High Altitude Balloon Carrying Amateur Radio - Burst!

Ever wonder what happens when a High-Altitude Balloon Bursts at altitude? The Nashua Area Radio Society sent a HAB to 115,000 ft this past Sunday. The Balloon carried a 2m APRS transmitter and a couple of cameras. Click on the video above to see the burst! You can read more here.

Fred, AB1OC
President
Nashua Area Radio Society

 

Fred...
How do balloon-ite "experimenters" even reasonably assure one of your "experiments" doesn't interfere with commercial aviation? Or, any other form of aviation but, my concern is that your "experiment" "interacts" inappropriately with an aircraft in the worst possible way!

Are ya' just hoping for the best or, maybe this simply isn't a part of your "experiments" equation?

Considering your QTH's proximity to BOS and knowing the airways as I do, I at least hope you're keeping your local F.A.A. District Office informed of your high altitude antics!

Can you tell I'm not even remotely impressed OM?
Regards,
NU4R

 

I was wondering where those "Coney Island White Eels" that were hanging in my trees came from!

 

Ballooning, and High Altitude Ballooning is a hobby that has been around for years. Ballooning was, in fact, the beginning of aviation. There are FAA rules that must be followed, which includes notification.

It's not "antics" any more than ham radio is "antics".

 

I was curious too, and found the answer on a slide on their High Altitude Balloon Project web page. -> "Notify FAA per Federal Aviation Rules Part 101"

 

The simple fact of the matter is...they don't. But neither do the weather balloons / surveillance balloons launched by various official agencies. Neither do the people who let mylar party balloons go, etc.

It truly is the big sky theory in full effect. But with the appropriate and required notification, at least aircraft can be given a general warning by ATC. And a lot of the bigger balloons expand to the size of a football field or larger at commercial aircraft altitudes, so they can definitely be seen and avoided.

[EDIT] I should also note that some of the larger balloon projects (i.e. Google Loon or some Universities) include transponders on their balloons, so they can be seen by ATC, and aircraft TCAS.

 

i'm impressed about the balloon and people getting out there doing something constructive.. i'm kinda bummed about the negativity out there.

 

That's almost 22 miles high! Just how long does it take to "float" down after the balloon bursts?
What is the total mission time and helium cost for a balloon of that size?

Temperature environment must be an issue at that altitude - not only is it obviously very cold, but air pressure is so low that normal convection cooling of the electronics probably doesn't occur as expected. Am guessing you use a lightweight, materiel with good thermal properties (Styrofoam cooler, perhaps??). Do you have to heat the payload compartment to keep everything working, or use a circulating fan to stir what little air there is?

 

I have been flying high altitude balloons for 32 years now with no incidents with aircraft. The FAA regulations permit 6 pounds of payload (total of 12 pounds) without having to file for a waiver. I also have a balloon burst video I filmed 15 years ago. It is amazing to see how they burst at peak altitude.

- Bill Brown WB8ELK

 

On the questions of flight safety. First, we file a NOTAM (a flight plan) with the FAA so that they can advise us of any conflicts with other traffic. The flight path prediction software that we use is quite accurate so we can do this effectively. I was also one the phone with an FAA flight controller 5 mins before we launch so we could both ensure that there would not be any conflicts. Lastly, the approach we take is to use a very lightweight platform which weights under 4 lbs. Technically, the FAA does not require a NOTAM to be filed if the setup is under 3 lbs but we do it anyway for safety reasons. The NOTAM system has screens to accommodate High Altitude Balloon flights and the controllers are very accommodating towards these flights.

 

First I would like to congratulate the Nashua Area Radio Society on what appears to be an incredibly active club. In this day and age, I was amazed when I checked the web pages to see what else is going on besides the High Altitude Balloon. I considered joining because I'd love to be involved with folks like this, but it's just too far away...sorry to burst your balloon. Keep up the good work!

 

Thanks, Fred. It was a great launch and a very educational day for the students that took part. Sorry to see the one negative post.

 

Yes, our HAB flew to almost 22 miles high on this flight. The ascent took about 2 1/2 hours which is pretty typical for our HAB flights. The pressure was 5 mb (5 millibars is about 0.5% of the pressure on the ground) when the balloon burst - almost a vacuum! The temperature does some interesting things in the Troposphere. We saw temperatures as low as -60C (-76 F) which was at 48,000 ft. The temperature actually goes back up to about freezing at the altitude where the balloon bursts. To keep things light, we use mil-spec electronics, no enclosure, and insulate items like our cameras that need it to function properly. You can read more about our HAB platform here.




We fly a 1500g balloon which requires about 130 cubic ft of helium to inflate. The balloon is about 7 ft in diameter at launch and is over 30 ft in diameter when it bursts.

These flights and the classroom preparation with students that we do before each one make great STEM learning projects. We also learn quite a bit about how to improve the experience during each flight.

Thanks to everyone for taking an interest in what we're doing. Keep the questions coming!

 

I notice that a few folks expressed some interest in our club but are too far away to join us for meetings. We produce a great deal of Amateur Radio training material and we have forums where our members answer questions and mentor. We've created an inexpensive subscription membership so that everyone can have access to our training materials.

New Internet Subscription Available for Mentoring and Learning!
The Nashua Area Radio Society is widely recognized for its work in mentoring and development of Amateur Radio skills among members and within our community here in New Hampshire.

We’ve created a new option to enable Hams and potential Hams to take advantage of our training materials and learning forums here on our website. Our new Internet Subscription is available everyone who lives in the United States and outside of the states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts for a small yearly donation which supports our programs.

Included is Full Access to our extensive online Tech Night Video Training Library and Q&A posting in several of our most popular forums here on our website. You can sign-up or learn more about our Internet Subscription and our Membership Options here.

 

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