The balloon launched on Friday night around 8pm.
9/7/14 UPDATE from N2NXZ:
Tony,
You probably see the last position on the map.
Bill,VA3XCD came home just in time to grab the signal and
gatherthe GPS positions before signal was lost.
The tracker was set to sleep after the first 7 hours,it
will resume @ 7:00 pm this evening (9/7) and run another 15-20 hours straight.
Where it ended up is anyone's guess. I think due to the low
altitudes,it may have survived the first evening. Should this have occurred, it
would have soared double or more of that altitude at sunrise and throughout the
following day. So that would mean it very well could be well over the Atlantic
ocean and still flying.
The launch went exactly as planned except for the tree
incicdents and the GPS glitches.
The 10.135 mhz RTTY beacon should still operate for many
more hours,every hour on the hour for 15 minutes. I have been listening every
chance possible,nothing heard yet.
Here is the only info left using prediction charts. This
will have a Hysplit option where you can see projected flight path.
I would not give up on it yet and still need to notify
other operators in the Azores and Europe this morning.
Feel free to share this information Tony and thanks for
the email.
Jim,N2NXZ
Hello,
My name is Jim, N2NXZ - located in grid fn13ch / Hilton, N.Y. This is a
request to assist for tracking a high altitude balloon scheduled to launch on
September 5,2014 @ 5:00pm EST / 21:00 UTC.(May change due to weather or
equipment issues) Payload will consist of (2) two separate transmitters in the
bands of 70cm and 30m.
The main GPS tracking will be on the frequency of 434.651
mhz (70cm) USB using RTTY 50. Decoding software (below) will automatically select this
mode once configured. This data when received will place the balloon`s location
on the map specifically for the callsign N2NXZ-7 indicating your callsign as
the RX station. http://spacenear.us/tracker/
Decoding software is also specific for tracking and can
be found here.
This balloon will be designed to "float" and
the goal is to cover many miles if everything goes as planned. But this is never
guaranteed and the need for ground tracking stations is important. Your help would be greatly appreciated especially in the
flight projection between my location,Hilton,NY to the East (downwind). The
tracking transmitter will be timed to operate for 7 hours from launch to
conserve battery power should it stay aloft in this period. A second transmitter on the frequency of 10.135 mhz (30m)
will be used for RTTY beaconing. It will operate once every 15 minutes every
hour. Timing could change as it will begin at any given time. We are going to try
starting on the hour at launch.
The HF beacon will aid only in locations that tracking
may not be available and is of course propagation dependant for certain
locations. Due to temperature changes at altitude,frequencies listed
can drift dramatically +/-.
My contact information - email: n2nxz@cmsdigital.net.
Tracking software questions or assistance can be found
here by simply logging in. No registration required,only the anti spam code and
nickname (your callsign is best).
Progress or discussions related to current balloon
activity will be here also. This is much easier for participants to communicate
other than individual emails. Some of you are already familiar with this process and
this message is general to some who are new to tracking.
Again, your assistance is very much needed and
appreciated. Please feel free to pass this information to others that could
help.Looking forward to seeing you on the map!
Jim, N2NXZ
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