[aprssig] N1VG-11 9600 baud balloon aloft

[Scott Miller]

It was one of these:

http://www.argentdata.com/catalog/images/T3-HAB.jpg

It's got a 650 mAh LiPO battery - overkill, but it's all I had on hand. 
  Saturday's flight used an SMA whip antenna rather than stripped coax.

For insulation this time I used 1" EPS foam sheet on both sides.  Worked 
*much* better than the pipe insulation I used last time.

Reception was strong 60 miles away with the transmitter putting out 1/2 
watt.

I got the 350 gram balloon more than half filled and discovered it was 
leaking.  Not surprising, since those balloons weren't new when a friend 
hauled them out of a dumpster in Baghdad several years ago.  This is the 
first one I'd ever tried to launch.  A few others got filled with 
oxyacetylene out in the desert and met a more dramatic end.

I did manage to transfer most of the helium into the 1000 gram balloon. 
  It took some juggling to get all of this done solo, without having 
laid out everything in advance, but fortunately it's way easier to 
handle balloons inside a warehouse than out in a field.

Scott
N1VG

On 4/5/2014 12:31 PM, Samúel Úlfr Þór Guðjónsson wrote:
> Cool!
> Here's a link on aprs.fi <http://aprs.fi>
> http://aprs.fi/#!mt=roadmap&z=11&call=a%2FN1VG-11&timerange=3600&tail=3600
>
> Got any info or pictures on the payload build?
>
> Good luck!
>
>
> 73 de TF2SUT - Samúel
>
>
> On 5 April 2014 19:12, Scott Miller <scott at opentrac.org
> <mailto:scott at opentrac.org>> wrote:
>
>     I just made an impromptu launch of a T3 balloon tracker from my shop
>     in Santa Maria.  It's presently over the Santa Barbara Channel.  If
>     anyone along the south coast wants to listen for it, it's on 439.39
>     MHz.  I'd be happy to hear any reception reports.  My IGate is
>     running a TH-D7A and an Arrow antenna on a tripod.
>
>     This is a payload of only a few ounces, on a 1000 gram balloon (was
>     to be 350 but it turns out my old 350s are shot) so it could get
>     pretty high.
>
>     Scott
>     N1VG
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