It is late and we are still processing telemetry and video streams but we thought we would post a quick note to say that Horus 55 was an absolute success. Stories are coming in from across the region from people who successfully watched the Amateur TV signal live over 80-90km away.
Reports also of the primary 434MHz 4FSK telemetry beacon being received 700km away in Melbourne plus the LoraWAN Things Network gateways over 560km away reporting packets from the experimental LoraWAN payload on 923MHz ISM.
We will post a long form story in the next day, but here is one of the amazing frame grabs from the TV transmitter just after burst. As the TV payload started to tumble it sent back this frame showing all of the telemetry transmitters and the parachute in one shot!
Finally here was the moment the chase and recovery crew picked up the payload.
The DVB-S high-altitude balloon launch (hopefully the first of many!) has now been locked in for 10AM ACDT Sunday the 7th of March (2330z Saturday 6th), from the Auburn Oval. The launch team is expected to arrive on site starting 9AM, and spectators are welcome!
For those without D-ATV receiving equipment, AREG is going to attempt to stream the received ATV pictures via Hayden VK7HH’s HamRadioDX YouTube channel at the same time. You will find the link to the YouTube broadcast here:
The primary tracking telemetry will be transmitted on 434.200 MHz using the Horus Binary 4FSK data mode. Amateurs in the Adelaide and Central SA region are also encouraged to get involved with the flight through receiving and uploading flight telemetry from our 70cm band tracking beacons. Every piece of telemetry data is valuable to the flight tracking and recovery teams so if you can help join the distributed receiver network to collect that data you will be making an important contribution to the project!
Note that you will need to use a ‘dial’ frequency of 434.199 MHz for the 4FSK signal to be centred in your receiver passband and hence be decodable.
Tracking Details – DVB-S Video – 445 MHz
If you want to get involved through receiving the D-ATV signal direct from the balloon on 445 MHz take a look at the How-To Guide being maintained by Mark VK5QI, available here: docs.google.com/D-ATV_Setup_Guide
UPDATE: The launch has been set for Sunday 10AM ACDST, from the Auburn Oval.
The flight crew are starting to get flight-path predictions for this coming weekend, though the models are quite inaccurate this far ahead of the prediction time. Currently a launch on Sunday looks promising from Auburn. This would put the balloon within 80-90km of Adelaide for much of it’s flight, which should allow many stations to be within direct decoding range of the Digital-ATV transmission on 445MHz.
These predictions *will* change over the next few days so this is just a preliminary plan at this stage. We expect to be able to make a commitment on the launch date and time most likely Thursday or Friday this week.
As a reminder, the following launch dates/times are planned:
For those without D-ATV receiving equipment, AREG is going to attempt to stream the received ATV pictures via Hayden VK7HH’s HamRadioDX YouTube channel at the same time. You will find the link to the YouTube broadcast here:
Digital ATV Transmission – How to Receive?
If you want to get involved through receiving the D-ATV signal direct from the balloon on 445MHz take a look at the How-To Guide being maintained by Mark VK5QI:
Amateurs in the Adelaide and Central SA region are also encouraged to get involved with the flight through receiving and uploading flight telemetry from our 70cm band tracking beacons. Every piece of telemetry data is valuable to the flight tracking and recovery teams so if you can help join the distributed receiver network to collect that data you will be making an important contribution to the project!
The telemetry beacon will operate on 434.200MHz
If you want to have a go receiving the telemetry from this flight, you’ll need a SSB-capable 70cm receiver (or a SDR), and the horus-GUI telemetry decoder software ( github.com/projecthorus/horus-gui ).
The D-ATV test flight of Project Horus is getting closer. This weekend Mark VK5QI will be up on the hills face overlooking Adelaide and will run the balloon transmitter from the ground to give stations a chance to configure their receiving equipment before the main event on Sunday March 7th.
UPDATE: This event has now concluded. Eight stations were able to get setup to receive the DVB-S signals. We are still on track to launch this coming weekend, with the planned launch date still being Sunday the 7th of March at 10AM. If weather conditions do not permit a launch on this date, Monday the 8th of March (a public holiday in VK5) is the first backup date, with a launch the following weekend being the second backup. The launch site is still TBD (either Auburn, Two Wells, or Mt Barker).
Mark will be available live on the air for people to test their receiving systems at the following times and places this coming weekend:
– SATURDAY 27th Feb
– ~11AM Start. ~1 hr duration.
– TX Location: VK5SFA QTH (Woodforde, SA)
– Coordination: VK5RSA 70cm
– SUNDAY 28th Feb
– ~11AM start. ~1 hr duration.
– TX Location: Para Power Station (Blacktop Hill Road)
NOTE: There may be an update to SDRangel before the launch. The new version will display signal MER (Modulation Error Rate) information, but has not been released yet.
If you missed the AREG presentation on what was required to to receive the balloon, the video is available via the HamRadio DX Youtube channel (Thanks Hayden!)
Today Mark VK5QI took the Balloon ATV transmitter out for a terrestrial test. He carried out line-of-sight testing of the DVB-S payload from BlackTop Hill to the AREG remote site near Tarlee – a distance of 54km!
First test – could he see the signal on the SDR up at the site (RTLSDR, Diamond X-50, no preamp)… yes!
Next, Mark dumped some samples with rtl_sdr, then transferred them back to his laptop. He processed them through leandvb – and got video!!! A bit of fading, but for an omni receiver with no preamp, this is a pretty damn good result!
… and here’s some of the raw video
The MER as reported by leandvb was around 8-11 dB, right on the edge of what is decodable. Still, with such a basic system, a good result!
Based on the path, it is estimated to give us a working range of about 150km from the balloon given a receiving station with 15dBi gain and a good low noise preamplifier.
Stay tuned for more information on how to receive and decode the Digital ATV signal and save the date – we hope to launch the transmitter into the stratosphere on Sunday March 7th. (We also plan on streaming the event on Youtube).
For those who missed it late last year here is a bit more information about the Balloon ATV payload and some minimum signal testing that was carried out.
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The second of our monthly fox hunts for 2021 was held last Friday the 12th of February.
Four AREG members set out to hunt the foxes down and we were also joined by guest Brian, VK5TBC.
The usual two 144MHz foxes were deployed by Grant VK5GR as well as a bonus ultra low powered 25mW 433 MHz fox, made from a repurposed ex Bureau of Meteorology Radiosonde.
The first fox was hidden by the banks of the River Torrens in Lockleys. The second was hidden in a tree on the golfing greens just behind North Adelaide Railway Station.
The third 70cm fox was hidden roughly 400 meters from from where the first 144MHz fox was deployed.
Sigtrax is a great mobile app for plotting bearings/beam headings when when out hunting the fox.
The 144MHz fox hidden in a tree on the North Adelaide gold course
The next fox hunt is scheduled for the evening of Friday the 12th of March. This hunt may see us start from a new location of stay tuned for more info!
It is late and we are still processing telemetry and video streams but we thought we would post a quick note to say that Horus 55 was an absolute success. Stories are coming in from across the region from people who successfully watched the Amateur TV signal live over 80-90km away.
The ongoing dispute in the national media landscape between Facebook and the Federal Government has resulted in AREG no longer being able to directly re-post our own information, news and events from our Website.
