Horus 37: Flight Success!

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We are pleased to report that the high altitude balloonhorus-logo-black flight of Horus 37 has been a success. The AREG Project Horus launch crew carried out the flight for Launchbox, a group which engages with the STEM programs (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) in schools across the state.

http://www.launchboxspace.com/

Lift off was from Mt Barker High School at 10.00am, with landing occurring approximately 15km east of Mannum about 3 hours later.

8 payloads went aloft this flight. 5 from Launchbox and 3 from AREG. The new one for AREG was the experimental SSDV transmitter, which delivered live images from the balloon for a portion of the flight.

Launch

Launch was conducted under challenging conditions with squalls and wind gusts arriving about 20 minutes before liftoff. This caused considerable consternation from the launch team who were for a few minutes at risk of loosing or damaging the balloon before we had even gotten off the ground. However, through the skillful handling of the balloon by the AREG team, catastrophe was averted.

Once the balloon payload train was assembled, the countdown got underway. The weather eased and the flight finally got away safely.

Images from the Flight Ground Preparation and Launch

The Flight

The flight itself went well, although it had to be terminated earlier than planned. The team did not want it landing in the River Murray.

trackplot

Flight Track from half way through the flight

habhubtrack

Final Balloon Track – www.habhub.org

Lots of stations participated in the telemetry collection (thank you for your contribution).

SSDV Experimental Payload – ‘Wenet’

As indicated above, this flight carried a first time payload for AREG. Mark VK5QI and David VK5DGR have been working on a slow scan digital image payload for the balloon system which alternates between 19.2kbit/s and 115kbit/s on a new downlink channel. This system makes uses of the UKHAS SSDV server to stitch together images from packets uploaded by multiple receivers. To help this along during this flight, Andrew VK5AKH and Scott VK5TST headed to the back of the Mt Lofty ranges after launch and collected as much of the SSDV picture feed they could for relay to the internet.

Andrew VK5AKH and Scott VK5TST’s setup for SSDV

The SSDV capture software currently runs under Linux, with a screenshot of it running in a Virtual Machine on VK5QI’s CarPC below. The software is open source and can be found on GitHub. 

(courtesy Mark VK5QI)

In this case, the modem software is still very much under development, without any FEC capability currently. David VK5DGR and Mark VK5QI are continuing to develop the system and you may see it fly again in the near future with some enhancements.

The following is the Gallery of the shots taken by the camera received on SSDV during the flight:

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The following are some of the pictures downloaded from the camera after the flight:

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Landing and Recovery

The chase crew were lucky this time and were able to see the payloads land from about 400m away. It landed in a patch of scrub on the edge of a wheat field. After about a 1km hike we were able to successfully recover them. They landed in a patch of mallee scrub, so there was some judicious nudging required to bring them safely to the ground.

At the end of the day, here was the crew that undertook the payload recoveries

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Flight Statistics

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Conclusion

AREG would firstly again like to thank Launchbox for the opportunity to be part of the STEM program in schools. We also want to thank all of the team who came out today in somewhat cold and wet conditions to get the launch off the ground. The team included: Matt VK5ZM, Mark VK5QI, Grant VK5GR, Andrew VK5AKH, David VK5DGR, Scott VK5TST, Kim VK5FJ, Gary VK5FGRY, Josh VK5JO and Scott VK5TST.

Thanks also to the amateur ground stations who made the effort to receive telemetry and provide it to the tracking data pool online:

VK5QI, VK5ZM, VK5KJP, VK5KX, VK5ZRL, VK5NEX, VK5APR, VK5ZEA, VK5AKH, VK5FJGM, VK5FLEX, VK5HS

Without you these flights are that much more difficult!

73’s de Project Horus

Horus 37: Flight Currently GO for tomorrow morning!

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Preparations are continuing to fly a large helium balloon this coming Sunday from Mt Barker in South Australia. AREG will be flying the balloon on behalf of LaunchBox who are undertaking a schools science education program.

Lift-off is planned for 10am, with a flight path that currently looks like it will orbit the eastern Adelaide hills.

The only risk to the launch currently is the low level weather forecast. The Adelaide Hills area has received yet another significant rain band this evening. If this hasnt cleared by morning the flight start could be delayed. Watch this website for the latest news.

Predicted flight path, as per 2016-09-17 06Z GFS model. (5m/s ascent rate, 3.5m/s descent rate, 34km burst altitude)

Amateur Radio operators across SA and western Victoria as far east as Melbourne should be able to hear the telemetry transmissions on 434.650 MHz using 100 baud RTTY (7N2). If you decode the transmissions using the dl-flDigi program, you can contribute your received frames to the global pool of tracking data enabling us to follow the flight.

You can find a guide to tracking the balloon flight using the dl-fldigi software at the following link: https://ukhas.org.uk/guides:tracking_guide

As usual, the payloads can be tracked live on the Habhub Tracker, available here.

As an added bonus, this flight will be carrying an experimental payload transmitting 115kbaud FSK on 441.200MHz, downlinking live images from the payload. This payload has been in development by David Rowe (VK5DGR) and Mark Jessop (VK5QI) for some time, and utilises an open source modem stack. If all works as expected, images should appear on this page: http://ssdv.habhub.org/VK5QI

Next AREG Meeting: Microwave Equipment and Operation

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The next meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group will feature an introduction to Microwave Amateur Microwave Equipment and Communications, presented by guest lecturer, Iain Crawford VK5ZD. Iain will be talking about the gear he uses and some of the basic operating tips involved.  This will provide the ideal opportunity to whet your appetite for these bands just as the sunspot cycle draws to a minimum on HF, and coincidentally right before the VHF/UHF contest season!

http://www.vk5zd.com/Images/Blog/IMGP4702.JPG

http://www.vk5zd.com/Images/Blog/IMGP4702.JPG

Iain has been experimenting with these modes for many years, and has constructed transverters for 23cm, 13cm, 9cm, 6cm and 3cm.

The meeting will be held at the Reedbeds Community Hall, Phelps Court, Fulham on Friday 16th September. Doors will open at 7.45pm with the presentation starting at 8.00pm.

After the talk, there will be coffee and cake and an opportunity to socialise with fellow amateur radio enthusiasts, followed by a short AREG business meeting.

All amateur radio operators and people with just an interest in radio in general are welcome to attend! We hope to see you there!

Project Horus Balloon Launch – Advanced Notice!

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AREG members will again be involved DSC_6524with Project Horus, undertaking another high altitude balloon flight for some high school students on Sunday September 18th.

The Launch time will be 10.00am from Mt Barker, in the Adelaide Hills.

Amateur Radio operators from across SE Australia can get involved in the flight by contributing to the telemetry gathering effort. Tune your 70cm SSB radios to 434.650 and decode the RTTY telemetry using the dl-fldigi software.

Keep watching the AREG website for further details and confirmation of the flight day (flights can be cancelled up to 24hrs before liftoff if adverse weather is predicted).

AREG RD Contest 2016: Member Activity Report

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RD Contest Trophy

RD Contest Trophy

The Remembrance Day Contest for 2016 has come and gone. AREG was well represented this year with a number of home stations as well as three portable efforts making their presence felt across the bands.

Three members, VK5AKH, VK5MTM and VK5GR banded together to form a three station team this year. Named “AREG: Mostly Harmless!”, it gave the club an avenue to participate in the contest whilst also allowing individuals to also work for an individual score. It will be very interesting to see how they placed!

A further three members, VK5WTF, VK5QI and VK5KX also gave it a go! The following are the stories from those who took part:

Andrew VK5AKH – Portable Sedan

Andrew headed out to a remote site and set up a formidable station. He finished up with 286 contacts and 294points. it was a fair effort to built this station as a single op on Saturday morning and as hard as he was pushing he missed the start of the contest. The 3.5+ hours of assembly had its toll later in the evening when he was a little tired. Next time antennas will be set up on the Friday leaving me fresh for an evening. A good time was had…

TfJuOjR

Power

Station was powered by a Honda EU20i Generator with extended run fuel tank. Generator did not stop the whole contest.
62YRlvL (Medium)

Home Away From Home

Tent and Camp Kitchen Setup.
Ob7ZYbv (Medium)

Operating Station

Radio IC 7600 Amplifier KPA500 Logging MBP with Second monitor (for band Scope that did not work 🙁 ) Rotator Controller Linear Power Supply. Not Shown:  Foot Switch Flightcom Headset (that worked very well 😀 ) 500W blower heater to attempt to keep feet warm. F Pile of empty Coopers Dark Ale and FUIC Strong Cartons.

Antenna 20m

Folding HexBeam with Rotator

QxAlxnP (Medium)Antennas Low Bands

Foreground: SFA special, elevated feed vertical tuned with SGC230, with 8 tape measures as the radials. Background: 40m Inverted Vee on new Fibreglass Push Up.
VATH1r7

Grant VK5GR – Portable Tickera (Spencer Gulf)

Grant set off Friday night from Adelaide and arrived in Tickera, on the eastern shore of Spencer Gulf around 8.00pm. Station setup began bright and early Saturday morning. By 9.30am the basic station was running, so the extra time was put to use adding 160m dipole elements to the 80/40/20m mix. This was the multi-band resonant dipole’s first outing and it proved to be a very good field performer. After the contest it even allowed a quick PSK31 contact to Reunion Island on 20m no less!

During the contest, Grant made a point of operating for as many hours as possible, stopping only for ~1.5hrs around 5am for a quick nap. The effort paid off with 469 contacts and a total of 664 points (thanks to the graveyard shift multipliers). 160m paid off handsomely as well, with 41 contacts and almost a worked all VK Call areas in 8 hours (except for VK1 who didnt appear on the band). This was the first time Grant had operated on 160m and with luck now wont be the last!

Grant also experimented with RTTY this contest. While there were very few RTTY stations around, those he did work certainly helped his score, including his first 160m digital contact into VK4!

vk5gr-stats

VK5GR Contest Statistics

Theo VK5MTM – Home Station

Theo managed a Personal Best of 286 QSO’s/300 points. Operating from home, he had to battle solid S9 noise on 40m during the daytime and plasma TV noise 80% of the time on 20m (neighbour’s TV). Even so, a very respectable score was achieved!

VK5MTM-RD

Marcus VK5WTF – Portable Red Banks Conservation Park (near Burra)

Marcus (ex VK3TST) also headed out portable, but took a different slant on things. His intention was to go QRP phone from the get go, but to build a bigger than usual station. He also made the decision not to stay up, and admits that probably hurt his score, a lot, 83 points were gained in the hour before 6am.

Marcus’ Score was:

[table “” not found /]

His radios included a Yaesu FT-817 (not the ND) and a Yaesu FT-857D.

Antennas: 80/40 fan dipole, 20/15 vertical, 20m sloping yagi (supposedly pointing west), 160m EFHW. As far as antennas went, the poor attempt at a sloping wire yagi was full of fail. It must have been so close to the ground that it turned into an inverted-V. Marcus is thinking of making a 20/15 moxon for next time.

He also indicated that the highlight of his contest was a 160m contact with VK2IO, both portable in parks running QRP! A distance of roughly 1100km.

The ability to run a second radio was thanks to VK5QI who loaned him a 100A AGM battery. The rest of the station (817 & laptop) coped with 2x 12Ah SLAs a few Li-Ion pack to top up the batteries and 10+18W solar system. The 857 was the only thing hooked up to the AGM battery.

Mark VK5QI – Home Station

Mark decided to try out his new antennas and amplifier to see how he went. His tally was

[table “” not found /]

Mark commented that he was surprised:

  • That I could actually work people on 160/80m. The long-wire does actually seem to work! (Now to find a SG-235…)
  • The beam wasn’t that useful on 20m. I kept having to swing it around between VK6 and VK1/2/3/4, which got a bit annoying.
  • 400W certainly makes it easy to be heard – If I could hear someone, I could work them!

Peter VK5KX – Home Station

Peter admits his was a token effort – but he had fun (which is the main thing!)

[table “” not found /]

Overall, AREG was very well represented on the bands, and most of all everyone had fun!

See you next year on the Remembrance Day Contest!

Acknowledgements: Thanks to VK5AKH, VK5WTF, VK5GR, VK5MTM, VK5QI and VK5KX for their individual photo and text contributions to this article.

AREG Members entering RD Contest 2016

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Members of the Amateur Radio Experimenters

RD Contest Trophy

Group are banding together to form teams to participate in this year’s Remembrance Day Contest to be held on Saturday August 13th and Sunday August 14th 2016. The contest starts at 0300UTC and runs for 24hrs.

Andy VK5AKH, Theo VK5MTM and Grant VK5GR are forming one of the AREG teams. They will be operating from Sedan, Mansfield Park and Tickera respectively. Their team team is “AREG: Mostly Harmless”. We are hoping to field at least one other team as well!

Several of us are planning on operating in the mixed modes section as well, using both RTTY/CW and SSB. All participants are encouraged to listen for RTTY contacts throughout the contest.

Full details of the contest can be found on the WIA Website.