[OZAPRS] Balloon

[Craig Turner]

Hi All,

Hopefully on Friday of this week myself and a friend will be launching a 
solar hot air balloon called Icarus One.

The balloon is a Tetrahedron constructed out of garbage bags capable of 
lifting a bit over 3kg. The balloon uses the suns rays to heat the 
interior air of the balloon, which generates lift. The balloon has been 
constructed by a friend of mine, Alistair Dickie.

I have constructed the payload, which predominantly consists of a Maxon 
VHF data radio, tiny track and GPS. The radio is set to 145.175 and will 
beacon as VK1HCT-11

The radio is currently set at its low power setting (which is below 2 
watts) and the beacon interval is 3 minutes using a path of WIDE2-2. I 
have set an alternate path every 2nd beacon of WIDE3-3, but am open to 
suggestions on this. I will adjust this according to the predictions for 
the prevailing winds prior to launch, dependant on the APRS digipeater 
'density' over its predicted flight path.

The launch will be somewhere on the north side of Canberra and is 
currently being coordinated with regard to prevailing winds, CASA NOTAM 
requirements etc.

I plan on sending out an APRS object for the launch site and the 'chase' 
vehicle will be VK1HCT-9.

I plan on having a listening watch on the national FM VHF simplex call 
channel and HF, probably 40 meters(7045mhz?), and would be interested in 
hearing from anyone who happens to be in their shack and is picking it 
up, either direct or via the APRS-IS.

The balloon envelope design page is

http://www.alistairdickie.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogc
ategory&id=14&Itemid=27

And the APRS/Payload side is at:

http://www.craigturner.id.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&
Itemid=55

Feedback on all of the above would be welcome.

Regards
Craig
VK1HCT


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