Author Archives: andy

PS-37 High Altitude Balloon launch Sunday 8 March 2015

PS-37 is planned to be released at 10am Sun 8/3/2015 from Deniliquin, NSW.
This is an UP/DOWN balloon flight, aiming for high altitude of around 40,000m.

Details:
– LATEX 1600g balloon
– APRS on 145.175Mhz, 30mW, call sign VK3YT-11
– Primary tracker RTTY 100baud, 600Hz shift, 8N1 on 434.650Mhz (Dial 434.649Mhz), 10mW, callsign PS-37, RSID enabled.
– Backup tracker RTTY 100baud, 450Hz shift, 8N1 on 432.220Mhz (Dial ~432,219Mhz), 10mW, callsign PSCD, with CW ID for VK3YT.

APRS tracking on aprs.fi http://aprs.fi/#!mt=roadmap&z=11&call=VK3YT-11
RTTY tracking on SNUS http://tracker.habhub.org/?filter=PS-37;PSCD

Tracking instructions: http://picospace.net/?p=736

Update

PS-37 was released as planned at 10am Sun 8/3/2015 AEST. It got to 40,903m altitude before bursting.

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Thanks to everyone for assistance with tracking.

DL-FLDIGI setup

Dl-fldigi is the multimode decoder software for many digital modes used in HAB.

Download:
http://ukhas.org.uk/projects:dl-fldigi

Detailed Guide:
http://ukhas.org.uk/guides:tracking_guide?s[]=tracking

For Picospace fights the normal mode usually is one of these:
– RTTY
– DominoEX
– Olivia

RSID (Reed-Solomon Identification) is also normally used to automatically identify and setup the mode and centre frequency.

Quick guide:

Configure Soundcard input and Location
Configure/Sound Card
Configure/Operator
DL Client/Location/Stationary Listener

Configure RSID
DL Client/ID->Detector searches entire passband

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DL Client/ID->Receive modes, ensure the correct mode is selected (default to all)
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Enable RSID
Select RxID on top-right corner of main page

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If the flight is registered on SNUS, you can also select the correct flight, and select Auto-configure on the main page

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For Olivia, it is recommended to use the following settings:
Op Mode/Olivia/Custom/Tune margin = 100, Integration Period = 8

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For RTTY, you might need to adjust the Receive Bandwidth to around 200
Op Mode/RTTY/Custom

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And enable Automatic Frequency Control (AFC) at the lower right corner of the main page.

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Notes

If RSID is enabled no manual configuration is required.

For Olivia RSID resets the Manual settings, so from time to time you might prefer to turn off RSID to keep the manual settings. This is generally useful in marginal signal scenario.

PS-36 HF PICO Balloon WSPR, JT9, CW

PS-36 PICO balloon was released at 6:45AM Fri 27/2/2015 AEST.

Solar powered party balloon, 25mW TX
WSPR, JT9 and CW (12WPM) on 30m and 20m

Dial frequency on 10.138700Mhz and 14.095600Mhz (standard WSPR dial frequencies) for both WSPR and JT9.

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

Tracking as PS-36 on SNUS http://picospace.net/tracker/new
WSPR call sign is VK3YT http://wsprnet.org/olddb?findcall=vk3yt

CW sending [VK3YT GRID ALT BATTERY] at x6 minutes when battery is full.

Prediction

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Update #1 8am 28 Feb 2015 AEST

PS-36 is in QLD, with huge support from trackers

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Prediction:
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Update #2, 11pm 1 Mar 2014 AEST

It has been slow going, with the balloon turning West just before Cape York.
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Prediction:
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Update #3, 5pm 3 Mar 2015 AEST

PS-36 crossed WA-SA border today, on the way to end the loop over 6 mainland states.

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Prediction
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Update #4, 5pm 5 Mar 2015 AEST

PS-36 finally made it to the Tasman Sea today.

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Prediction

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Update #5, 11am 9 Mar 2015 AEST

After passing New Zealand a few days ago, PS-36 has been heading north

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Prediction

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Update #6, 7am 10 Mar 2015 AEST

PS-36 went down over night, just before reaching Tuvalu, a free hours short of 11 days in the air.

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Thanks you for assistance with tracking.

This was what brought the little balloon down:

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PS-35 PICO balloon HF payload WSPR, JT9 and CW

PS-35 PICO balloon was released at 7:30AM Sat 21/2/2015 AEST.

Solar powered party balloon, 25mW TX
WSPR, JT9 and CW (12WPM) on 30m and 20m

Dial frequency on 10.138700Mhz and 14.095600Mhz (standard WSPR dial frequencies) for both WSPR and JT9.

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

Tracking as PS-35 on SNUS http://picospace.net/tracker/new
WSPR call sign is VK3YT http://wsprnet.org/olddb?findcall=vk3yt

CW sending [VK3YT GRID ALT BATTERY] at x6 minutes when battery is full.

Prediction
129902A9 668C 4FAA B50B 98E2470028DE

Update #1 10:00pm 22 Feb 2015 AEST
The balloon has been going slow along the East coast of Australia

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Prediction:
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Update #2 05:00pm 27 Feb 2015 AEST

PS-35 descended into the Pacific after crossing the international dateline.

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PS-34 APRS Olivia payload MEL-NSW-QLD

PS-34 was released at 7am Sun 15/2/2015 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-34 on SNUS
VK3YT-11 on APRS.FI

Prediction:
149923 trj001

Update #1 Mon 9pm 16/2/2015 AEST

PS-34 left Australian coast at 7:55am this morning, just north of Fraser Island.

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Prediction shows it might be in range of New Zealand stations tomorrow morning.
The payload will change its frequency to New Zealand APRS frequency of 144.575Mhz, and keep the same Olivia frequency of 434.650Mhz USB (434.650Mhz dial)

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Update #1 Tue 8am 17/2/2015 AEST

PS-34 did a quick fly-by passing Northern Coast of New Zealand for almost two hours this morning.

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Prediction:
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PS-33 PICO balloon APRS & Olivia MEL-SA-NSW

PS-33 is scheduled for released on Sunday 1/2/2015 at 8am.

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

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

Prediction

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Update #1 10:00pm 1/2/2015 AEST

PS-33 was released but had a hardware failure and shut down early.

PS-32 HF PICO Balloon Australia Day

PS-32 was released at 7am AEST Australia Day 26/1/2015 from Melbourne.

Solar powered, 20mW TX
TX WSPR and JT9 on 30m and 20m

This will be simultaneously tracked with PS-31.

Dial frequency 10.138700Mhz and 14.095600Mhz (standard WSPR dial frequencies).
JT9 at 1200Hz offset, coexisting with PS-31 at 1000Hz offset

See HF decoding info in the FAQ section or here

Tracking as PS-32 on SNUS here
WSPR call sign is VK3ANH

Prediction:

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Assistance with tracking is appreciated.

Update #1 8:00pm 27/1/2015 AEST

PS-32 has crossed the international dateline and past -60 latitude.

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Prediction

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Update #2 12:00pm 31/1/2015 AEST

PS-32 came close to the South America Coast 46H ago, and hasn’t been heard from since.

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Predicted path

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It is very possible that the balloon is still flying, but a bad combination of shutdown at night and propagation time might be the main factor that prevents long range reception of the telemetry.

Please keep watching out for the next few days!

Update #3 6:00pm 4/2/2015 AEST

It appears that PS-32 has gone down somewhere between South America and South Africa.
Thanks everyone for assistance with tracking, and see you at the next launch!

PS-31 HF payload Mel – NZ – Pacific

PS-31 was released at 7am AEST 24/1/2015 from Melbourne.

Solar powered, 20mW TX
TX WSPR and JT9 on 30m and 20m

With dial frequency 10.138700Mhz and 14.095600Mhz (standard WSPR dial frequencies),
these will put WSPR at 1400Hz-1600Hz, and JT9 at 1000Hz, allowing decoding of both WSPR and JT9 without changing frequency on each band.

See HF decoding info in the FAQ section or here

Tracking as PS-31 on SNUS here
WSPR call sign is VK3YT

Prediction:

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Assistance with tracking is always appreciated.

Update #1 6:00am 25/1/2015 AEST

PS-31 has been doing well, just crossed the international dateline, getting ready to head west back to New Zealand. Thanks everyone for helping out with tracking.

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Top WSPR spots

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WSPR map

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Prediction

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Wind pattern

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Update #2 11:00am 26/1/2015 AEST

PS-31 did a U-turn around New Zealand over night, and soon will be heading East again.
We had a huge turn-out of stations to help with tracking.

(PS-32 was also released for a multiple balloon tracking exercise)

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Some very impressive WSPR spots

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Prediction

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Update #3 7:30pm 27/1/2015 AEST

PS-31 went down at sunset with the last JT9 packet at 08:03 UTC, probably due to rain/ice developed over the NE of NZ.

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WSPR

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Thanks everyone for tracking, and hope PS-32 will keep going for much longer.

Pebble Watch Apps for Picospace balloon tracking

I have written a little App for the Pebble Watch to assist with tracking of PICOSPACE balloons, starting with PS-30.

The watch displays the time from last telemetry, lat, long, altitude, speed, battery voltage and solar voltage.

The data is polled from picospace.net (via the phone) every two minutes. You will need internet connectivity from your phone (3G or Wifi).

If new telemetry is received after 30 minutes from last telemetry the watch will also vibrates.

Pebble hab

The screen shot show PS-30 was heard from 7 hours 14 minutes ago, at 9697m, and speed of 216kmph.

Click this link from your phone to install the Pebble Watch Apps

HAB_ALERT.pbw

HF decoding

Picospace HF payloads send telemetry data using standard JT9 packets.

WSJT-X software has been modified to allow upload of JT9 telemetry from balloons to SNUS (spacenear.us) website.

The software can be downloaded here:

Tested version 1.5.0-devel:

Version 2.1.2

Version 2.2.1

The modified software adds two options on the main page:

* Telemetry: selecting this will allow packets to be uploaded to to server

* Location: selecting this will send your grid square to be displayed on SNUS map

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Some important parameters for the software setup:

* The frequencies will need to be set to the standard WSPR dial frequencies:

30m: 10.138700Mhz

20m: 14.095600Mhz

This will put WSRP in the standard 1400Hz-1600Hz audio band, and JT9 at somewhere outside of the WSPR segment, typically at 800Hz/1000Hz/1200Hz/1800Hz, depending on flights. Please see flight announcement for the JT9 offset.

This allows simultaneous tracking of multiple balloons at the same time.

Please note the software will decode multiple payloads automatically with no special settings, ie. if the setup can decode one payload it will decode multiple payloads. You just need to have the correct dial frequency and time synchronisation.

Quick setup guide:

* Mode should be JT9. The “JT9 AND JT65” mode expects the different signals are in different parts of the audio bandwidth and is not recommended.

* Add your callsign and grid square in the settings for the “Location” option to work

* Enable Location and Telemetry options to allow upload of your grid square and telemetry data.

* WSPR/JT9 starts transmitting at the beginning of the scheduled minute, so the computer will need to have the time synced to a time server on the internet.

The software behaves like a standard WSJT-X version otherwise, and can be used for standard QSOs.

The positions of the balloons are displayed on SNUS tracking page spacenear.us which can be accessed through the Tracking shortcut at the top of this web page.

A big thank you to the UKHAS guys for making SNUS available to the HAB community.

The balloon transmission usually starts with two minutes of WSPR transmission, and followed by 2x one minute JT9 messages, at minute 00, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50.

This might be changed to accomodate multiple balloons.

WSJTX can also decode WSPR when running as a separate instance..

Two instances of WSJTX software can be run at the same time, by specifying the -r option on the command line.

One instance can be used to decode WSPR and one to decode JT9.

C:\WSJT\wsjtx\bin\wsjtx -r WSPR