Re: Balloon Launch Postponed

[Jonathan Weaver]

I'm still planning to launch the balloon on Saturday, July 28th at 10:00 AM, however, I'm going to launch from another location.  I'm going to launch from Sandy Creek Park, address below:

400 Bob Holman Rd

Athens, GA 30607

The reason is that with the flight path predicted, a launch from Hoschton Park results in a landing really close to Lake Lanier.  From Sandy Creek Park, it should land in Barrow County.

There have been some questions about the equipment in the payload of the balloon.  

First, it has an APRS beacon that transmits the position of the balloon once per minute.  The beacon is a Trackduino (https://github.com/trackuino/shield).  You can track the balloon on several websites like https://aprs.fi/.

Next, it has an FM voice repeater.  The repeater will be receiving on 445.250 MHz and transmitting on 145.250 MHz.  Anything transmitted from a radio on the ground on 445.250 MHz will be repeated on 145.250 MHz.  The voice repeater is simply two HT's with the audio tied together with the transmitting HT using VOX and the recieving HT using squelch.  The Arduino is also attached to the voice repeater and set to make an announcement every 10 minutes.

Lastly, it has two cameras set to take pictures every 30 seconds for 4 hours.

Let me know if you have any questions, and I hope to see you on Saturday morning at Sandy Creek!

Jonathan

On Fri, Jul 13, 2018 at 4:50 PM, Jonathan Weaver <jonw...@gmail.com> wrote:

Guys / Gals,

I regret to report that I'm going to again postpone the launch.  I started looking at the weather and the wind patterns, and I've gotten consistent predictions over the past two days that the balloon will be carried due west from the launch site.  Usually, the winds would carry the balloon east toward South Carolina into an area that is generally rural.  However, with a west trajectory the landing could be anywhere from John's Creek to Roswell to Kennesaw.  The entire potential projected landing area I would classify as densely populated suburban.

While it is unlikely, I don't like the idea of a 4 pound styrofoam box falling into that dense of an area at 15 to 20 MPH or if heaven forbid the parachute failed and it's a 4 pound box free falling from 100,000 feet.

I apologize, but I think a delay at this point is wise.  I'm going to try again at 10:00 AM at Hoschton Park on July 28th.  I'll update all of you as we get closer.

I've been overwhelmed at the interest in this balloon launch.  Thank you all!

--

Jonathan Weaver

N4JWW

--

Jonathan Weaver

KM4FIK

http://jonw0224.weebly.com

Let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. - 1 John 3:18