06-28, 13:00–13:20 (America/Los_Angeles), Hardware Hacking Stage
We are launching a mid altitude weather balloon with a ham radio tracking device (APRS) in to the jetstream and racing it around the world.
No it’s not a Chinese spy balloon!
We are launching a mid-altitude weather balloon much smaller than the ones previously in the news with a ham radio tracking device using the (APRS) protocol over ham radio using the call sign K7HAK-12 in to the Jetstream and racing it around the world.
My goal is to have it find neutral buoyancy at the same altitude as the middle of the Jetstream around 7 miles high and ride the Jetstream around the earth. The tracker is a Skytracker built by Bill Brown (WB8ELK), the APRS module that will be providing telemetry during the flight is powered during the sunlight with two small solar panels and a couple super capacitors. It will be hauled by a Yokohama balloon.
Its telemetry will be visible via RF locally on 144.390 and then it will be visible on aprs sites like https://amateur.sondehub.org/ https://aprs.fi
Steve is a Maker, Hacker, Ham nerd, Beer brewer, Dad, InfoSec dropout, Network lackey, Hiker, Permaculture weirdo, Astronomy & space dork who is highly skilled in daily damage control.