Announcement of EOSS-38

note: The original announcement for this flight was lost. This is a recreation compiled on 18-March-2005. the recreation was prompted by the recent submission by Marty Griffin, WA0GEH, of documents pertaining to the flight.

LAUNCH DATE: October 16, 1999
LAUNCH TIME: 15:00 UTC - 08:00 MDT
LAUNCH SITE: Pikes Peak Radio Control Club Airport (directions)

Located East of Falcon Colorado on US 24 (9 or 10 miles east of Colorado Springs on US 24). 4 miles east of Falcon take Judge Orr road east. Follow this road 4.2 miles to Pikes Peak Radio Control Club Airport. Use the simplex frequency at the launch site for talkin.

LAUNCH SITE COORDINATES:
38deg 57' 17.65" North Latitude
104deg 30' 04.43 West Longitude

EXPECTED TRACK: Between 80 degrees and 145 degrees azimuth

FLIGHT EXPERIMENT: Test of New UCCS Shuttle Built by University of Colorado - Colorado Springs CROSS BAND REPEATER: The RMRL Cross Band Repeater 445.975 / 147.555 (out)

PROJECT INTEGRATOR: University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS)

FREQUENCIES

Preflight Foxhunter Net:

  • 147.225 MHz Colorado Repeater Association
  • 8:00PM the preceding night

Launch Site

  • Simplex 146.550 MHz

Balloon

Telemetry:

  • 144.340 MHz FM (1 Watt output)

Cross-Band Rptr:

  • 445.975 input
  • 147.555 output

APRS Output:

  • 144.39 MHz

ATV:

  • 426.250 MHz - NTSC video

Tracking Team

  • 448.450 MHz Pikes Peak FM Association Repeater (pending approval)
  • 146.58 MHz Simplex Field Frequency

HF Net:

  • 7.235 MHz no net control set as of this writing

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shuttle Generated Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS):

This may not fly as the UCCS folks will have a proprietary APRS link on board.

In order to minimize possible interference with hams in your area, we request you turn off the position beacons at your APRS station. Thanks!

ATV:

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.

Who Can Hear It:

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.

Marty's Email

I include this email as it is the original preface to the above announcement as it was distributed to various news groups, and email lists.

-----Original Message-----

From: Marty Griffin
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 1999 8:18 PM
To: eoss@eoss.org
Subject: EOSS - #38, Flight Announcement, X-Band Repeater

Hi Folks,

I'm not sure this made it out last time as I have no copy in my in basket. So if it is a repeat, sorry.

We will be DFing this flight because the data will be in a proprietary format. So tracking folks, please give George (303) 979-2812 or me a call to tell us you can help.

Also, great fun, the RMRL Cross-Band repeater will be flying (thanks RMRL). So pass the word and work folks in Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Kansas on the 445.975/147.555 repeater. It will be 20 miles above sea level during this flight!

Regards,

Marty Griffin Cento Systems

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++

Hi Everyone,

Well things are heating up! Dr. Charles Fosha's group at the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs (UCCS) has build a fabulous new "Shuttle Bus" and developed the control software in a wonderful Windows interface. They would like to test fly this from the Pikes Peak Radio Control Club Airport on October 16, 1999.

Congratulations to Dr. Fosha and his students as they are about to become a self-sustaining balloon group.

So plan to attend. Tracking folks let's get ready (remember how?). Schools in the area might wish to join in the fun. Please contact us at eoss@eoss.org.

Here's the scoop! (announcement data above originally followed here)

- Marty Griffin