June 2021 Weather Balloon Launch
- Details
- Written by: Blake Raab (N4BWR)
- Category: Balloons
POSTPONED - Next available launch date is 7/10/2021
It's that time of year again. The West Georgia Amateur Radio Society will be launching a weather balloon on June 19th from the VFW Fairgrounds in Carrollton. We will plan to meet at 9 AM to begin preparation and launch whenever we are ready.
The balloon will carry a device transmitting APRS data so we can track its position and altitude in real time. Because it will be received by stations that can then port the data to the APRS-IS network, you can watch the balloon's progress along with us at this link. It will also carry a crossband repeater so we can communicate with each other through the balloon as it flies. It's always a good idea to get your antenna as high as possible for the best range. How about 20 miles high? :)
Before we launch, we will have a very good idea of what the balloon's specific path will be on that day. We obtain this information by using the Cambridge University Space Flight Predictor. We will have a briefing in the morning and then the chase will begin. Although weird weather patterns have been making the predictions sporadic, I believe the balloon will land in Alabama.
ICS-205 Incident Radio Communications Plan
Follow the West Georgia Amateur Radio Society on Facebook for more information and updates.
Launch Day August 2020
- Details
- Written by: Blake Raab (N4BWR)
- Category: Balloons
Launch day is here! We will be meeting at 9 AM at the VFW Fairgrounds (1625 Bankhead Highway, Carrollton GA). We plan to launch around 10, or whenever everything is ready. See this link for the current flight prediction. Keep in mind that varying ascent or descent rates will stretch or compress that part of the path, but the general shape of the flight prediction is what to watch. Take a look at the predicted burst point and landing site. The distance between them is 3.035 miles, and the heading from burst to landing is 230.58 degrees. Once we know the actual burst point, we can get very close to the landing site before it lands by using this tool to calculate that point based on distance and heading.
We will begin communications on the W4FWD repeater (146.640, negative offset, 131.8 hertz tone), but will quickly switch to the crossband repeater on the balloon (Uplink: 145.600, Downlink: 445.450, 131.8 hertz tone on both). We may use the balloon uplink frequency for simplex communications on the ground at the landing area. The N4THM repeater is also a good alternative (146.865, negative offset, 131.8 hertz tone).
You can track the balloon on aprs.fi here. In that link, I've set the track tail length to three hours to cover the whole flight. If you would like a way to track the balloon alongside the prediction on your mobile device, you can click here, save the KMZ file to your device, and open it in the Google Earth app.
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