10 MHz Amateur Radio balloon to cross the Atlantic

10 MHz Amateur Radio balloon to cross the Atlantic

Amateurs at the University of Tennessee Amateur Radio Club are launching a balloon with a beacon in the 10 MHz Amateur Band that may travel across the Atlantic during its 5-day mission.

The latest Icarus X mission UX-19, to launch in the next few weeks,
is to be the first in a series of attempts to fly the first Amateur
Radio equipped helium balloon across the Atlantic Ocean.

The balloon payload will include a GPS unit and CPU that will
regulate the balloon's altitude and send telemetry on 30M and 2M,
details will be available on the website regarding frequency, mode
and format.

The 10 MHz transmitter will run 3 watts output into a half wave dipole hung below the balloon.

The students need receiving stations to copy the telemetry data. They have developed a decoding program that anyone can download from the University of Tennessee web site which will relay the values back to the campus server.

All that is needed for the receiving station is a good antenna and a
computer with a high speed internet connection. Audio from the
receiver is feed into the sound card of the computer and The UTARC
DTRC software, a modified RTTY decoder, will relay the telemetry
information back to Tennessee to generate a nice visual status web
page of the flight data.


The flight has been dubbed 'The Spirit Of Knoxville' after Lindbergh's first trans-Atlantic flight.

The balloon will be carrying enough ballast and battery power for up
to five days and nights of flight. Check the UT Radio Club's web page
at http://balloon.utarc.org/ for more technical details and a host of
photos.

This site chronicles the last years worth of effort at developing the hardware and flight testing the different systems to produce an autonomous altitude control.

In addition to the 30m beacon there will also be an APRS beacon AA4UT-11 on 144.390 MHz FM.

University of Tennessee Amateur Radio Club
http://www.utarc.org/

Distributed Tracking and Relay Client - Telemetry Software
http://www.utarc.org/wiki/index.php/DTRC

Icarus X Summary
http://www.utarc.org/wiki/index.php/
Icarus_X#Icarus_X_Summary

Icarus X pictures
http://www.utarc.org/gallery2/main.php





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On What day are they launching this??

 

Yes, what is the date.  I look at every link and tried all the pages there and could not find an date/time.

 

Per FCC rules:

Unless there is a control operator in the balloon, the proposed 10 MHz beacon is automatically controlled, and therefore is illegal while the balloon is within the jurisdiction of the FCC.

 

Nowhere in the article does it say the beacon was automatically controlled. It may have a undisclosed control link. You have have no idea. I don't condone rule breaking. I am quite sure the principals involved will do the right thing and follow the rules.

 

It is entirely possible they have a manual control through US airspace, and then a auto beacon that will initiate 200+ miles off the coast over the Atlantic. They could also be doing manual control the entire mission. I'm sure they've taken Part 97 into account when designing the craft.

 

From the UTARC web page:

"Balloon Launch:
UX-10 "Icarus I"
February
Time and Location: TBA"

 

OK, I found it. The link is on the very far left of their page. It did not display the full screen on my computer, and I had forgot to cursor over to find the rest of the page.

 

Could be a problem when it gets to this side of the pond. From our regulations:

"..Aeronautical mobile in the UK is not permitted and the licence is quite specific about this. If you are carrying a transceiver by air make certain you can switch it on to satisfy the airport security then switch it off and leave it off..."

 

Glad to hear there will be a CW beacon onboard. Has been a while since I have heard any CW from above since FO-29 went dead last year. I just wish our country would put a little effort into more useable CW/SSB satellite or balloons.

 

This is what I like about the modern world. All you need is an idea or experiment  that you want to test and 50 lawyers world wide each with their hand out for $$$. Then 500 bureaucrats that have rule books and their hand out for $$$. Then 5,000 activists with 50,000 reasons why it is environmentally or socially damaging. Well you get the idea , if this is what the world was like 100+ years ago we would not have radio or electricity or cars or airplanes.
   I wish the students well and hope that they can overcome the worlds biggest challenge these days!

 

I think it is more the ideas that are not though to be worth any money. Now, if a person has an idea that can make a big company millions of dollars, look out, anything and anyone in the way will get trampled flat.

 

Balloon launches are very wind sensitive so the day is likely to be somewhat uncertain.  I would guess it would be early in the morning though, when the air tends to be most still.  Probably close after sunrise.

 

The web site is http://balloon.utarc.org with information on the current project. You can also email info@utarc.org to keep informed.

 

N8QWS...You are so right on this one.

Why cant they just let these folks have some fun...