Students and Teacher Ready To Launch Their High-Altitude Balloon
We are planning the fourth launch of our High-Altitude Balloon (HAB-4) this Sunday, June 9th between 10:30 am and 11:30 am ET. We will be launching locally from the Hollis-Brookline HS here in Hollis, NH. Read on to learn more about our HAB projects and how to track our HAB while it is in flight.
It’s to easy to track our HAB! All you need is a web browser and Internet access follow our HAB to the edge of space and back. Check out the article (link above) for more information about our HAB and how to track it.
We have established launch windows and begun final launch preparations for our High-Altitude Balloon 4 (HAB-4) launch. We’ve made some modifications to our HAB platform to improve its cold temperature performance and we’ve determined the Balloon and flight path parameters for the upcoming flight. HAB-4 will carry an APRS transmitter and can be tracked using aprs.fi. You can read more about HAB-4 flight preparations via the link that follows.
We are planning the third launch of our High-Altitude Balloon (HAB-3) this Sunday, June 3rd between 10 am and 11 am ET. We will be launching locally from the Hollis-Brookline HS here in Hollis, NH. Checkout the link below to learn more about our HAB projects and how to track our HAB from anywhere in the world while it is in flight. You can also see live stream video froun our launch and recovery via the N1FD Facebook Page.
We got together with the students who did our HAB-2 launch this week to analyze the data from the flight and to preview some of the videos that HAB-2 captured during its flight. You can read more about what we learned from the flight data on the Nashua Area Radio Society website via the link above
We flew our High-Altitude Balloon for the second time this past weekend. Our second High-Altitude Balloon Flight (HAB-2) was part of a STEM learning project that we did with STEM club students at Bishop-Guertin High School in Nashua, NH. The students did all of the flight prep and launched HAB-2 at approximately 11 am ET from a school in Winchester, NH. Parents, teachers and local students joined us for the launch as did several members of our HAB team.
Our students prepared, launched, and tracked HAB-2 this past weekend. Their HAB made it to almost 118,000 ft! You can read more about the launch and the flight on the Nashua Area Radio Society’s website via the link above.
The Nashua Area Radio Society is planning to launch another High-Altitude Balloon (HAB) this coming Saturday, October 28th at 15:00z (11 am Eastern Time) from Winchester, NH USA. Our Balloon will carry a 2m APRS transmitter operating on 144.390 MHz and will be using the call sign N1FD-11. You can also track our HAB via the Internet using aprsi.fi. We expect our HAB’s flight to last about 2 1/2 hours and reach an altitude of over 105,000 ft. The balloon will also be carrying two video cameras to capture near-space video during the flight.
Students, Teachers, and Club Members came out to participate in the launch and track our HAB. The first step was to move all of our gear to the center of the athletic fields at the school and organize all of our equipment.
Assembled Flight Platform
Next, we attached the GoPro video cameras, satellite tracker, battery pack for the Flight Computer, and a 2m APRS transmitter to the flight platform. We used an APRS-capable HT to confirm that the flight computer and APRS transmitter were working.
Rigging the Flight Line
We rigged the 40 ft. flight line, which connected the HAB’s flight platform, recovery parachute, and balloon.
Balloon Inflation
And then came the inflation of the balloon from the Helium tank. The winds were gusting to about 12 mph, which made inflating the balloon a little tricky. The balloon was about 6 ft. in diameter on the ground when filled.
Launch!
We were ready to launch with both GoPro cameras running on the flight platform. A 10-second countdown and the balloon was up and away!
Tracking the HAB
We watched the balloon from the ground soaring off into the clouds. The 2M APRS tracking system worked perfectly, and we spent the next several hours at the launch site, at lunch, and in our cars tracking the HAB on aprs.fi.
HAB’s Flight Path On APRS.fi
Our HAB’s flight path took it across Massachusetts, where it reached a maximum altitude of 91,700 ft. above sea level (ASL).
Looking Upward at the Balloon (Near Burst)
The balloon reached a diameter of approximately 30 ft before it burst. After the balloon burst, the parachute deployed, and the payload descended to a landing in the northeast corner of Rhode Island.
HAB at Recovery Site in Rhode Island
A combination of the APRS transmitter data and the onboard sounder allowed the landing location to be pinpointed, and the flight platform recovered with help from a local resident.
The onboard GoPro video cameras captured some awesome video during our HAB’s ascent! All the media captured by everyone who participated in the launch and the APRS data allowed us to produce the video above. Turn up your speakers and give them a play in full-screen mode to enjoy the experience that we shared!
By the time we had launched, the school was at an end, so we will have to wait until the fall to work with the students and teachers who were part of our STEM project to analyze the data from the flight. All in all, our HAB project has been an amazing experience for all involved. We are planning another HAB STEM experience and launch with additional schools in the fall.
We want to especially thank all of our donors whose generous contributions made this project possible.
Image Taken From Our High-Altitude Balloon at over 90,000 ft
Members of the Nashua Area Radio Club launched a High-Altitude Balloon (HAB) to the edge of space and back this past weekend. Our HAB carried a 2m APRS Transmitter and sent position and atmospheric telemetry to the ground during its flight. Our HAB was tracked by many folks using aprsi.fi during its flight via the N1FD-11 call sign.
You can see an amazing video of the flight, including footage taken during our launch and from the balloon while in flight above.
Our HAB launch was part of a STEM learning project that our club did in partnership with several High Schools in New Hampshire. You can read more about the project and our STEM work on our club’s Blog here.
STEM Learning via a High Altitude Balloon At The Edge Of Space
As some of you may already know, Anita and I have been working with our local Radio Club on a project to promote STEM learning and interest in Amateur Radio among young people in our area. The idea is to work with kids grades 7-12 to plan, build, launch and recover a High-Altitude Balloon carrying Amateur Radio. Our balloon should be able to reach an altitude of about 100,000 ft before it bursts and the payload returns to earth via a parachute system. The payload will include a computer, GPS, and a 2-meter APRS transmitter to record the balloon’s flight track, atmospheric data, and altitude throughout the flight. The balloon will also carry a video camera and will capture a video recording of the entire flight. You can learn more about our project here.
Project Team Members Will Analyze and Report On Scientific Data
We are working with local schools to put together a team of young people to plan and execute our project. This will include designing the onboard science experiments, analyzing the data collected, and providing a presentation about what was learned to fellow students and others.
We are working to raise the necessary funds to enable the project to be completed during the current school year. We have set up a GoFundMe page to facilitate the fundraising aspect of our project. We know that we have many readers around the world who follow our blog and it would be wonderful if some of our readers could help us by contributing to funding our project.
Anita and I will continue to post information about our project here.
The Mobile Amateur Radio Awards Club (MARAC) is a support group for county hunting and mobile activities with members worldwide. This is a great organization to join if you are interested in County Hunting. MARAC provides additional awards center around County Hunting and mobile operating.
You can also view WY7LL’s video on YouTube for a nice introduction to County Hunting, MARAC, and the tools the group provides to help County Hunters.
Anita did the planning for our County Tour to Dayton, OH, and back. She began by looking at the County Hunter’s Web most wanted page to determine which counties lie along potential routes between our home and Dayton, OH were most needed by County Hunters. Based upon this information, she created the route shown at the beginning of this post. As you can see, we are taking different routes going to Dayton, OH and back to allow us to activate as many U.S. Counties as we can. We are also taking a few side trips off our route to activate a few of the most needed Counties near our route.
Date
States
Counties
SundayMay 10
MA
Middlesex, Worcester
CT
Windham, Tolland, Hardford, Litchfield, New Haven, Fairfield
The table above shows the 86 U.S. Counties that we plan to activate on our trip along with a rough idea of our schedule.
County Finder App
We found a useful iPhone App (County Finder) that will tell us what County we are in at a given time. The County Finder App uses the GPS in our iPhones to provide our current location in real-time.
HamClock Grid Square App
We will also be tracking and logging the current grid square that we are operating from. We will be using the HamClock App on our iPhones to determine our grid square of operation in real-time.
Mobile Logging
Anita and I will be taking turns operating and logging. We are planning to use a laptop computer running the DXLab Suite, and we will connect it directly to the IC-7000 Radio in our truck. This combination, plus the County Finder and HamClock Apps above, should allow us to log all of our contacts accurately. We will also be uploading contracts that we make to eQSL, LoTW, and ClubLog in real-time as we operate.
OpenAPRS App
We will also be running an APRS station so that folks can see where we are located in real-time and follow our progress. We are using the OpenAPRS iPhone App for this purpose. Our APRS callsign with be AB1QB-15, and you can see our position and progress on aprs.fi at any time by clicking here.
N1FD – Nashua Area Radio Club QSL
Anita and I are the Nashua Area Radio Club members, and we will be operating using the Club’s call sign, N1FD/M, during the trip. In addition to the electronic QSL’ing methods mentioned above, we will also be able to provide paper QSLs using the Club’s QSL card shown above. All paper QSLs we send will note the correct County and Grid Square from which the QSL’ed contact was made. See N1FD on QRZ.com for QSL information.
Band
County Hunters Net Frequency (SSB)
20m
14.336 & 14.271 MHz
40m
7.188 MHz
80m
3.901 MHz
17m
18.136 MHz
15m
21.336 MHz
12m
24.936 MHz
10m
28.336 MHz
County Hunters Net Frequencies
We plan to operate on or near the County Hunters Net Frequencies listed above. We will be QRV SSB on all of these bands, and we may also do a limited amount of operating on 160m SSB as well.
Our Mobile HF Station
We hope you will take some time to work us during our trip. If you do and you read our Blog, please let us know. If we do not have other stations calling, we’d like to take a little time to say “hello” and get to know some of our readers better. We will also be attending the County Hunter’s Forum on Friday, May 15th, at this year’s Dayton Hamvention. If you are there, please introduce yourself, and we’ll have an “eyeball QSO”.
