N2JNT-2 - Tracking a balloon flight.

This afternoon, July 22, 2018, my station digipeated a single signal from a balloon 54.7 km south of my location.  The balloon's course indicated it would sail almost directly above my QTH so I grabbed a pair of binoculars and headed outdoors.

Unfortunately, I could not see the balloon, the altitude was in excess of 25,000 feet and it was moving slightly northeast at between 40 and 50 miles per hour.  Additionally, I suspect it was not very big so there was probably little chance of seeing it anyway.

The balloon, it appears, was launched from somewhere in New Jersey and during the course of the afternoon, I watched it pass over the Canadian border and head toward the village of Trois-Rivieres south of Quebec City.

The map above shows the path of the balloon: the straight black line going into the circle in the upper right.  My station, NJ2NT-2, is at the center of the large circle and has yellow path lines leading to it. 

Also, looking at the map you can see the level of APRS activity in the northeastern United States. The APRS system is pretty elaborate considering that it was designed, built and is maintained by Amateur Radio operators for the benefit of other Amateur Radio operators at no charge.  It is strictly a labor of love.

As or this moment the balloon is well into Canada at an altitude in excess of 28,000 feet.  I just have to wonder if, or how, this ham intends to retrieve his equipment.  In any event, it will be interesting to see where it drops off the system.  Bon Voyage. 

July 23, 2018 13:07 GMT

P.S.  This morning it is heading almost due east toward the open ocean.

July 23, 2018, 15:12 GMT

July 23, 2018, 18:02

July 23, 2018, 21:52
Passed over Deadman's Bay and well on its way to Europe, perhaps Spain, France, or Portugal.

The image below shows the track and the final position recorded by the US APRS  system.
 The European APRS system operates on a different 2-meter frequency so I do not expect to see any additional reports.

 

N2JNT-9 - Using APRS 51Track X1C-2

Often I go hiking in the woods, just for the enjoyment of the outdoors or to place or retrieve my trail cameras.

As a precaution, I carry an APRS tracker so my family will know my whereabouts in case I get into trouble.  

The tracker I use is APRS 51 X1C-2 and an 8-watt Baofeng UV5R.  I find that the larger antenna works best for long-range tracking but it is sort of cumbersome.

If I am carrying my camera equipment I strap the system to my backpack, if I am just hiking I use a tactical bra, shown above. 

The icon displays a red vehicle instead of a hiker, but changing the icon is very involved so I decided to leave it alone.  Simply getting one of these units to work is an ordeal in itself.  

To illustrate the accuracy of APRS  I have included a photo of a Google map showing the position of my vehicle, N2JNT-8, last evening.  Since the Google satellite image was taken we have added a parking pad to the drive and the icon of my vehicle is within inches of the actual location.

N2JNT-6 & N2JNT-8 - The mobile units.

My primary vehicle is the Honda CRV seen above.  There are three antennas feeding through the hatch: two 2 meter 70 cm dual band mag mounts and the Byonics GPS unit and antenna.

 There is a dual band mobile in the vehicle at all times for communication while on the road.  In addition, there is a Byonics Tiny Trac 3 in the cargo carrier for APRS. 

The Byonics unit obtains data from the GPS and transmits the vehicle's position, speed, direction and altitude using a built-in 10-watt transmitter to the APRS system. 

Data from the Byonics unit is received, decoded and retransmitted to local digipeaters or iGate stations, which upload the data to APRS-IS.  Position information obtained by this data is available worldwide on the APRS network.

My secondary vehicle is a Honda Civic which also has a Byonics Tiny Trac 3 installed for APRS.  The antenna is a chocolate drop dual band that came with the unit.

As the FCC allows automatic operation of packet transmissions by amateur radio operators both vehicles can be on the road simultaneously, as the transmitter is operating under the privileges granted by my license and I am responsible for the operation of the unit.

My wife is the primary operator of the Civic and it gives me a lot of peace of mind knowing where she is,  and as I listen to police reports I can direct her around traffic hazards and congestion. 

N2JNT-2 iGate Digipeater - The software.

The software used to support my iGate Digi is APRSSIS32 by KJ4ERJ.  And, I would be very remiss if I did not acknowledge the support I have received from the author of this software.

Lynn, the author, provides the software to the ham community at no charge, and I have asked for and received help on many occasions from Lynn.  Thanks, Lynn!!

The green and yellow lines show paths between digipeaters, the yellow line shows the latest path of data to my station, which is in the center of the screen labeled ME.

Often the large RF digipeaters are located on remote locations without access to the internet.  My station has both a radio receiver and internet connection running 24/7.   It passes data from the digipeaters and local users, such as cars, boats, airplanes, and hikers,  from RF to the internet.  The internet has servers worldwide that display APRS information from these sources.

There are two fundamental parts of the APRS network that enable communications beyond simple peer-to-peer transmissions. They are Digipeaters and IGates. ... When an IGate, or Internet Gateway, hear traffic, it sends that data to the APRS-IS (Automatic Packet Reporting System – Internet Service).

Other objects shown on the screen are repeaters, home stations and moving objects such as vehicles.  On the left is a scrolling display of data traffic flowing through the station.

In the upper right corner and along the menu bar on the top of the screen there is an option to send messages between stations which functions like a chat session. 

Like the software and all APRS itself, these services are provided to the ham community without charge. 

Internet users can view APRS activity on aprs.fi and specific real-time data on my station via:

N2JNT-2 real-time data

N2JNT-2 iGate Digipeater Brunswick, NY Station Information

I am a licensed Amateur Radio Operator (HAM) with the callsign N2JNT and I  have been licensed for more years than I care to remember.  

During my long career as a ham, I  have been active in just about every phase of amateur radio:

HF, VHF, UHF, RTTY, PACKET, SATELLITE, CW, DIGITAL MODES, AMTOR, AND BEACONS.

Over the last several years I have been only sporadically active on 2 meters.  On January 1, 2017, I decided to dust off my old Pac Comm Tiny 2 TNC and activated an Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) to contribute to the ham community.

For those who do not know what APRS is I have copied the description from WIKIPEDIA:

"Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) is an amateur radio-based system for real time digital communications of information of immediate value in the local area.^[1] Data can include object Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates, weather station telemetry, text messages, announcements, queries, and other telemetry. APRS data can be displayed on a map, which can show stations, objects, tracks of moving objects, weather stations, search and rescue data, and direction finding data.
APRS data are typically transmitted on a single shared frequency (depending on country) to be repeated locally by area relay stations (digipeaters) for widespread local consumption. In addition, all such data are typically ingested into the APRS Internet System (APRS-IS) via an Internet-connected receiver (IGate) and distributed globally for ubiquitous and immediate access.^[2] Data shared via radio or Internet are collected by all users and can be combined with external map data to build a shared live view.
APRS has been developed since the late 1980s by Bob Bruninga, call sign WB4APR, currently a senior research engineer at the United States Naval Academy. He still maintains the main APRS Web site. The initialism "APRS" was derived from his call sign."

The station equipment, shown above, consists of a Baufeng UV5R dualband HT, the Pac Comm Tiny 2, RM Italy LA 144 65 Watt Linear Amplifier all feeding into a UFH/VHF dual band antenna up 40 feet.