Announcement of EOSS-26

The students have written up an in depth look at their project teams.

LAUNCH DATE: April 6, 1996
LAUNCH TIME: 15:00 UTC
LAUNCH SITE: Changed to: Pikes Peak Radio Control Club Airport (Here's a Map.)
LAUNCH SITE COORDINATES:

• 38deg 57' 17.65" North Latitude
• 104deg 30' 04.43 West Longitude

EXPECTED TRACK: Between 45 degrees and 145 degrees azimuth

FLIGHT EXPERIMENT: Gas Capture Experiment and In flight Ozone Experiment
PROJECT INTEGRATOR: University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Air Academy High School

FREQUENCIES:

• Preflight Foxhunter Net 8:00PM the preceeding night
  • 147.225 MHz Colorado Repeater Association
• Launch Site:
  • Simplex 146.550 MHz
• Telemetry:
  • 144.340 MHz FM (1 Watt output) - The Packet telemetry stream is in ax.25 format at 1200 baud and is readable in plain english for the most part. Included in each telemetry frame is an APRS position string (APRS users see note below). Every few minutes a CW ID is transmitted on this frequency.
• Beacon:
  • 147.555 MHz beacon only
• ATV:
  • EOSS Shuttle Video - 426.250 MHz AM (1 Watt output) - NTSC video
• Foxhunters:
  • 448.450 MHz Pikes Peak FM Association Repeater
  • 146.58 MHz Simplex Field Frequency
• HF Net:
  • 7.235 MHz no net control set as of this writing

The Students of the Air Academy and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs will be running two experiments.

The Gas Capture experiment will utilize a mechanical device to capture an atmospheric sample several thousand feet above the launch site. This device consists of an evacuated canister with a valve controlled by radio. When the balloon rises to the sample altitude, a command will be sent that toggles the valve open and closed. The canister will be filled with a sample and sealed. After flight, the sample will be processed to determine atmoshperic constituents.

An on board ozone sensor will operate throughout the flight. Measurements from this experiment will be transmitted to the ground station via the Shuttle's Computer and radio suite. The data will be in plain ascii format, however, post processing is necessary to determine the ozone concentrations from the data beamed to the ground.

notes:

Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS):

• EOSS Shuttle controllers now beacon on the packet telemetry frequency with an APRS position string. If you are running APRS you should be able to graphically track the progress of the flight on the "CODENVER.MAP" map file. The Shuttle is not a TNC equipped packet station. It only reads data from various sensors and experiments and formats and transmits that data in AX.25. Therefore, beacons from other APRS stations will NOT be retransmitted (digi). So, inorder to minimize possible interference with hams in your area, we request you turn off the position beacons at your APRS station. Thanks!

• The Amateur Video Signals from the payload may be picked up by a cable ready TV set on channel 58. However, you need to be very close to the balloon, and have a directional antenna to do this as cable receivers do not have much sensitivity (why should they?). If you don't have a cable ready set, try tuning DOWN from UHF channel 14. Some sets can receive the signal there too.

• Almost all our transmitters are on VHF or above frequencies. Therefore, you need to be line of site to the payload to hear/see it. Since the payload rises to an altitude of over 90,000 feet on most missions, reception is usually possible for folks in most of Kansas, most of Nebraska, most of Wyoming, extreme south eastern Idaho, eastern Utah, north eastern Arizona, most of New Mexico, northern Texas, and western Oklahoma. DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED by the apparent low power of our signals. I usually monitor the Beacon with an HT from the ground station throughout the flight. The signal is strong even at 130 miles and I only lose it when the balloon descends below my horizon.