- Introductory/Educational
- Surface
- Tethered
- Free-Flying
Our introductory and educational devices are entry-level systems which can be used on their own or as introductions to the capabilities of Anasphere.s more advanced systems. These devices are suitable for students in middle school through undergraduate college, and are also suitable for special-needs schools.
We use these devices as part of teacher-training workshops to familiarize teachers with the basic capabilities of the AnaSonde radiosondes. We have found that teachers often find uses for this simple hardware; as a result, we are developing associated experiments to help teachers take full advantage of the capabilities of these devices.
Last but not least, these are our most inexpensive products. However, we do not sacrifice performance or capability to achieve this low cost - these devices have all been derived from and share components with our more capable systems.
The AnaSonde Blink-ETM and Buzz-ETM are variants of the basic AnaSonde-ETM, Anasphere's original low-cost radiosonde for making measurements in the lower atmosphere. The Blink-E and Buzz-E are very low-cost options optimized for use in the classroom and student laboratory. They also provide an excellent introduction to the fundamental features and capabilities of the AnaSonde radiosondes, without requiring the user to have any special skill or additional materials - the kit and a 9-volt battery are all you need to start making measurements and entering the world of AnaSondes!
The Blink-E and Buzz-E are both based on a standard AnaSonde-E radiosonde circuit board. Each type measures temperature using an on-board temperature sensor. An on-board microcontroller takes the raw measurement from the sensor and converts it to a temperature in degrees Celsius. This number is then presented to the user via an on-board LED (Blink-E and Buzz-E) and can also be presented via an on-board speaker (Buzz-E only). The number is presented as a series of blinks or tones. The numbers 1-9 are simply presented as the corresponding number of blinks or buzzes; a special tone indicates the digit zero, and another special tone indicates a negative sign for temperatures below zero.
This method of data presentation is useful in several ways. First, for those intending to move on to more advanced versions of AnaSondes, this technique provides an introduction to how the AnaSondes can transmit data over radios. It also provides an introduction to how numbers are presented by audio methods, and it is an easy step to go from listening to the data from a Buzz-E to listening to the Morse code transmissions from the more advanced AnaSondes.
The data presentation methods are also of use in special-needs classrooms for blind or deaf students. Yes, even blind students have built AnaSondes from specially modified kits!