weather balloon traking

[eeprommemory]

anyone here bother to track these things.
i get balloons from Adelaide airport (analog).
and from woomera (digital 402.800mhz).
the digital ones have a gps in them and are easy to get i also have some analog ones too but you need some experience in tracking to get them.
just scan from 401.000 mhz to 403.000mhz at 00GMT and 12GMT.


do you have analog ones or digital ones in you area.

[Mr Router]

Excellent ! what software do you use to monitor tracking ?

[borisbadfinger]

Hey eeprom, I'd be interested to find out more regarding this. I can see you're using SondeMonitor. Is this software only compatable with certain radios/scanners and what type of connector do you use Eg serial/USB? Do you need an interface?

[viewer]

Wow...-55.5...brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[eeprommemory]

ANY radio with a discriminator tap will work it just plugs in to the microphone plug.
tested radios
uniden ubcd996t
philips fm900 custom eprom.
motorola mcx780 hacked radio CPS
koyodo kg107B custom eprom
it would be interesting to know what frequency's other states use.

[eeprommemory]

Wow...-55.5...brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

i have logs down to -72c
also have logs going up to 38000M

[trash]

yes, you can track weather balloons launched with weather radiosondes from all over the country. Most use ~408MHz LIPDs these days.

There's also a few private balloons flying around. Project horus etc.

[eeprommemory]

yes, you can track weather balloons launched with weather radiosondes from all over the country. Most use ~408MHz LIPDs these days.

There's also a few private balloons flying around. Project horus etc.

who uses 408mhz???? GRN would interfere.
vaisala can be programed 400~406 (only used by BOM)
zeemet is also 400~406
graw DFM-06 is also 400~406
from what i can tell from ACMA 401.500 is the frequency for all of Australia but not everyone uses it.

[trash]

yeah, sorry eeprom... typo ... I meant the 400-406 LIPDs.

Was that software freeware or one of the 30 day free trial types ?

[eeprommemory]

it works for 21 days then a nag window that you HAVE to put a key into to make program work.
you can delete the key out of the registry for another 21 days.
setting up the program may cause death or injury don't forget to hide all sharp objects and rope and guns.
i can give usefull hints on how to get the GPS part working as the author seems to think "well i got it working it's not that hard" but not tell you exactly how to make it work.

[tristen]

I can see you're using SondeMonitor. Is this software only compatable with certain radios/scanners and what type of connector do you use Eg serial/USB? Do you need an interface?

These links might provide readers of this thread with some interesting stuff to experiment with.

[eeprommemory]

just to let every one know i am using a standard RFI 400~420 4.5db antenna on a magnet mount chucked on the roof and the furthest track with this antenna was 340KM
above 10000M.
radiosondes power output is only 60mW.
balloon flight time is around 2 hours so you have at least 1 good hour to screw around with antennas and program.
in south australia launch time is 8:45am or pm it is launched at this time to reach 10000M by 0:00GMT or 12:00GMT i notice it is the same all around the world for them to launch the sondes so they reach 10000M by 0:00GMT

[eeprommemory]

anyone have any luck tracking digital sondes.

[trash]

I've been busy writing aprs tracking pic code

[eeprommemory]

anyone doing any tracking?

[trash]

nup. still to busy doing other things in life.
I wouldn't mind chasing a few if I had time.
I've got a pretty good idea where a lot of them must land around here.

[puca]

hi eeprommemory i setup my ubcd396xt i think i am picking something up at about 10.30 am every morning i get a good solid signal for about 45 min to hour on 401.6125 i have tried running sondemonitor but it doesn't decode anything what should the settings be on so i can give it another go tomorrow
thanks in advance for any help m8

[eeprommemory]

the settings i put in my ubc996t was to scan from 401.000 ~ 403.000 10khz steps.
if the sonde you herd was digital it sounds a bit like a grinding sound and digital ones are 10khz steps.
if it was analogue one then it was a series of tones going real fast over and over again.
i have gone fox hunting just to get analog ones just to prove you can get them.
digital ones are great for lazy people just get the last gps fix and drive up to it and pick it up.
i have also used my RTL2832u to receive sondes and it worked real good.

[eeprommemory]

in sondemonitor set the type of sonde to SGP.
i am thinking about making a sound sample if you want it i have a few analogue and digital sondes to test.
the module in analogue and digital sondes are the same and i will get around to hooking one up to a PIC chip.

[puca]

thanks for the reply m8 sounds like i am on the right freq then if you get a chance upload a sample of the sounds and i will check against what i receive