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Four Pilars of Amateur Radio Activity
Contact: kb7hta@kb7hta.com
NEWS
Las Vegas Amateur Radio Balloon News
TALARC ALP40-D came down at about 19:36 PST this evening North of Lake Superior near Lake Nipigon and the city Nipigon, Ontario. My goal was for a 48 hour flight to collect enough telemetry to properly characterize how well the battery and the trapped dipole antenna functioned. In the past 36 hours, I have gathered a lot of data, which will help make the next flight of this type in February a success.
The balloon most likely popped at altitude bringing it down. It was very similar to the way ALP40-B failed; it popped (I got the balloon/payload back). That said, there was a lot of weather in the area with some cloud tops in excess of the balloon’s altitude, which could have been the cause. Considering the balloon’s location, recovery is not likely; even though the payload is transmitting on 146.585 MHz for T-Hunters, until the battery is exhausted. The balloon’s approximate location is shown below.
Analysis of this flight and the previous one, which included a battery can be found here. Feel free to contact me, with any contrary views or suggestions for the next flight.
Las Vegas Amateur Radio Balloon News
TALARC balloon ALP40-D made it through the night transmitting WSPR telemetry every 20 minutes. At sunrise the battery voltage was 3.3 volts; and at the time of this writing the voltage had already recovered to 3.45 volts. The balloon will have to pass over some weather today; fingers crossed. Also, the forecast track is headed well north, which means shorter days, longer nights and lower sun angles. We will see how well that works.
Las Vegas Amateur Radio Balloon News
TALARC balloon ALP40-D was launched this morning, November 8, 2024 at 8:22 am (PST). So far everything looks good, we are receiving WSPR on 20m and 10m (Type 1). We are also receiving CW on 28.022 MHz. The balloon is currently at 32,500′, which is about 4,500′ less than estimated. The balloon was obviously not stretched as much as I thought. The balloon can be tracked here.
Las Vegas Amateur Radio Balloon News
Tomorrow, November 8, 2024, looks good for a TALARC balloon launch (ALP40-D). The weather will be good for a launch at 8 am at the Boulder City Dry Lakebed, and down range for a good distance. This will be the second in a series of solar/battery powered balloons to extend WSPR transmissions on the 20m band into the evening hours. The first attempt (ALP40-2) for a solar/battery powered balloon worked well for about 16 hours, but ended when the balloon popped over Texas (the balloon/payload was recovered). As a default, ALP40-D will transmit WSPR on 20m, however it will also transmit WSPR (Type 1) and CW signals during the day on 10m (28.022 MHz <20mw), when onboard power levels permit. The balloon will use a trapped dipole antenna (designed/built by Rudi, K7RAW – The Antenna Whisperer) for dual 10/20m band operation. The goal is to have the balloon stay aloft for at least 48 hours to collect enough telemetry to properly characterize how well the battery and the trapped dipole antenna function. The tracker is a QRP-Labs U4B and the balloon is a Yokohama clear with valve. The payload mass is 37 grams, with a float of 6 grams. The estimated float altitude is 37,000′. Keep checking here for the latest news.
Las Vegas Amateur Radio Balloon News
The TALARC AR Balloon Group launched ALP40-Charlie this morning, Wednesday, June 5, 2024 at 8:47 am. It carries Shane’s callsign, KG7QWH. So far no WSPR packets have been received from the balloon, which might indicate a GPS problem. CW from the balloon has been received on 28.022 MHz with a temperature of 32F or 0C, which would indicate it is not in the desert some where around Las Vegas. You might want to put on your CW ears and see if you can receive its signals. The 12 wpm CW transmission looks something like this “KG7QWH BALLOON DDMMYYTIME GRID6 ALT GSPD VOLT TEMP”. If the GPS is not working then the date time, grid square, altitude and ground speed may not make sense. The voltage is in millivolts and the temperature is in Kelvin.
The ALP40-Charlie Balloon After Launch Report can be read here.
Las Vegas Amateur Radio Balloon News Archive
Weekly LVMesh NET
Every Sunday starting at 6:45 pm there is a NET using Team Talk 5 (similar to Zoom) over the LVMesh Network. If you would like to participate, please contact Tom, KB7HTA, for more information. His contact information is available through QRZ. The NET usually sees about 7 regulars, Frank (N7ZEV), Dale (WA6MZW), Robert (N7GET), Don (KE6BXT), Tom (KB7HTA), Steven (N6SFX) and Wayne (N7HWM), with others joining in periodically.
AllStar Over LVMesh
AllStar over LVMesh has been tested, with encouraging results. A private connection from the QTH of KB7HTA through the Apex repeater site, KO0OOO repeater site, Potosi repeater site and finally to the W7HEN public hub at the QTH of K6FYN was made during the Henderson Sunday night NET on October 4th, 2020. The AllStar over LVMesh private network consists of Richard, KO0OOO (node#1500), Tom, KB7HTA (node#1501), Rick, K7FYI (node#1502) and Lawrence, k6YFN (node#1503). A few hardware improvements need to be made before testing continues.
Mesh Power Box
In working with mesh nodes, it was clear there was a need for a power box, which could supply both 12 volts and 24 volts. Even though, many nodes will operate using 12 volts, 24 volts is recommended. Also, the use of longer Ethernet cables, will drop the supply voltage significantly. In the “Projects” section, I have provided details on how to construct such a box.
