Pawan (of India)-made, green 10 gram ceiling balloon, that I bought from a UK seller (see: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2555756520...AAOSwSD9eV8G k ); also:

The RS80-15GH GPS radiosonde (see: https://www.ebay.com/itm/4009802642...8gAAOSwMmBV0zb8 - I have one, and in September of 2008 the FAI RAOB--RAdiosonde OBservation--station crew let me help inflate and launch a weather balloon carrying an RS80-15H]) transmits at 403 MHz, and is powered by a water-activated battery. You would need a telemetry receiver to decode the data channels it transmits (temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity), but with just an ordinary scanner (preferably with a rotatable ferrite loopstick antenna, although the radio itself could be rotated to get the strongest signal; two such receivers a known distance apart would enable theodolite-like triangulation of the radiosonde's position), you could determine its position throughout the balloon's ascent and the parachute's descent.

Very interesting !

Not a true "Scale" item, since it was not rocket-powered.

But, worthy of some more "research"

Dave F.

A few more items . . .

Dave F.

Thank you! The prototypes for the "Outhouse" and "Grandma's Stove" scale model rockets (pictures of which are in the 1990 First Edition of Stuart Lodge's The Model Rocketry Handbook [the edition with an Ariane 1 scale model in closeup on its cover: https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Se...dge%2C%20Stuart ]) weren't rocket-powered either, but they placed highly in the contests in which they were entered. :-) Also:

The Ntellisonde ^does^ have a connection--although a rather tenuous one--with rocketry, by way of the rockoons (the Loki, Deacon, multi-stage Project Farside, JP Aerospace, Zero 2 Infinity Bloostar, and other--including recent, current, and planned--solid-propellant *and* liquid-propellant [such as Zero 2 Infinity's Bloostar] rockets). These rockets were/are lofted to near-space altitudes by meteorological balloons--sometimes multiple balloons per rocket, depending on the rocket's weight and its desired peak altitude--and by plastic film, Project Skyhook-type balloons, and:

Zero 2 Infinity (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_2_Infinity *and* https://www.zero2infinity.space/ ), the Spanish reusable-gondola near-space balloon flights (Elevate), suborbital rocket missions (Nanobloostar), and satellites delivery service (Bloostar) company, uses all-reusable--or recyclable--balloon and rocket flight hardware. (The natural rubber or neoprene meteorological balloons, and the large plastic film Project Skyhook-type balloons, can be used only once, but they can be recycled (this is already being done by NASA, which recovers all of the polyethylene plastic film balloons. PLUS:

The natural rubber and synthetic rubber meteorological balloons, which NASA, other nations' space agencies, militaries, and meteorological agencies launch all around the world (over 67,000 radiosonde-equipped weather balloons are launched yearly by the U.S. National Weather Service alone!--become part of the soil within just a few months after they are flown, if they aren't found afterward). The same thing happens to their cardboard box radiosonde instrument packages, their parachutes' shroud lines and parachute tie-on strings, and their parachutes' Tyvek canopies.

AH...so you collect weather balloons and/or their accessories too, eh? I've collected them--and radiosondes, pibal lighting units, and manuals, too (see: https://www.prc68.com/I/Warren-Knig...l#PIBAL_Lights*, and*https://home.csulb.edu/~mbrenner/lighting.htm )--for many years. Also:

Ceiling balloons (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceiling_balloon ) weigh 10 grams each, and their ascents are timed in order to determine the heights of cloud bases (overcast), and of layers of fog and of blowing snow. Ceiling balloons don't carry payloads, and:

Pibals (pilot balloons) don't usually carry payloads, either, although they can do so (see: https://home.csulb.edu/~mbrenner/balloon.htm , and https://radionerds.com/images/a/ae/...R_ETC._MET..pdf ), and they were--and are--tracked visually, with theodolites (like those used for tracking model rockets, see: https://www.google.com/search?q=pib...chrome&ie=UTF-8 ). As well:

Pibals can be--and sometimes are--used to carry instrumented radiosondes, when near-space altitudes are not required. When they are used in this way, the 100 gram pilot balloons are the most commonly-used ones. For the occasional night-time visual observations using pilot balloons, battery-powered pibal lighting units--usually using water-activated batteries, but sometimes utilizing two carbon stick/acid paste-chemistry UM3 (AA) batteries instead, powering 2.5 volt, 0.3 ampere flashlight bulbs--provide the necessary light; these lighting units are used with 30 gram (and sometimes 100 gram) pibals. Plus:

On pages 20, 21, and 22 of the book, War Department Technical Manual 11-2405, "Meteorological Balloons" (24 April 1944, *here* https://radionerds.com/images/a/ae/...R_ETC._MET..pdf ), there are illustrations of the carbon/acid AA battery--flashlight bulb (and the earlier candle lantern) pibal lighting units. In addition:

The radiosonde instrument packages (which are cardboard, or styrofoam, or occasionally plastic boxes, with internal "two-dimensional" airflow venturi ducts) contain temperature, barometric pressure, and humidity instruments. They are powered by water-activated batteries, and the instruments' data are transmitted to the ground by either 403 MHz or 1680 MHz radio transmitters. The radiosondes are carried by larger, natural rubber (or synthetic rubber--neoprene) sounding balloons, which vary in weight; the various manufacturers make them in different weight types, but in general, they have weight "spreads" like his:

Sounding Balloon Weights (in grams): 200, 300, 350, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, 1600, 2000, 3000, -AND-:

Below are links to information about current radiosondes; some are now also recoverable (see: https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/j...-13-00125.1.xml *and* https://www.google.com/search?q=gli...chrome&ie=UTF-8 ):


[1] https://windsond.com/sonde-reuse/

[2] https://www.google.com/search?q=Swe...sclient=gws-wiz

[3] https://www.google.com/search?q=rec...chrome&ie=UTF-8

[4] https://www.google.com/search?q=son...sclient=gws-wiz

[5] https://www.google.com/search?q=Swe...sclient=gws-wiz


I hope this information will be useful.

Nope, not at all . . . I just did a little "digging" - LOL !

Dave F.