Balloon launch with 10 meter beacon April 11,2015

I hope this is a good place to post our 10 meter beacon launch on a balloon.Hope to get some reports once in the air and days to follow should it work as planned.
The beacon is very simple sending CW call sign of NY2DS...etc every 10 seconds.There will be no batteries used but only small solar cells for daytime operation.Batteries do not last as long as intended flight and too heavy besides.10 meter band is generally a daytime band for propagation but the signal will be of around 100mw.It should be heard for around 100 mile radius or more.
Launch location will be Holley,NY and anyone downwind should hear it pass by easily.Balloon envelopes are custom built mylar type material and altitudes may be around 30k to 40k ft.If all goes well,it may last a few days or maybe longer.It has been known these materials can last weeks in the air.I will post more details once it is in the air since frequency drift is quite wide in low temperatures.Frequencies to scan are 28.221-28.223 mhz CW.
Anyone can email me N2NXZ (at) yahoo.com for any detailed information.Other balloons will also be launched using GPS tracking with weather permitting.
Jim,N2NXZ - Hilton,NY fn13ch

 

Which way do you think it will fly?

 

If all goes like planned and design,this balloon could reach jetstream altitude.If it does,it will not take long to reach the Atlantic ocean and cover some real mileage.The winds in my location are generally West to East...so it will head towards the nearest city Rochester,NY and then on towards Syracuse,NY.In some cases,winds tend to move our balloons Northeast.The beacon range is wide,anyone with a modest 10m setup will hear it in these areas.My mobile heard one of these beacons for 5 hours until over the horizon.Not sure if propagation will help,but the band has been doing well.Just have to sift through the other beacon stations.

 

What frequency will the beacon be on??

 

Saturday looks like a bad day due to weather forecast.Looks like Sunday afternoon will be the best weather for this launch.My guess is around 1-2pm.Will repost the time and day once we know.
Looking at around 28.221 to 28.223 mhz CW mode.Temperature changes will affect this quite a bit,but will eventually level out.
ID repeats NY2DS/BLN/1 with 10 second pause continuously.

 

Balloon left the ground fantastic.One of the best we have sent up.Lift was perfect in my opinion and the 4ft x 5ft mylar sphere rose great in the clear blue sky.
Signal leveled off at about 28.222.70 mhz.We heard it on magnet mounts for 95% of the flight.By the time I came home the signal was barely on the waterfall.Just over 3 hours of signal heard at launch location.I believe this balloon will make a long flight.Hope anyone interested keep an ear out for a few more days to a week !These balloons have been known to fly around the earth.
Last seen to be heading North/East to East.Probably should reach the East coast by sunset.

 

We had received no reports from this beacon since hearing it last from the launch site almost one week ago.I think we lack ground stations between launch area and balloon flight path.
We only had one station East of launch location in Massachusetts that was listening and another in South Carolina.We may have had better results if there was a few more.Maybe better luck next time,but that does not mean it is not transmitting in a tree somewhere between launch site and the Ocean.