Written by Professor Rob Rowlands, of Sonoma State University (A final version of this article, can be found here: globehttps://ee.sonoma.edu/articles/2026/sonoma-state-engineering-students-launch-solar-powered-balloon-circles-globe ) This Spring semester, two accomplished instructors in the Engineering Department at Sonoma State University, Professor Rob Rowlands and Professor Robert (Bob) Salter, guided students in the E444L Radio Frequency Laboratory course to successfully launchContinue reading “SSU RF Ballooning”
Author Archives: Walter Dunckel
UC Davis launches two high-altitude balloons on Picnic Day
After seeing some ground test transmissions and two partial balloon flight data sets, I had Claude.ai take a closer look at the telemetry data to see what information could be inferred. And also looked for possible sources of information for the flights. The following is some of the data about the flights, and some linksContinue reading “UC Davis launches two high-altitude balloons on Picnic Day”
How to File a NOTAM for Launch
Filing a NOTAM: This needs to be 24 hours in advance, so we need to decide by our planned launch hour. You will need the GPS coordinates you intend to launch from, the direct of travel predicted for your flight, the start and end time in UTC, and the maximum altitude you expect to reach.Continue reading “How to File a NOTAM for Launch”
HAB Balloon Launch this Saturday
We will be having a high altitude balloon launch this Saturday, March 14! Launch site has been finalized. Meet at 8:30am or earlier at John Henry Johnson park on W Leland Rd in Pittsburg, CA: https://maps.app.goo.gl/N5GWNN7NF6gQGF5YA . See our groups.io page for more info .
SF-HAB has acquired the vanity club call sign W2HAB!
On February 3, The FCC granted SF-HAB the vanity club call sign license W2HAB!
SF-HAB / NoiseBridge dual launch
On December 13 we launched a HAB balloon in coordination with a NoiseBridge meshtastic HAB launch. For the highest probability of a balloon recovery, using the amateur.sondehub.org predicted flight path, a park in Stockton was selected as the launch site. This placed the predicted landing zone between Tracy and Livermore. The initial coordinated launch timeContinue reading “SF-HAB / NoiseBridge dual launch”
Kazu’s AG6NS-23 Pico Balloon Launch
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 solarContinue reading “Kazu’s AG6NS-23 Pico Balloon Launch”
Battery Powered Pico W6MRR-34 Launch
Sunday, October 19, W6MRR-35 was launched. This was the third battery powered version, in an attempt to extend transmissions past solar generation “sunset”. The payload was very similar to the previous -33 flight. After a full week of successful testing, immediately after launch, only a few transmissions were heard, and they were very weak. WeContinue reading “Battery Powered Pico W6MRR-34 Launch”
Battery Powered Pico W6MRR-33
Saturday, August 23, W6MRR-33 was launched. This was the second battery powered prototype, in an attempt to extend transmissions past solar generation “sunset”. Being very light weight with ~ 10 g for a typical payload doesn’t leave many options for batteries. Floating at ~ 40 K’, temperatures range from -50 C to -70 C. UsualContinue reading “Battery Powered Pico W6MRR-33”
SF-HAB Aug 9 High Altitude Balloon #6
Due to an unusual wind causing predictions from our normal launch sites to land far out in the Pacific Ocean, a launch from Tracy was planned. The morning of the flight the Sondehub flight prediction was inexplicably down. An alternative sites predicted a Hayward landing. Unfortunately, we had very low turnout for the launch. ItContinue reading “SF-HAB Aug 9 High Altitude Balloon #6”