Often, it seems that in interviews with my guests, we do not cover all of the bases in the first hour. It was only after the end of the first hour with Hans Summers, G0UPL that he mentioned the work he is doing with high altitude balloons. Since I was still recording, I added this segment to this week’s podcast. Hans captured my imagination and filled it with new possibilities.
We have had other balloonists on the QSO Today podcast including Keith Kaiser, WA0TJT, in Episode 82, who uses the large latex weather balloons which require large amounts of helium to take these balloons in the stratosphere where they break and fall back to Earth. The cost of these launches can exceed one-thousand US dollars. These, often one-day high altitude events, involve chasing the balloon to the place where the payload eventually lands by parachute.
Hans shared with me another idea. What if you could make the payload so small and so light that you could use the Mylar party balloons sold in gift stores to do a high altitude balloon launch that stays in the sky for weeks, traveling around the world? Furthermore, rather than using a VHF radio, what if you used a HF transmitter/beacon that leverages the world wide amateur radio network of WSPRnet receivers to track the balloon location and altitude to display on a website for the balloon launch? This is exactly what Hans is doing with VE3KCL in his balloon launches. Hans has leveraged the WSPRnet network to track these high altitude world traveling amateur radio balloons.
We have had other balloonists on the QSO Today podcast including Keith Kaiser, WA0TJT, in Episode 82, who uses the large latex weather balloons which require large amounts of helium to take these balloons in the stratosphere where they break and fall back to Earth. The cost of these launches can exceed one-thousand US dollars. These, often one-day high altitude events, involve chasing the balloon to the place where the payload eventually lands by parachute.
Hans shared with me another idea. What if you could make the payload so small and so light that you could use the Mylar party balloons sold in gift stores to do a high altitude balloon launch that stays in the sky for weeks, traveling around the world? Furthermore, rather than using a VHF radio, what if you used a HF transmitter/beacon that leverages the world wide amateur radio network of WSPRnet receivers to track the balloon location and altitude to display on a website for the balloon launch? This is exactly what Hans is doing with VE3KCL in his balloon launches. Hans has leveraged the WSPRnet network to track these high altitude world traveling amateur radio balloons.
It seems that if you half inflate a Mylar party balloon with helium; it will rise to 10,000 meters then expand from the change in pressure but will not burst. Instead it will sit at that altitude until it hits a high altitude thunder storm. At this altitude, the balloon is carried by the Jet Stream in an eastwardly direction until it goes all of the way around the World. Hans is developing a single board WSPR transmitter with special code and a GPS. With the party balloons, the QRP Labs transmitter, a solar panel and NiCad battery, the budget is under $100.00. This makes it possible for ham radio operators combined with schools to create a spacecraft and a mission control center at a very low cost with a very high reward. Imagine STEM schools tracking their balloon and the balloons of other schools, around the world. What an interesting way to attract young people to our hobby!
I can’t wait to get one of these QRP Labs transponders when they are available to do my own balloon launches. The price is right and the opportunity to interest others in ham radio is now.
I can’t wait to get one of these QRP Labs transponders when they are available to do my own balloon launches. The price is right and the opportunity to interest others in ham radio is now.
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