----- Original Message ----- From: "William Leijenaar" pe1rah@yahoo.com To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 12:03 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Balloon mission from Austrian hams
Hi AMSATs,
Last weekend I was in Austria for holidays, and on the Saterday there was a high altitude balloon experiment done by Austrian hams which included a known transponder to me ;-) My location was near Landeck, some 350km west of the balloon experiment and down in the valley, which made it impossible for me to work the transponder (from my mobile ham station).
From the website I understand that the balloon experiment was successfull,
but I read some remarks that the transponder unfortunately was not used very much. Most propably because the event was not widely known amoung the hams.
What I understand, is that there will be another balloon mission on Saterday (26-June) during the well known Ham Radio event in Friedrichshafen. I will not be at the Ham Radio, but I like to pass on the news to other hams who will be there and have a chance to listen/work the transponder or the balloon APRS.
The balloon information can be found at the website of OEVSV: http://www.oevsv.at/opencms/modules/news/20100621_ballon_passepartout_5_nach lese_2010_graz.html?uri=/index.html
73 de PE1RAH, William Leijenaar www.leijenaarelectronics.nl
Hi William, PE1RAH
Congratulations !
It would be very interesting to know if your transponder was recovered at the end of the flyght.
In Italy early in 1982-1984 we did three hight altitude balloon transponder flights at 40.000 meters as a secondary AMSAT passenger on board of high altitude balloons with primary experiments of the italian CNR and french CNES both governement research organizations.
The high altitude baloons were lifting from the airport of Milo Sicily and were recovered near Huelva south of Spain after three days of flight crossing the mediterranean at a maximum latitude over the Balearis islands.
The name of the joint CNR and CNES flyght mission was ODISSEA and italian balloons were named ULISSE, TELEMACO and PENELOPE i.e. the name of three heros from the Omero's poem ODISSEA.
Our italian linear transponder was designed by i5TDJ (now SK) and it was built with fundings of ARI the Associazione Radioamatori Italiani ad it was publiched with drawings and photos in four pages of the AMSAT newsletter June 1978 Volume X- Numbar-2
I can send a copy of it to you and to everybody is interested on it.
Our three linear 100 mW transponder prototypes were in Mode-A and in Mode-B with a total bandwidth of 45 KHz but the 10.7 MHz IF was splitted into three overlappd sections 15 KHz each with three separate amplifiers and with three separate AGC controls in order do not desense the full bandwidth of 45 KHz in presence of one very strong signal falling into one 15 kHz wide IF amplifier.
During the flights at 40.000 km altitude many QSO's were made with the balloon over the mediterranean area and the transponder never failed one flyght.
Our linear transponder was recovered every time under CNR and CNES command near Huelva south Spain and actually is still working as a linear transponder on top of a mount in north of Italy.
Best 73" de
i8CVS Domenico