Balloon Related Software

Balloon Related Programs

Flight Predictions

Online

• 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.
   

Downloadable Programs

• Balloon Track for Windows, A Windows prediction program. Click the link for more details.
• BALLTRAK.ZIP, 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).

Calculators

• LiftWin Ver 0.2 the new balloon inflation and lift calculation program available from HABLIC - written by Hank Riley.
• LiftWin Ver 0.41 updated

Tracking and Direction Finding

• Nick Hanks EOSS Grid Conversion Utility 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.