Because of a flaky beacon, there have been just a few position reports. W6MRR-23 just phoned home over the Atlantic Ocean for a second time. The tracker problem seems to be due to counterfeit microcontrollers. I have another batch that should fix things.
Author Archives: Martin Rothfield W6MRR
Pico Balloon SSTV on 20 m – First Light
Last Sunday Kazu AG6NS and I tried putting up a tethered pico balloon up flying Kazu’s SSTV code on a ESP-32. It was sending “Martin-1” mode SSTV directly modulating a Si5351 clock generator chip. Due to slow but steady light winds it spent most of the time flying horizontally. We will have something ready toContinue reading “Pico Balloon SSTV on 20 m – First Light”
W6MRR-23 Lights Up for Second Day
After a series of failures to send after launching, there seems to be an intermittent problem with the same tracker. It is alternating on 20 and 40 m, with most of the 40 m transmission lost. We test on the ground prior to launch and never have problems. It may be temperature related problem dueContinue reading “W6MRR-23 Lights Up for Second Day”
W6MRR-22 Last Report
There were a few final position reports on 2021-12-23. The balloon had not crossed the Intentional Date Line but has gotten further than previous attempts. The last signals were received by CA stations so at least my signals circumnavigated.
Alaska by Christmas?
Despite the wonky transmitter, W6MRR-22 did get a few reports out. W6MRR-22 Position
Pico Balloon Race with Cal
Dr. Michael Lustig, a professor at Cal, launched a balloon (NU6XB) with his students about the same time. We are are catching up.
HAB Bursts Greatest Hits
We were exchanging pix of HABs bursting. Here are a few.
W6MRR-22 10 Day Prediction
The transmitter/antenna is having problems. It is sending WSPR on 20 m and 30 m. Today was the first day receiving 20 m reports. May not have great tracking over much of flight.
W6MRR-21 goes splash east of Japan
After more than 10 days in the air, W6MRR-21 stopped transmission over the Pacific. Circumnavigation or bust!
SF-HAB 