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Launch HN: Sorcerer (YC S24) – Weather balloons that collect more data

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Launch HN: Sorcerer (YC S24) – Weather balloons that collect more data

#51

Post by mbokinala »

tndl wrote: post #31
mbokinala wrote: post #19

Congrats on the launch! Seeing this reminded me of building and launching a high-altitude weather balloon with some buddies back in high school - one of the coolest projects I've gotten to work on. If it's not proprietary, I'd love to know - how do you "steer" vertically between different wind layers to move in the direction you want to go? Can't wait to see where you guys take this!

We think balloons are pretty cool too! So I can't get into exactly how we do our altitude control, but the Google Loon project has a really great explanation of how they made their (very big) balloons go up and down: https://x.company/projects/loon/ Loon made all of their research public after they shut down, and we're obviously heavily inspired by their work. Our systems use a lot of the tech they pioneered, just on…

Awesome, thanks for sharing!

Re: Launch HN: Sorcerer (YC S24) – Weather balloons that collect more data

#52

Post by tndl »

lormayna wrote: post #48
tndl wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! Let me know if you want to chase ours sometime.

Yes, this would be really interesting! Are they using VHF frequencies as the actual radiosondes (Vaisala, etc.)?

We do all comms via satellite, including the current GPS location, no comms over VHF. I'm curious how you're tracking down a traditional radiosonde though, do you actively chase while it's in the air and then use visual reference as it comes down?

Re: Launch HN: Sorcerer (YC S24) – Weather balloons that collect more data

#54

Post by OhMeadhbh »

Cool Stuff. Sounds like you're following your dreams and doing something that needs doing.

It would be very cool if you could do an open house for bay area geeks to come and just ooh and ahh at the gadgetry. Even a virtual open house would be cool. Something less than a full demo, and more focused on the story behind the gestation and launch of the project (and then a demo.)

Re: Launch HN: Sorcerer (YC S24) – Weather balloons that collect more data

#56

Post by aflukasz »

> In 1981, weather disasters caused $3.5 billion in damages in the United States. In 2023, that number was $94.9 billion (https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/time-series).

Does that surprise someone? I think I would not have guessed this growth to be on such a scale. The chart suggests that severe storms are the main culprit.

Re: Launch HN: Sorcerer (YC S24) – Weather balloons that collect more data

#57

Post by lormayna »

tndl wrote: post #52
lormayna wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this would be really interesting! Are they using VHF frequencies as the actual radiosondes (Vaisala, etc.)?

We do all comms via satellite, including the current GPS location, no comms over VHF. I'm curious how you're tracking down a traditional radiosonde though, do you actively chase while it's in the air and then use visual reference as it comes down?

I am not really into tracking radiosondes while they are in air. What I do, is like a radio "fox-hunting" when they come back on the surface, using a directive antenna.

Re: Launch HN: Sorcerer (YC S24) – Weather balloons that collect more data

#58

Post by samstave »

tndl wrote: post #47
mnky9800n wrote: post #39

How many balloons do you have currently deployed? Do you have a data API for the balloons?

We've deployed a few dozen, and we don't have a public API right now but send me and email: austin@sorcerer.earth

May you please deploy whatever-camera (gopro) to these with a 1-fps connector:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41173161

Such that we can see them?

---

As others mentioned, this is a fantastic launch.

I'd love to have one permanently teathered to a place of my choise using a fiber-optic+carbon/kevlar thread to hold it in place with data coming down the fiber, and have the camera and pico compute data and radios powered by solar.

Re: Launch HN: Sorcerer (YC S24) – Weather balloons that collect more data

#59

Post by tndl »

OhMeadhbh wrote: post #54

Cool Stuff. Sounds like you're following your dreams and doing something that needs doing. It would be very cool if you could do an open house for bay area geeks to come and just ooh and ahh at the gadgetry. Even a virtual open house would be cool. Something less than a full demo, and more focused on the story behind the gestation and launch of the project (and then a demo.)

For sure, we'd love to do some launches with some local folks. We've done launches with a few different companies in SF at their offices too, send me an email and we can figure something out: austin@sorcerer.earth
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