Weather Balloon, GPS, & the BS2

[Nerd_in_training]

As part of the weather balloon project we are going to need to track it for recovery. We have thought about maybe using a cell phone with GPS capability, but I wonder is there anything in the range of GPS that will work with the BS2?

[Franklin]

You would still need something to transmit the coordinates. Some kind of radio.

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- Stephen

[Ken Gracey]

Adam,

How about a licensed 2-meter radio operating on 5W with a set of external modems like these http://www.tigertronics.com/rtx12.htm?

Ken Gracey
Parallax, Inc.

[Robert Kubichek]

Why not a handheld with a TNC built in, talking to a base/mobile and TNC with a good antenna for distance???
You should get at least 25 miles range...

Bob N9LVU

[bobledoux]

Radiosondes, which read upper air data, are now using GPS systems. Europe has made the move to these systems and the US is following. These devices, carried aloft by balloon, read temperature, pressure, humidity and position and retransmit the data on 403 mhz. Here is an example of a system:

http://www.yesinc.com/products/data/XDR-928/index.html

Sparkfun.com has GPS units.

[Robert Kubichek]

Try this link, they make an APRS transmitter that can send data as well.
The unit is very small, and has a 300mw output plus it runs on a 9v battery..
Put the chip after it is programmed into the Micro-Trak 300 for a nice unit.

www.byonics.com/wxtrak/
www.byonics.com/microtrak300/



Bob

Post Edited (Robert Kubichek) : 3/2/2007 3:43:04 PM GMT

[steve_b]

I launch radiosondes with work (during special weather projects). I have a few that failed their quality tests....I've been around the net and there really isn't a lot of information on hacking these things.

You can buy the XDR-928, but I assume you will need to purchase the receiver setup as well...$$!!
Also be aware of what upper air sites are near you. They may be launching while you are and you'll mess up each others signals.

Also, I'm sure you know that you have to issue NOTAMS for weather balloon launches (we do in Canada).

cheers

bobledoux said...
Radiosondes, which read upper air data, are now using GPS systems. Europe has made the move to these systems and the US is following. These devices, carried aloft by balloon, read temperature, pressure, humidity and position and retransmit the data on 403 mhz. Here is an example of a system:

http://www.yesinc.com/products/data/XDR-928/index.html

Sparkfun.com has GPS units.

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·

Steve

"Inside each and every one of us is our one, true authentic swing. Something we was born with. Something that's ours and ours alone. Something that can't be learned... something that's got to be remembered."

[bobledoux]

I occasionally visit the radiosonde launch site at Salem, OR, USA where they launch twice a day as part of the USA network. They are still using the old analog sondes with dish antenna; data fed by land telephone line at 300 baud using an old DOS computer. So our network has not upgraded to the digital tools.

I believe the notams are not required if the instrument pack is below a specified weight.

I showed the XDR-928 as an example of the current technology. A number of ham groups are releasing high altitude balloons.

Here is an example of software that will read the digital sondes:

http://www.coaa.co.uk/sondemonitor.htm

[Franklin]

The March Nuts And Volts has an article on mapping your data using Google Earth. It was quite interesting.

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- Stephen