[SMCARA] Local Balloon event December 10th

[A.J. Farmer (AJ3U)]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Pat Kilroy <Patrick.L.Kilroy at nasa.gov>
Date: Dec 2, 2005 1:51 PM
Subject: [amsat-dc] Local "PracticeSat" Mission
To: amsat-dc at amsat.org


A PROPOSED ACTIVITY FOR AMSAT-DC

The Maryland Space Grant Consortium (MDSGC)
Balloon Payload Program (BPP) unites again with
SimSat (the SIMulated SATellite project at GSFC)
for a new challenge, ...

OUR NEXT FLIGHT is a GO for Saturday morning,
December 10, (9 a.m.-ish) with the release site
"local" to us, in western Maryland.

You are welcome to participate in this humble
"practice" flight.  (The high-altitude balloon
flight, designated as "NS-6" or Near Space Six,
and its HF coordination will be an agenda item
on the next Goddard Amateur Radio Club weekly
information net on Thursday, December 8, at
9 P.M. on 146.835 MHz FM WA3NAN/R or via
EchoLink. Don't miss it!)  Until then,
some basic info, ...

APRS: National APRS Frequency (LIVE)

Coordination Net: 7204 kHz "High-Altitude Small
Balloon Experimenter's Net"

Net Control Station (NCS): Hugh O'Donnell, W3FUO,
at the WA3NAN club station.

Launch site: Clear Spring, Md 21722 (39.66, -77.94)

Launch site and chase team frequency: TDB (2m FM?),
recovery repeaters TBD.

Reception footprint area: A radius of 400 miles
from Hagerstown-Frederick, Maryland at its peak
altitude.

Recovery Vehicles: N8PK-9, KB3MRQ-9, on findu.com

Maryland Space Grant: a consortium of colleges in
this state who are partnering with NASA for academic
achievement in their high-altitude small balloon
payload program.  Students build and test simple
payloads to survive a three-hour mission through the
stratosphere.  In the process they learn valuable
hands-on lessons in satellite technology and good
engineering practices.  Student exposure to the
radio art is a big plus and will play an increasing
role over time.

The NS-6 mission will carry five payloads, all
with onboard data loggers (HOBO units), but the
navigation telemetry will be downlinked LIVE on
three frequencies in APRS format:  144.390 MHz FM,
a different 2m frequency as a backup TBD, and on
900 MHz spread spectrum.

BALLOON ANNOUNCEMENTS
http://showcase.netins.net/web/wallio/ARHABlaunchannouncements.htm
and
http://patkilroy.com/bpp/
and
http://NearSpace.net

If there is a scrub due to weather, either for
visibility (FAA requirement) or high winds (our
requirement) then, unfortunately, the balloon launch
will slip to the spring, to March 2006.

More news to follow at the above web pages and on the
nets.

Sincerely,

Pat Kilroy, N8PK
for
NASA, AMSAT and MDSGC BPP

Other Links
MARYLAND SPACE GRANT
http://www.mdspacegrant.org/

=================================================================
Patrick L. Kilroy                                             WK
Integration & Test (I&T) Manager    301-286-1984 Voice
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center    301-286-1673 Fax
Building 5, Mail Code 568           Patrick.L.Kilroy at nasa.gov
Greenbelt, Maryland  20771          http://patkilroy.com/simsat/
=================================================================

       "A problem well stated is a problem half solved."
                   -Charles F. Kettering
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--
A.J. Farmer, AJ3U
http://www.aj3u.com