The good news is the ALP40-J payload has completed all its tests successfully. That said,  ALP40-J is on hold until I can come up with a way to seal the balloon pressure transfer tube. In the past, I have sealed the balloons with a heat sealer, which worked very well. However, using a heat sealer with a tube inserted into the balloon’s fill port is not possible. I thought I had figured it out, until my latest effort using UV glue failed pressure tests. I will continue to work on a solution; but it is not looking good for a launch this Spring as thunderstorms are becoming more prevalent.

Hans at QRP Labs has released his tracker beta firmware Version 1_01_004, which I have uploaded to ALP40-J’s U4B. The pressure sensor module/PCB has been soldered to the wires/cable (3 wires for pressure sensor,  counterpoise antenna copper wire and fishing line),  leading from the U4B/payload, which will ultimately  be connected to the balloon. ALP40-J’s flight software has been tested while the payload was connected to a computer in debug mode. Telemetry was sent via three separate two minute RF WSPR transmissions, captured by station equipment across the room, decoded using an Excel spreadsheet and confirmed to be accurate. During the test, I simulated different pressure levels by blowing into a tube connected to the pressure sensor. The next step will be to test the payload in flight mode simulating day and night.