At 9:25 am on November 2, Kazu launched a Yokohama pico balloon with Party Balloon Helium. His payload was a his RP2040 pico balloon tracker. This board is flying with about 40 mw of RF power output, which is about 3 times the power of previous flights. This payload used a tilted, pyramid style solar panel design, which is better suited to grab more sunlight in the winter months, and extend the transmitting period of each day. It is transmitting wspr on 20 meters, cw on 14.069 mhz, and SSTV on 14.230 mhz USB.
– Modes: WSPR, SSTV and CW on 20m (no APRS this time)
– RF power: 40mW (usually 10mW, so +6dB)
– Tracker: AG6NS RP2040 tracker v0.4 + 1.0V to 3.3V voltage boost converter
– Tracker Firmware: Using an updated version of this firmware
– Solar cell: (half the 0.5V 1A cell) x 2 in series) x 3 in parallel in triangle pyramid configuration
– Antenna: 20m band full size vertical dipole 26 gauge
– Balloon: Yokohama 32” clear, without valve, neck extended
– Gas: Balloon Time party helium
SF-HAB 