San Antonio Radio Club (SARC) 

 

Greetings. 

I am emailing you to inquire as to what assistance San Antonio Radio Club (SARC) might be in tracking a potential future high altitude balloon launch in your region. The Civil Air Patrol is considering launching a high altitude balloon launch in the future from the South Texas Regional Airport in Hondo, Texas, as part of an educational activity for our Cadets.

 

I understand that the GPS signals from high altitude balloons can be tracked using amateur radio, and that these locations can be displayed on computer software (aprs.fi). And that the payload, when it lands, can be tracked through amateur radio and GPS. Does the San Antonio Radio Club (SARC) have this capability or perform this service?

 

I've also been informed that a local amateur radio club can also provide a transmitter that can be included aloft with the payload of the balloon.

 

Feel free to clarify any of this information.

 

Perhaps we can communicate further. I, myself, recently obtained my FCC amateur radio license.

 

Regards,

 

1st Lt. Michael W. Kappas

Randolph Composite Squadron (TX-142)

Texas Wing, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary

(512) 955-2633

1676067615295blob.jpg

Gary KI5GRD;

I've got comms with the Lt.

Thank you for the info.. it will prove very helpful.

The Lt is new and a new Ham, just got his Technician license. And he knows nothing about equipment and has no experience launching a balloon. His CAP Cadets (HS kids) want to launch one and he wants to get that done...
I'm a retired CAP SM... I called him the other day.

I'll help him get done what needs to be done and keep him legal.

I did tell him that he probably needs to contac tthe FAA, DHS, FBI, and the Air Force before he actually launches.

Aubrey

WA6DMI

73's !

---

From: main@saradioclub.groups.io <main@saradioclub.groups.io> on behalf of gdusbabek <gdusbabek@...>
Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2023 4:02 PM
To: main@saradioclub.groups.io <main@saradioclub.groups.io>
Subject: Re: [W5SC] Help request for balloon tracking

 

Probably the best "how to" website I am aware of for this is https://www.overlookhorizon.com/. They haven't done any launches recently, but were very active before COVID. Their website does a VERY good job documenting equipment and legal/compliance aspects of launching an amateur balloon.

There is also a Facebook group, South Texas Balloon Launch Team (https://www.facebook.com/SouthTexasBLT and https://w5acm.net/). They haven't been terribly active the last few years, again probably due to COVID. But from their page, it's clear they've actually launched a few balloons.

There are some off-the-shelf trackers that people use, or they can be cobbled together from parts depending on the level of effort you want to expend (or how bad you want to recover your balloon).

If Lt. Kappas gets stuck or needs more info, please pass my email address on to him (gdusbabek@...).

73, Gary KI5GRD.

On Thu, Feb 16, 2023 at 1:32 PM Bill Craft <billc851@...> wrote:

San Antonio Radio Club (SARC) 

 

Greetings. 

I am emailing you to inquire as to what assistance San Antonio Radio Club (SARC) might be in tracking a potential future high altitude balloon launch in your region. The Civil Air Patrol is considering launching a high altitude balloon launch in the future from the South Texas Regional Airport in Hondo, Texas, as part of an educational activity for our Cadets.

 

I understand that the GPS signals from high altitude balloons can be tracked using amateur radio, and that these locations can be displayed on computer software (aprs.fi). And that the payload, when it lands, can be tracked through amateur radio and GPS. Does the San Antonio Radio Club (SARC) have this capability or perform this service?

 

I've also been informed that a local amateur radio club can also provide a transmitter that can be included aloft with the payload of the balloon.

 

Feel free to clarify any of this information.

 

Perhaps we can communicate further. I, myself, recently obtained my FCC amateur radio license.

 

Regards,

 

1st Lt. Michael W. Kappas

Randolph Composite Squadron (TX-142)

Texas Wing, U.S. Air Force Auxiliary

(512) 955-2633

1676067615295blob.jpg