Author Archives: andy

PS-73 LoraWAN TTN PICO balloon

PS-73 was released on Sunday 8 December 2019 from Melbourne Australia.

Party balloon, 5mW TX on Australian LoraWAN band plan (915Mhz), using 1 AAA battery.

The tracker uses Lora SF9 for default, with SF11 in between.

It is expected that the balloon will stay in range of the the TTN network for around 48H.

Tracking is via the TTN network (https://www.thethingsnetwork.org/), where data from the balloon is extracted and uploaded to the tracking site https://tracker.habhub.org/#!mt=roadmap&mz=6&qm=3_days&f=PS-73&q=PS-73

PS-73_NSW

 

Coverage was good with the large number of TTN gateways within range of the balloon.

Maximum range was 380km, and lowest received signal strength was -137dBm (SF11)

eui-60c5a8fffe74d372: 0, -137,,2811050788,-19,-31.0589,150.8936,383

 

UPDATE 1 7:48pm 9/12/19  PS-73 is just about to be out of range of the TTN network

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UPDATE 2 9:39pm 9/12/19 Last packet from PS-73 was received right at the the edge of the 5 degree-from-horizon circle, 344km away (SF9).

eui-00800000a0003999: 1, -120,2019-12-09T10:08:58.825809Z,2807358348,-6.8,-33.79774,151.28564,30

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Lorawan Tracker:

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PS-71 APRS/Olivia PICO balloon

PS-71 is planned for release at 7am Sat 18 Mar 2017 AEST.

Solar powered party balloon, 10mW TX.
APRS on 145.175Mhz
Olivia 8/250 with RSID on 434.649Mhz USB (Dial frequency)

Tracking as
PS-71 on Habhub
VK3YT-11 on APRS.FI

Prediction:

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Update #1 Wed 22nd March

PS-71 was released on Sat morning, spent the last few days over South Australia and the Outback, tracked by VK3 and VK5 stations (thanks guys!).

It went out of range on Monday, and reappeared this morning over Bourke, NSW, heading towards Sydney.

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Prediction:
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Update #2

PS-71 landed in a storm just off Central Coast in the evening Wed 22 Mar

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PS-70 HF PICO balloon WSPR JT9

PS-70 was released on Sun 22 Jan 2017

Solar powered party balloon, 25mW TX TX WSPR, JT9 on 30m only

Dial frequency 10.138700Mhz (standard WSPR dial frequency) for WSPR, JT9.
JT9 is at 1650Hz

See HF decoding info at http://picospace.net/?cat=34

Tracking as PS-70 on SNUS https://tracker.habhub.org/#!mt=roadmap&mz=2&qm=1_hour&f=PS-70
WSPR call sign is VK3YT http://wsprnet.org/olddb?findcall=vk3yt

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Update #1 25 Jan 2017
PS-70 is still doing the loop round the Eastern part of Australia.
Prediction shows another two days inland.
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PS-68 APRS/Olivia PICO balloon

PS-68 is planned for release at 7am Sat 27 Aug 2016 AEST.

Solar powered party balloon, 10mW TX.
APRS on 145.175Mhz
Olivia 8/250 with RSID on 434.649Mhz USB (Dial frequency)

Tracking as
PS-68 on SNUS
VK3YT-11 on APRS.FI

Prediction

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Update #1 5pm 28 Aug 2016 AEST

PS-68 had a 24H run along the East coast, and took off to the east towards New Zealand near Brisbane this morning.

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The expected time of arrive in New Zealand is around mid night local time tonight, 28 Aug 2016 (1200 UTC)

Update #2 10pm 29 Aug 2016 AEST

PS-68 was in range of ZL1RS at 20:36 AEST last night, at the same time arriving at a weather front. The weather caused the balloon to descend and change direction, and stayed out of LOS range of ZL stations until 7:21am this morning (AEST), when it started its tour of New Zealand.

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After arriving at the East coast side, and just before it was time to leave , the balloon descended again, changing direction towards land.

Update #3 9pm 30 Aug 2016 AEST

PS-68 spent another day over North Island before heading into the Pacific at 15:34pm AEST today.

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PS-67 HF PICO balloon WSPR JT9

PS-67 was released on Sat 16 July 2016, chasing FEDOR the balloonist (http://konyukhov.ru/en/news.html)

Solar powered party balloon, 25mW TX
TX WSPR, JT9 on 30m only

Dial frequency 10.138700Mhz (standard WSPR dial frequency) for WSPR, JT9.
JT9 is at 1650Hz

See HF decoding info at http://picospace.net/?cat=34

Tracking as PS-67 on SNUS
https://tracker.habhub.org/#!mt=roadmap&mz=2&qm=1_hour&f=PS-67
WSPR call sign is VK3YT http://wsprnet.org/olddb?findcall=vk3yt

TX scheduling
Minute – Band – Mode – Condition
:00 – 30m – 2 mins WSPR then two x 1 min JT9 – mandatory
:04 – 30m – 1 minute of a hidden message 🙂 – if batt full
:10 – 30m – 2 mins WSPR then two x 1 min JT9 – if batt full
:20 – 30m – 2 mins WSPR then two x 1 min JT9 – if batt full
:30 – 30m – 2 mins WSPR then two x 1 min JT9 – mandatory
:34 – 30m – 1 minute of a hidden message – if batt full
:40 – 30m – 2 mins WSPR then two x 1 min JT9 – if batt full
:50 – 30m – 2 mins WSPR then two x 1 min JT9 – if batt full

Update #1 17 July 2016

PS-67 just passed New Zealand, picking up speed from the fast jetstream

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PS-62 HF PICO balloon WSPR JT9

PS-62 is planned to be launched this Sun 20th March 2016 AEST, around 7am.

Solar powered party balloon, 25mW TX
TX WSPR, JT9 on 30m only

Dial frequency 10.138700Mhz (standard WSPR dial frequency) for WSPR, JT9.
JT9 at 1650Hz offset.

See HF decoding info at http://picospace.net/?cat=34

Tracking as PS-62 on SNUS http://picospace.net/tracker/new
WSPR call sign is VK3YT http://wsprnet.org/olddb?findcall=vk3yt

Prediction:

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TX scheduling
Minute – Band – Mode – Condition
:00 – 30m – 2 mins WSPR then two x 1 min JT9 – mandatory
:10 – 30m – 2 mins WSPR then two x 1 min JT9 – if batt full
:20 – 30m – 2 mins WSPR then two x 1 min JT9 – if batt full
:30 – 30m – 2 mins WSPR then two x 1 min JT9 – mandatory
:40 – 30m – 2 mins WSPR then two x 1 min JT9 – if batt full
:50 – 30m – 2 mins WSPR then two x 1 min JT9 – if batt full