[Space] Tether string issue

Christopher Lincoln cclinco at gmail.com
Tue Apr 6 20:16:26 UTC 2010


Actually, we are already using paracord for the fail safe line.  It was that
thicker cord that ran from the payload bus strait up the antena to the
balloon.  We have about 50 feet or so of it left over from the launch.

Christopher

On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 1:01 PM, Christie Dudley <longobord at gmail.com> wrote:

> You know, paracord sound like it's made for the kinds of things we're
> doing.  Sounds like just the thing, if not this time, next time we run out
> of rope.  Dunno what Meredith has in mind, but I'm betting it'd be easier to
> find than the kite string she's looking at.
>
> Christie
> _______
> "We also briefly discussed having officers replaced by very small shell
> scripts." -- Noisebridge meeting notes 2008-06-17
>
> The outer bounds is only the beginning.
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/genriel/sets/72157623376093724/
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 12:03 PM, David Stainton <dstainton415 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Greetings,
>>
>> For the ephermerial project I procured a tarred braided
>> (non-rotational) thick twine from:
>>
>> Coast Marine
>> 398 Jefferson Street
>> San Francisco, CA 94133
>> (415) 673-1923
>>
>> However you may not need anything that heavy. I think the breaking
>> strength was around 900 pounds.
>> That is heavy stuff for such a breaking strength. These days I use
>> paracord for almost everything. It comes
>> in several different varieties. Paracord (parachute cord) has got a
>> core of straight fibers surrounded by a braided sheath. It's thicker
>> than kite string but thinner than the stuff I got from Coast Marine.
>> The kind I purchased from TAD Gear has a breaking strength of 550
>> pounds.
>>
>> I know for sure that you can get paracord spools (of 100 feet for about
>> $10) at:
>>
>> TAD Gear
>> 660 22nd St
>> San Francisco, CA 94107
>> (415) 318-8252
>>
>> But also it is probably sold at various hardware stores: call them first.
>>
>> I hope this helps!
>>
>> ~david
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 11:50 AM, Christie Dudley <longobord at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > I don't think super-thin is important.  In fact, I personally think it's
>> a
>> > detriment and it's a potential trip hazard problem that we'll have to
>> solve,
>> > although I think we should do that regardless of the string we get.
>> > The primary problem is we know the string's strength.  NASA likes these
>> > numbers.  We've already given them the ones from the kite string
>> Meredith
>> > found.  We would have gone with what we already had, if we could get
>> numbers
>> > on it for NASA, but nobody could come up with that.
>> > The secondary problem is every bit of the weight of the string will be
>> > adding to the payload.  I personally don't think we'll be high enough
>> that
>> > this'll be a problem, but it's not an insignificant concern.
>> > I really like that stuff that David got for Ephemerisle.  I've cc'd him
>> here
>> > so maybe he might be able to share with us where he got it and how much
>> it
>> > was.  IIRC, it was pretty pricey, but came on a big spool that we
>> shouldn't
>> > need.
>> > Christie
>> > _______
>> > "We also briefly discussed having officers replaced by very small shell
>> > scripts." -- Noisebridge meeting notes 2008-06-17
>> >
>> > The outer bounds is only the beginning.
>> > http://www.flickr.com/photos/genriel/sets/72157623376093724/
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 11:27 AM, Brian Choate <brian.choate at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Do we specifically want to have something that is very thin, almost
>> >> invisible to tether? If that is not super critical we have ~200 ft of
>> cord I
>> >> picked up to use as the main payload tether.
>> >>
>> >> B.
>> >>
>> >> On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 9:12 AM, Christie Dudley <longobord at gmail.com>
>> >> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> You might also ask some of the knot/boat enthusiasts.  You're likely
>> to
>> >>> get a lot more than you wanted to hear with advice, but they can
>> probably
>> >>> point you in the right direction.  I think Shannon is on this list,
>> but also
>> >>> David knows quite a lot about low-weight high-strength stuff and where
>> to
>> >>> get it.  The stuff he got for Ephemerisle might do quite well for this
>> >>> application.
>> >>> Christie
>> >>> _______
>> >>> "We also briefly discussed having officers replaced by very small
>> shell
>> >>> scripts." -- Noisebridge meeting notes 2008-06-17
>> >>>
>> >>> The outer bounds is only the beginning.
>> >>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/genriel/sets/72157623376093724/
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 12:31 AM, Michael C. Toren <mct at toren.net>
>> wrote:
>> >>>>
>> >>>> On Mon, Apr 05, 2010 at 11:25:00PM -0700, meredith scheff wrote:
>> >>>> > oh no!
>> >>>> > I just got an email from the kite string place that i ordered out
>> >>>> > tethering
>> >>>> > line from- they are out of stock.
>> >>>> > does anyone know any local kite string resources?
>> >>>>
>> >>>> High Line Kites in Berkeley is awesome:
>> >>>>
>> >>>>    http://www.highlinekites.com/visit_us.shtml
>> >>>>
>> >>>> You'll have to wait until Thursday to see him, though.  I'd recommend
>> >>>> giving him a call at his office number tomorrow, to confirm he'll
>> have
>> >>>> what you want, and see if he'll maybe let you come pick it up
>> earlier.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> -mct
>> >>>> _______________________________________________
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>> >>>> Space at lists.noisebridge.net
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>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> _______________________________________________
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>> >>>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>>
>
>
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