SimSAT Airborne

[Robert Bruninga]

> Sim-SAT, a high-altitude balloon carrying an Amateur 
> Radio payload lifted off at 8AM in Maryland and [WAS]
> at about 94,000 feet.
> 	 
> 	The payload includes a 2-meter APRS transmitter. See:
> 	 
> 	http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?call=N8PK-11 

Now you will see its final report on the APRS system (at 705
feet and zooming down at 4000' per  minute!). Be sure to select
the SATELLITE image to see the field it landed in.  See the
following image to see where it finally landed after that last
705 feet:

http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/aprs/DF-ing/N8PK-11_recovery.JP
G

The field was full of crops and I could not see the balloon
until I was 20 feet away, even though the crops were only 1 foot
tall!.  To see how  I could find it with nothing but an HT, see
my new images on the APRS DFing web page (about 70% down the
page).  Look for the topic "HT-ONLY Dfing:"....  Follow the 5
links to the 5 maps as we zoomed in with nothing but an HT.

http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/dfing.html

What a fun time had by all.  More to come.  Lots of photos...
AND LESSONS LEARNED (again and again...)

Bob, WB4APR

> 	 
> 	Refresh this page every so often to check Sim-SAT's 
> course and altitude. It will probably continue climbing to 
> about 105,000 feet or so, then the balloon will burst and the 
> payload will parachute to the ground. If you see the altitude 
> suddenly decreasing, you'll know.
> 	 
> 
> 
> Paul
> 
>