EOSS Upcoming Flights
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10/19/2024 - 00:00 to 23:45
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11/02/2024 - 00:00 to 23:45
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11/09/2024 - 00:00 to 23:45
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11/16/2024 - 00:00 to 23:45
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12/07/2024 - 00:00 to 23:45
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03/22/2025 - 00:00 to 23:45
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04/05/2025 - 00:00 to 23:45
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04/19/2025 - 00:00 to 23:45
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08/02/2025 - 00:00 to 23:45
Balloon Related Software
Balloon Related Programs
Flight Predictions
Online
If you know of an online prediction system, send the URL along to the webmaster here. thanks
- Balltrack ONLINE!! Predictions on the web without the hassle of downloading and running programs. From the folks at Near Space Ventures. Designed by Troy Campbell, KC0MIC with mapping interface to Google by Keith Kaiser, WA0TJT
- University of Wyoming's "Balloon Track" program - they call it a "Balloon Trajectory" program.
- University of Cambridge program - They call it the CUSF Landing Predictor
Downloadable Programs
- Balloon Track for Windows, A Windows prediction program. Click the link for more details.
- BALLTRAK.ZIP, Bill Brown's suite of balloon flight software. MSDOS BASIC programs require GWBASIC, QBASIC or other suitable basic interpreter. Included in BALLTRAK.ZIP are:
- ASCENT.BAS
- BALLIFT.BAS
- BALLIFT9.BAS
- BALLTRAK.BAS
- DESCENT1.BAS
- ELEVATE.BAS
- WB8ELK's prediction software. MSDOS BASIC requires GWBASIC, QBASIC or other suitable basic interpreter.
- FloaTrak is Bill Brown's Balltrack with a user interface I've added. The program is an executable DOS program. It's a bit more user friendly than Balltrack because you can create data files for import into the program rather than having to manually key in each data point every time you run the program. "FloaTrack", as the name indicates, has been tinkered with to allow for zero pressure floaters.
I recommend you use Balloon Track for Windows if you are running a Windows 98/ME/NT/2000 or XP OS. It has many additional features and makes running predictions quite fast and easy (once you learn its tricks). - LIFTWIN Ver 0.41 The balloon inflation and lift calculation program written by Hank Riley, N1LTV. This comprehensive lift and ascent prediction program uses a what-if gridded style data display to answer just about every question outside of track prediction that might arise in the planning and execution of a balloon launch using helium or hydrogen (runs on all Windows versions, with the possible exception of Vista, from Windows 3.1 up to and including Windows 7, 32 bits).
NOTE: It is possible to run LIFTWIN in Windows 7 since it has been verified to run under the 32 bit version. Simply place the program in a folder and place the VBRUN300.DLL file in that same directory and you should have no problems. Hank Riley will be putting up a new official LIFTWIN website shortly.
Tracking and Direction Finding
- EOSS Grid Conversion Utility by Nick Hanks will give you your EOSS grid X/Y coordinates for any latitude longitude entered.
- Automatic Packet Reporting System - This link actually goes to the Tucson Amateur Radio organization. They have an excellent APRS site.
- TRACKXLS.ZIP contains the macros for Paul Ternlund's excellent DF Triangulation Pgm.
Spread Sheets of Practical Use
- convert_Height_Millibars.xls - WARNING this spreadsheet previously had been discovered to produce inaccurate results. I'm "beta testing" the revised version posted here with a few folks to ensure we all agree it's OK. So until this warning is removed be advised of potential problems. (18K) Excel Spreadsheet, Calculate altitude from pressure, pressure from altitude and convert pressure to pressure (eg: mbar to Torr). Spreadsheet is protected to avoid inadvertent destruction, but there is no password so you can unprotect and fix, enhance etc.
Various Formulae
Aviation Formulary
Ed Best maintains an excellent page of useful formulae for dealing with latitude, longitude and lots of derived information from these points. The formulae are for "aviation" but they work for any lat/long computational need.