Balloon Group Minutes 10/03/95

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EOSS net - 3 October 1995
Net control - Larry Cerney (N0STZ)

W5VSI (Mike Manes) - Good to see Tom, KT0YI [I'm not sure about this callsign, ed.] checked into the net. Tom is both an amateur rocketeer and a radio amateur. Jim Lynch from CQ magazine was at EOSS 24 and wrote about it in his VHF and Above column in CQ. 

N0STZ - Do you want to comment on the dinner with Gustavo?

W5VSI - Last night had dinner with Gustavo, LWDTZ, from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is active in AMSAT in Argentina and also is part of a balloon group there. They have launched five or six balloons, but they haven't recovered any because they launch close to the East coast of South America.

They could launch from futher inland, but they have fewer roads in the interior of Argentina then even SE Colo. Gustavo went to some electronic stores while here and got a GPS receiver. Andy Kellett (N0SIS) gave him some ICs. 

N0STZ - There will be a rocket launch from a tethered balloon this weekend. It is an attempt to test the launch configuration. The rocket launch will be Sunday, October 8 at 9 am at Eaglecrest High School in SE Aurora. Everyone is invited. Preston Prunty has filed with the FAA and is waiting to get a clearance. If there is an FAA problem, we will use a small rocket that does not need FAA clearance. There has been some discussion of releasing the balloon afterwards with a beacon supplied by Bob Ragain (WB4ETT) and turning it into a foxhunt. 

N0SIS - Will the decision whether or not to release the balloon be made soon? If it is going to be released I need to notify the FAA. 

N0STZ - If we decide to we will let you know right away. 

W5VSI - Will the launch from the tethered balloon need the support of the ground station? 

N0STZ - No, I have a laptop with a TNC and a battery-powered TV that tunes 
cable channel 58, so we won't need to set up the ground station. 

W5VSI - Do you have an ATV antenna, we lost the antenna during the last 
flight. 

N0STZ - I have a dual band rubber duck I will use. Gil Moore at the Air Force Academy wants us to be backup tracking for one of their flights which will occur December 2nd. More to come. 

Net Closed

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