N4BWR - Amateur Radio and Emergency Communications

2020 WGARS Pico Balloon Launch

Details

Category: Balloons

Written by Blake Raab (N4BWR)

This event has been canceled due to weather until a date yet to be determined. Watch this space for updates

  Once again, the West Georgia Amateur Radio Society is planning to launch a pico balloon. A pico balloon is one that can travel thousands of miles, and even around the world, with a very small payload that transmits the balloon's location. Ours will be using WSPR on 20 meters.

One major difference between the upcoming flight and the last one is that we'll be using an SBS-13 balloon from Scientific Balloon Solutions instead of a mylar party balloon. The major benefit is that this is a super pressure balloon designed to last longer. I have recently read of other flights of this type that made four laps around the earth.

Another difference is that we will be using hydrogen. This will allow us to achieve the same amount of lift with a lower gas volume. This will put less of a strain on the balloon. 

Launch is scheduled for the morning of March 14th, but weather forecasts are not looking good. We'll have to see what happens as the date gets closer.