If the weather cooperates this week, the Southern Amateur Radio Union along with Flomaton Elementary School, Brewton Middle School, and the Brewton Area YMCA Pre-School will be launching a Amateur Radio Station for each school.
These stations will be tethered to a special long float balloon. These balloons are designed to float for extended periods of time, some have stayed up for almost two years.
The weather conditions will determine the exact date of launch, so there must be sunny conditions and no or light winds. The initial ‘window of launch opportunity’ was set to Tuesday, Feb. 18 through Saturday, Feb. 21 2020. According to the weather forecast, it looks like Friday, Feb. 21 might be the day to launch.
The extended weather outlook is not looking it's best, at this time. If conditions are not be favorable during the window, secondary window dates will be determined.
The radio stations for each school will report: Location, Altitude, Temperature, Pressure, Speed of travel, Direction of travel, Voltage of the solar panel, number of GPS satellites in view and the number of transmissions since wake up.
All this information will be placed on a Google map, to be viewed at anytime by anyone who desires to keep with the student's floating crafts.
The web address to track is: aprs.fi Updates will be posted on the Southern Amateur Radio Union's Facebook page, it is located at:https://www.facebook.com/groups/Southern.Amatuer.Radio.Union/
Which school's balloon tethered radio station will travel the longest distance? Which will fly the highest? Which will cross the Atlantic Ocean first? Which and how many of the schools will report via the International Space Station (ISS)? What countries will be flown over? How will the teachers use the data transmitted?
Here are the call signs for each school:
Craft SARU-003, Flomaton Elementary School is KO4ACL-11
Craft SARU-004, Brewton Middle School is KO4ACL-12
Craft SARU-005, Brewton Area YMCA Pre-School is KA4ACL-13
These radio stations weigh less than one ounce. The stations are expected to float near 40,000 feet or around 7 and a half miles high.
All the stations are 100% solar powered and as such, they will sleep during the night, then wake up and begin transmitting when Ole Sol shines upon them, again.
When the radio stations are over the ocean away from land based aprs relay stations there is a aprs station on board the International Space Station that they will transmit through when they are within range of the ISS.
To track the balloons, there is a picture of what you should see on your phone or computer on the Southern Amateur Radio Union's Facebook page.
While on the page consider joining our Facebook group, to stay up with this project and many more to come, everyone is welcome to join.
The Alger Sullivan Historical Society's big day is fast approaching, Sawmill Day and the Car Show will be on Saturday, May 2 at 610 4th Street in Century.
Everyone is invited to join the ASHS, and membership dues are still only $5 a year, or $100 for a lifetime membership. Our meetings are on the third Tuesday of the month, at 6 PM. At our March meeting Tuesday, on March 17, our guest speaker will be Claudia Campbell of Fort Mims. Everyone is welcome to attend the meetings and invited to join the ASHS.
