http://www.ftmchenrycap.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&am...
High-Altitude Balloon Launch in Maryland this Saturday morning, October 22!
Flight director: Josh Neel, KB3VTP Mission designation: CHASE-1 Flight Crew: Civil Air Patrol squadron (youth) "Ft. McHenry" from Catonsville, Md.
HERE IS THE LINK from my short presentation last night at the GARC meeting. The balloon callsign is KB3VTP-11. Watch for N8PK-9 chasing it on APRS at http://aprs.fi/?call=n8pk*&mt=roadmap&z=11&timerange=259200&... along with others on the chase and recovery team.
You may monitor the GARC repeater, WA3NAN/R on 146.835 MHz FM, any time after 9:00 A.M. EDT to compare notes!
From the launch site ten miles west of Hagerstown,
MD, we hope to launch by ten, but it is Josh's and his squadron's first high-altitude balloon, so who knows if we run into any delays. (But then again, the payload is not very "field repairable" so it either works or it doesn't.) The filling operations -- the realtime "On the Job Training" -- will be the driving factor in the actual release time, next to weather conditions at the launch site and down range.
Position packets will be received before launch by the nearby N3KTX-4 node, thanks to Mike Garber. The launch coordination repeater will be 442.650+ on the same hilltop as N3KTX-4. While in chase we may switch over to the K3PZN/R in Westminster on 145.410 MHz FM.
Flight downlinks: 144.390 MHz FM and 433.920 MHz AM.
If you'd like to participate on a chase team then give me a call ASAP. Otherwise, please enjoy watching the events unfold from the comfort of your home. Use the repeaters and Web links as your controls.
Happy hunting!
Cheers,
Pat Kilroy N8PK High-Altitude Experiments Advisor
Josh Neel's Balloon CHASE-1 Info Page http://www.ftmchenrycap.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&am...
Other Good Links:
WEATHER At Launch Site http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=21722 or http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Clear+Spring&state=MD&...
WINDS ALOFT (Jet Stream) major contributor to track http://www.wunderground.com/US/Region/US/2xpxJetStream.html
VISIBILITY http://www.wunderground.com/US/Region/Northeast/2xpxVisibility.html
METAR (Key for launch GO or NO GO) http://www.wunderground.com/Aviation/index.html?query=KFDK#METAR
We will watch the METAR for Hagerstown (HGR), Frederick (FDK), Westminster (DMW) and Philadelphia (PHL). The payload is not expected to venture near Baltimore-Washington (BWI). METAR explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/METAR
FLIGHT RULES in effect http://www.wunderground.com/US/Region/Northeast/2xFlight.html
----------------------------------------- Mr. Patrick L. Kilroy Flight Systems Integration and Test (I&T) Building 5, Mail Code 568 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 Phone: 301-286-1984 E-mail: [email protected] -----------------------------------------
"People don't care about how much we know, until they know how much we care." - Jack Vieira
Outreach: http://simsat.net/