High Altitude Balloon Crossband Repeater Payload Northeast USA

[N0FPE]

If I can ever get the equipment together, i'm seriously considering doing just what you're saying. It would be loads cheaper than a "standard" 2 meter repeater.

I will be at the launch on Saturday and am prepared to help in any way I can. Exciting stuff - I've always wanted to do one of these launches.

Ken Worster
President, Piscataquis Amateur Radio Club
Milo, ME

Just what we need on the bands. 1000's of crossband crap with no ID's making a mess of all the simplex frequencies and maybe even the coordinated real repeater pairs because all the lids that put these things on dont follow the rules anyway. wonderful..

[K2WH]

Just what we need on the bands. 1000's of crossband crap with no ID's making a mess of all the simplex frequencies and maybe even the coordinated real repeater pairs because all the lids that put these things on dont follow the rules anyway. wonderful..

I have to agree with this. We don't need any more repeaters. The bands are completely saturated with many repeaters totally out of the norm meaning below 440mhz below 145.110, splits of 2.6 mhz, repeaters operating in the satellite sub-band. We have repeaters up the wazoo. I made the mistake of constructing a complete 900mhz repeater that worked very well. I took it off the air last year due to lack of activity.

Please; no more repeaters. Try SSB on the low ends of the VHF/UHF bands. That is where we need activity. Thankfully, the balloon repeater will take a ocean nap soon after release.

K2WH

[KB1UJS]

I have to agree with this. We don't need any more repeaters. The bands are completely saturated with many repeaters totally out of the norm meaning below 440mhz below 145.110, splits of 2.6 mhz, repeaters operating in the satellite sub-band. We have repeaters up the wazoo. I made the mistake of constructing a complete 900mhz repeater that worked very well. I took it off the air last year due to lack of activity.

Please; no more repeaters. Try SSB on the low ends of the VHF/UHF bands. That is where we need activity. Thankfully, the balloon repeater will take a ocean nap soon after release.

K2WH

Just what we need on the bands. 1000's of crossband crap with no ID's making a mess of all the simplex frequencies and maybe even the coordinated real repeater pairs because all the lids that put these things on dont follow the rules anyway. wonderful..

i'm not going to put anything on the air that breaks FCC rules or screws up repeater coordination. Please don't accuse me of such. You don't have to like repeaters - fine with me. I've no interest in vhf ssb work.

Back to the topic at hand - what's the id of the aprs beacon for the balloon?

Ken

[K0RGR]

Actually, we could use some linear translators - essentially SSB repeaters, and crossband isn't a bad idea. Some of these balloons could be using them, too, with a much better power budget than FM repeaters. A few well placed linear translators could provide coverage of most of the country, and we could play with various ways of linking them, too.

[WY5V]

Actually, we could use some linear translators - essentially SSB repeaters, and crossband isn't a bad idea. Some of these balloons could be using them, too, with a much better power budget than FM repeaters. A few well placed linear translators could provide coverage of most of the country, and we could play with various ways of linking them, too.

Hold on now. Are you are suggesting taking a chunk of spectrum, downconverting it to an IF and then upconverting to another band in such a way that it would accept any mode that fits within the passband?

That's crazy talk I tells ya. Crazy "pie IN THE SKY" crazy talk.

See there? I just saved you a whole bunch of time. All you had to do was take my word for it and not actually experience it yourself or learn anything from the process.

Don't let us old farts discourage you, Ken. You go right on trying crazy things. Launch balloons. See how high they can go before they burst. Transmit one's and zero's. Challenge that 1500 bull in that pasture to recover the package. Live life and pursue this avocation of Amateur Radio not vicariously but in the first person.

Sometimes ya gotta do things just because you can.

Andy

[KB1SWZ]

sounds fun-i will try to make contact....any------ pl tone---????? kb1swz

[W9AFB]

3 cheers for experimentation in amateur radio! Good luck with the launch! It's always fun when one of those balloon repeaters shows up.
Pay no attention to the curmudgeons. Trying new things is what ham radio is all about.