PICO balloon Mel-Syd-Sth Pacific

[VK2HRX]

By chance I just spotted a very strong and clear signal on the waterfall in dl-fldigi. Was centred around 789. I didn't decode it but am waiting to see if it appears again.

[VK3YT]

Hi all,

Last known location was at 1:14am near Moe, speed was 35km/h, heading East at 113 degree
Last heard packet was at 5:16am.

Assume it would pick up some speed as it moved north, speed was about 50km/h
in 4H, it would cover a distance of 200km.

The prediction this round was quite inaccurate, it went east much more than it should have.

I think it has gone out of range, and is probably at sea some where.

It doesn't look that the balloon will make it to Sydney this time, sorry guys!

The GPS appears to be working intermittently.
The payload is programmed to change APRS frequency using Geofencing, and the battery will last a long time, so there is a good chance we might hear from it again. Will regularly check on VK3YT-11 callsign for the next two weeks.

Thanks guys for setting up, will do the next one soon!
And it will be weekend, it is just too much work during weekdays.

Regards
Andy

[VK2FAK]

Hi all.....

It did rain in Sydney overnight....is this thing waterproof...

Andy. looking at those APRS packets I would not be to confident it was accurate....

Crompton, you should have copied that signal again by now if it was the right one.......but who knows where this Balloon is...as Andy said it is possible it went out to sea.....but then again...

was anyone tracking using Thor16...?

John

[VK2JDH]

I think it has been discussed before but...

What about having a 30m aprs tx on these long overwater flights?
extra weight prob is a issue.

It could TX every hour with a few watts to save power and have a trailing wire antenna.

[VK2HRX]

By chance I just spotted a very strong and clear signal on the waterfall in dl-fldigi. Was centred around 789. I didn't decode it but am waiting to see if it appears again.

I'm using an IC910H. It was the other VFO from a local repeater ident that created the the waterfall signal. I've just got another Signalink, must set it up on the IC910H ready for Andy's next one.

I spoke to an international pilot about these balloons the other day, he reckons you are mad! Reckons ATC would likely see them on primary radar but consider them very localised weather events

[VK3YT]

Hi guys,
HF is a good idea, but this is a party balloon so the max viable lift is probably 20g.
Compton, does the pilot know this is a party balloon? There would be hundreds of them flying around untracked.
Regards
Andy

[VK2HRX]

Compton, does the pilot know this is a party balloon? There would be hundreds of them flying around untracked.
Regards
Andy

Yep, we had a good chat about them. He used to have a VK2 call so understands it a bit.

[VK2FAK]

Hi all...

I would think the balloon is to small to provide a signal back to ATC, unless it is flying very close to an airport..

as for the HF....it was tried by one of the guys on a number of bands....I remember picking up a good signal while it was being tested on the ground down in Vic....I picked it up on Thor4 though, not packet, not sure they have tried HF packet, it is a bit slower than VHF packet....300 baud compared to 1200 baud...

I have not written this balloon off just yet....

And lest not forget the BOM launches balloons all the time...

John

[VK2HRX]

Hi all.................

I would think the balloon is to small to provide a signal back to ATC, unless it is flying very close to an airport.John

Yes, would need to be in range of primary radar to see it. Such as over the top of Sydney's Kingsford Smith airport.

[VK2JDH]

Hi guys,
HF is a good idea, but this is a party balloon so the max viable lift is probably 20g.

Andy

OK.

[VK3YT]

Hi all...
as for the HF....it was tried by one of the guys on a number of bands....I remember picking up a good signal while it was being tested on the ground down in Vic....I picked it up on Thor4 though, not packet, not sure they have tried HF packet, it is a bit slower than VHF packet....300 baud compared to 1200 baud...
John

Yes John it was me and the guys I used to do HAB with! it was a good test for JT65, JT9, WSPR, THOR4 on 20m, 40m and 30m. Didn't do APRS on HF, as that wasn't seen as practical on HF with 25mW.

We had good telemetry reception from Perth, and WSPR from the Pacific a few thousand kms away.

It was on a proper weather balloon though, that could take much more weight (and required lots more works for preparation/regulations) than a party balloon.

Andy