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As per litium polymer batteries in the article you posted, read http://www.buchmann.ca/Article6-Page1.asp, This I thought was interesting, particularly the part about portability and best heat range for efficient operation.
Sorry I didnt get back sooner. Thanks for your input.
These are very interesting, I may have to check my sources. If you look at the following you'll see why I came to my conclusion, beside the fact that we were waitng for a finished prototype this last time. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/16/stratellite_launch/
Heres one article which states that a blimp would fly. The fact that the electronics were riding a helicopter came out after the fact. Btw I'm long on Gtel and do expect a good amout of time to pass before the product is usable, but I really would like to see some accurate news reports.
US broadband blimp test flight planned next month
By Tony Smith
Published Thursday 16th December 2004 11:13 GMT
Way back in September 1998, we reported on a plan to provide cities with blanket wireless data coverage using base-stations mounted on cheap aeroplane rather than expensive satellites.
The company behind the scheme, St. Louis, Missouri-based Angel Technologies, calls the system Halo, and has been quietly developing the system ever since the test flights it made in late 1998. So far it has yet to roll the service out commercially, though the company has managed to break a few world records for high-altitude flight.
Now it has a rival. Atlanta, Georgia-based Sanswire Networks will next month launch a base-station suspended beneath an 75m unmanned airship which will float around 20km (13 miles) up in the air, kept in place by ground-control and a GPS fix. Angel's Halo planes will fly at around 16km (10 miles).
Again, the idea is to provide users with a variety of mobile data services. Like Angel, Sanswire is pitching the scheme as a way of providing not only a cheaper service than satellite-based alternatives can offer, but one that yields a stronger signal, enabling smaller, lower power end-user equipment.
Of course, mast-mounted transmitters are better still on that score, but Angel and Sanswire can offer a much wider coverage from one aircraft than one tower can. They can also reach areas where it may be uneconomical to install masts, whether for geographical reasons, local objections or citing regulations.
Sanswire claims its 'stratellite' blimps will provide a coverage area of up to 300,000 square miles, as does Angel. Both companies are also alike in being unwilling to say when they will be able to offer commercial wireless services. To be fair, it could be some way off, and since many similarly grandiose ventures have missed targets and plans, they're probably right to be circumspect for now.
Having missed its original January 2004 launch target, UK broadband-by-balloon operation SkyLinc is also keen to keep whatever targets it now has private for the time being. ®
I've been looking for old pr. Do you remember the date for the helicopter test?
April 05, 2005
Toshiba’s Fast-Charging, Long Life Li-Ion Battery
Toshiba has developed a new fast-charging lithium-ion battery with an extended lifecycle that has significant potential for application in hybrid and full-electric vehicles.
According to the company, the prototype of the battery can recharge 80% of its energy capacity in only one minute, approximately 60 times faster than the typical lithium-ion batteries in wide use today, and will lose only 1% of its capacity after 1,000 cycles of discharging and recharging.
On those two criteria, the Toshiba battery meets the long-term specifications for advanced battery technology for vehicles set by the US Advanced Battery Consortium.
Toshiba Li-Ion vs. Select USABC Criteria
Parameter USABC Mid-term USABC Long-term Toshiba Li-Ion
Energy Density (Wh/l) 135 300 150–250
Fast Recharge (40%–80%) <15 min <15 min 80% in 1 min
Normal Recharge <6 hours 3–6 hours 10 minutes
Cycle life 600 1,000 1,000
Pragmatically, the speed and capacity of the recharge isn’t as major a factor for grid-connected plug-in recharging of the battery (which presumably would happen at night), as it is for the capture of energy from regenerative braking. (Although I suppose you could hypothesize a widespread infrastructure of electric recharging stations where drivers could queue for a quick jolt.)
The current crop of more slowly charging batteries let much of the converted kinetic braking energy go to waste—they just can’t capture the charge fast enough. To counter that, some hybrid and full EV applications use ultracapacitors as a means of burst capture and release. The US Advanced Battery Consortium in funding the development of ultracapacitors for use in hybrids for that purpose. (Earlier post.)
Although Toshiba did not release full performance specs for its new battery, the company is positioning it as nearly equivalent in terms of speed of recharge to capacitors. (Nothing said about the speed of discharge, which is the other critical aspect to ultracapacitors in electric vehicles.)
The energy density of the new battery is between is 150 to 250 Wh (Watt-hour)/liter, equal to the lower range of energy densities existing lithium ion batteries have, according to a report by EE Times. Ni-MH batteries have lower energy densities.
The battery’s voltage, which Toshiba did not specifically disclose, is lower than the 3.6 volts of present lithium ion batteries. The prototype has a capacity of 600mAh and measures 8mm thick, 62mm high and 35mm deep.
A description of the technology comes from the EE Times report:
The battery employs a cobalt-based anode and a non-carbon material cathode in place of carbon material that is used for conventional lithium ion batteries, but Toshiba calls it a lithium ion battery because the electric charge movement depends on lithium ion.
Toshiba achieved the breakthrough by using nanoparticles of several hundred nanometers coated uniformly on the negative electrode and newly developed electrolytic solution. This stable formulation does not react with lithium ions at the cathode in a manner that would lower the battery’s cycle time. The electrolytic solution and nanoparticles enable large number of lithium ions move quickly to the cathode and store in the particles in recharging mode.
Now Toshiba just has to figure out how to scale it and manufacture it. That latter may be complicated by Toshiba’s closing its Li-Ion battery subsidiary last year and selling the plants to Sanyo. Toshiba plans to produce the battery in its fiscal 2006 (ending March 2007).
April 05, 2005 in Batteries, Electric (Battery), Hybrids, Plug-ins / Permalink
(I wonder if there is a way to apply these to the stratellite?)
Tues was not a disappointment for the people that took atvantage of the previous run up.
sorry, no comment.
If all you are basing your judgements on is a paragraph or two that pop up as
as "company news" you may be in the wrong game. I've looked at the pictures and they show the progress that I expected. I don't know who is writing the PR for Globetel but I do take it with a grain of salt.
Perhaps you are trying to instill ill will about the product so you can get in at a lower price.
Huff has lousy PR people. The same thing happened when they tested the stratelite back last year. We expected the blimp to fly and all we got was a electronics test on a helicopter.
Globeltel needs to get a reporting staff that knows how to spin information properly. After all, we all know how long it will take to design and fly something of this caliber and it isn't five months. In the mean time the company is doing well in it's other endevors.
If the "C5 Galaxy" is still in use, the prototype stratelite may fit in one of those. They have a cargo capacity of a football arena.
I want more pictures ......dagnabit
It was 72 before the earnings, look at the company history and keep watching.
TIBCO Software Inc. is the leading independent business integration software company in the world, demonstrated by market share and analyst reports. In addition, TIBCO is a leading enabler of Real-Time Business, helping companies become more cost-effective, more agile and more efficient. TIBCO has delivered the value of Real-Time Business, what TIBCO calls The Power of Now(R), to over 2,000 customers around the world and in a wide variety of industries. For more information on TIBCO's proven enterprise backbone, business integration, business process management, and business optimization solutions, TIBCO can be reached at +1 650-846-1000 or on the Web at http://www.tibco.com/. TIBCO is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA.
Hi all, posted before, but I am a newbie. What does that flashing red box with the price position on the java chart mean?
Also, on the level two chart, what do the up and down red and green arrows near the bid and ask columns mean? Thanks all for your excellant input.
I think the drift tolerances could only affect the fringe areas if there isnt an overlaping footprint from another strat.
Has anyone seen anymore pictures of constrution?
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
Houston, Texas 77058
Biographical Data
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RICHARD A. SEARFOSS (COLONEL, USAF, RET.)
NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)
PERSONAL DATA: Born June 5, 1956, in Mount Clemens, Michigan, but considers Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to be his hometown. Married; three children. He enjoys running, soccer, radio-controlled model aircraft, Scouting, backpacking, and classical music.
EDUCATION: Graduated from Portsmouth Senior High School, Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1974; received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the USAF Academy in 1978, and a master of science degree in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology on a National Science Foundation Fellowship in 1979. USAF Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, and Air War College.
ORGANIZATIONS: Association of Space Explorers, National Eagle Scout Association, Air Force Association, Academy of Model Aeronautics.
SPECIAL HONORS: Awarded the Harmon, Fairchild, Price and Tober Awards (top overall, academic, engineering, and aeronautical engineering graduate), United States Air Force Academy Class of 1978. Air Force Aero Propulsion Laboratory Excellence in Turbine Engine Design award. USAF Squadron Officer's School Commandant's Trophy as top graduate. Distinguished graduate, USAF Fighter Weapons School. Named the Tactical Air Command F-111 Instructor Pilot of the Year, 1985. Selected for Outstanding Young Men of America, 1987. Recipient of the Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, NASA Spaceflight Medal (3), NASA Exceptional Service Medal, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, and Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross.
EXPERIENCE: Searfoss graduated in 1980 from Undergraduate Pilot Training at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. From 1981-1984, he flew the F-111F operationally at RAF Lakenheath, England, followed by a tour at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, where he was an F-111A instructor pilot and weapons officer until 1987. In 1988 he attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, Patuxent River, Maryland, as a USAF exchange officer. He was a flight instructor at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California, when selected for the astronaut program.
He has logged over 5,000 hours flying time in 56 different types of aircraft and over 939 hours in space. He also holds FAA Airline Transport Pilot, glider, and flight instructor ratings.
NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected by NASA in January 1990, Searfoss became an astronaut in July 1991. Initially assigned to the Astronaut Office Mission Support Branch, Searfoss was part of a team responsible for crew ingress/strap-in prior to launch and crew egress after landing. He was subsequently assigned to flight software verification in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL). Additionally, he served as the Astronaut Office representative for both flight crew procedures and Shuttle computer software development. He also served as the Astronaut Office Vehicle System and Operations Branch Chief, leading a team of several astronauts and support engineers working on Shuttle and International Space Station systems development, rendezvous and landing/rollout operations, and advanced projects initiatives. A veteran of three space flights, Searfoss has logged over 39 days in space. He served as pilot on STS-58 (October 18 to November 1, 1993) and STS-76 (March 22-31, 1996), and was the mission commander on STS-90 (April 17, to May 3, 1998). Searfoss retired from the Air Force and left NASA in 1998. For the next few years he worked in private industry and, more recently, was a research test pilot at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center. In February 2003, Searfoss left Dryden to pursue private business interests.
SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: Searfoss served as STS-58 pilot on the seven-person life science research mission aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, launching from the Kennedy Space Center on October 18, 1993, and landing at Edwards Air Force Base on November 1, 1993. The crew performed neurovestibular, cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary, metabolic, and musculoskeletal medical experiments on themselves and 48 rats, expanding our knowledge of human and animal physiology both on earth and in space flight. In addition, the crew performed 16 engineering tests aboard the Orbiter Columbia and 20 Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Project experiments. The mission was accomplished in 225 orbits of the Earth.
Launching March 22, 1996, Searfoss flew his second mission as pilot of STS-76 aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. During this 9-day mission the STS-76 crew performed the third docking of an American spacecraft with the Russian space station Mir. In support of a joint U.S./Russian program, the crew transported to Mir nearly two tons of water, food, supplies, and scientific equipment, as well as U.S. Astronaut Shannon Lucid to begin her six-month stay in space. STS-76 included the first ever spacewalk on a combined Space Shuttle-Space Station complex. The flight crew also conducted scientific investigations, including European Space Agency sponsored biology experiments, the Kidsat earth observations project, and several engineering flight tests. Completed in 145 orbits, STS-76 landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on March 31, 1996.
Searfoss commanded a seven person crew on the STS-90 Neurolab mission which launched on April 17, 1998. During the 16-day Spacelab flight the crew served as both experiment subjects and operators for 26 individual life science experiments focusing on the effects of microgravity on the brain and nervous system. STS-90 was the last and most complex of the twenty-five Spacelab missions NASA has flown. Neurolab's scientific results will have broad applicability both in preparing for future long duration human space missions and in clinical applications on Earth. Completed in 256 orbits, STS-90 landed at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on May 3, 1998.
FEBRUARY 2003
"The Flying wing" appeared on the "Discovery" channel a few months ago. Seems to me it wouldn't be as stable as the stratelite. Perhaps that is why NASA is interested.
I do 36,000 miles a year in my Toyota, no problem.
Thanks for the info alminde
Did anyone else see the mpeg that was on the Sanswire website just about the time Gtel picked them up. It was a huge, baseball shaped balloon with motors on it. It also had "Sanswire" written on the side of it and it was shown flying. Prototype I guess. The mpeg dissappeared shortly after that. Just wondering what that was about.
Nasa has got an airplane also. Saw it on Discovery Science
It's gotta cost a fortune to keep an airplane in the air all the time, a blimp is the way to go, it's much more stable and less prone to falling out of the sky.
I never take advice from people who pass judgement on ones intelligence.
I wouldnt mind If Nextel et al, would license the Stratelite from Sanswire. Much cheaper then building your own and sending them up. It would mean clean profit without much overhead.
Perhaps my timing stinks but I did think the outcome to my question about (patent) would be positive. I just didn't know how to find the information. Thanks all for your input. I will sleep better tonight.
Does anyone know if GTEL holds the patent for the stratelite or at least a patent for concept of a stratelite?
Technolgy wise, this isn't a big deal. If an additional engine or whatever has to be added for stability it shouldn't be much of a problem. Computer models of scenarios of stratispheric conditions exist and can be used to design the product, if they haven't been used already. Just look at a good weather report sometime.
Modifications can be made even before its sent up for test. It will fly. Buddies, soon our worst worry will be whose yacht to hang out on and is the caviar in season.
I'm staying for the millions, anyhing less wont make a differance
You just got to read between the lines Squ1d. If they really annoy you just edit them out.
For what it's worth, my neighbor engineers for ATT.
He said that his company was looking to put a dirigable in the sky In Bagdad for cellphone communications. He said the blimp would be tethered for grounding and would fly at 3000 feet. His worry was that the enemy could shoot in down easily with a heat seeking missile and that a tether would be impractical. I showed him Sanswires website. He seemed interested and said he would send a memo around to the other engineers at the firm. Don't hold your breath, though you never know what could become of this. I've been reading your posts for about two months now. It's nice to read something sensible for a change.
Look at GTEL (symb), Stratelite's by Sanswire. They make communications platforms for HDTV, line of site cell phone communicatons, wireless broadband all with stratelites not satellites.The site can explain it better. Company is also in other telecommunications bussiness. About .085 now
http://www.stratellite.net/