North Dakota High Altitude Balloon Group

2. What do we do? Build small satellites which are launched with high altitude balloons to altitudes of 20 miles over ND. Purpose: Investigate physics, Build satellites, Play with electronics, Learn about radio communication, take pictures, take video at 20 miles or 100,000 ft. End result: Have Fun!!! Its like Twister without the tornadoes.

3. The original seven

4. Now we have over 20 people who participate in the balloon launches.

5. Primary Mission Build, launch, recover mini-satellites which are launched by balloons to altitudes reaching 100,000 feet.

6. Typical payloads 2 Cameras (horizontal, and vertical) 35mm auto advance. 2 Radios, VHF used for telemetry and tracking. UHF used for simplex repeater. Battery pack APRS/GPS TNC to provide tracking data. BASIC micro-controller provides computational needs. Scientific Payload.

7. The Camera�s

8. The Ultimate Foxhunt This truly is the ultimate foxhunt. Real 3D direction finding No boundaries or limits on time or distance Uncharted territories Rough terrain No rules or regulations as to where package can hide Every trick and technique tested in weekly hunts with hams was used in hunt for payload Payload doesn�t care about getting wet unlike people GPS and computers make things easy, but also cause people to forget basic skills.

9. Retrieval of the Package At times difficult Lakes, Swamps, Fields, at night.

10. APRS/GPS Automatic Position Reporting System Developed by Bob Bruninga, WB4APR Uses amateur radio as means of transmission Data can include position via GPS Satellites GPS Global Positioning System Provides real time telemetry from balloon to ground We chase on the go. Typically the vehicles are equipped with GPS, Laptops, Radios, and maps compasses, and antennas

12. How APRS and GPS subsystems is connected and integrated into computer and TNC.

13. The Old Standby, 3 element yagi In our first attempts of tracking the balloon we did not have APRS to guide us. Reliance on traditional DF (Direction finding) skills were used. FORX club regularly practices their DF skills in the summer months on Sunday nights. These skills were essential in assisting tracking of flight #13 where the GPS lost lock on its satellites.

14. Ground Foot Print Calculations for Radio. Compared with EOSS 90,000 feetEOSS is green NDHABG is open blue. Footprint on EOSS is 392 miles radius.

15. The Science that we conduct Solar Radiation Counting Temperature Sensing Remote Sensing using cameras Pressure Sensing Monitoring Pollutants in upper atmosphere OZONE depletion Radio propagation surveys Electromagnetic field studies

16. Physics at 20 miles notes. �Near Space Environment� 99 % of atmosphere below Above OZONE layer Low Pressure Cold Temperature

17. The Amazing Video Shots The rest of this presentation will be focused on our video which has caused a lot of interest in the community. The camera was a standard 8mm camera which was fit inside a special made box (its own) and sealed to the top of the octagon used in flight 13 with duct tape. The camera belonged to Charlie Hofferber and flew to an altitude of ~90,000 feet before batteries died due to cold This was the first time we saw the hell at 77,000 feet as our package left the jet stream

18. Lights! Camera! Action!!!

19. Your Typical Day at 70K

20. Leaving the Jet Stream behind.

21. �Ground Control to Major Tom�

22. APRS is good,but don�t loose traditional techniques On the flight you \just watched we lost GPS lock on our payload as it was taking off. This was troublesome because few of the trackers had their backup beams. After retrieving our antennas we took to the chase in the traditional manor, Blaise Mibeck kept his APRS station on. About an hour into flight the GPS system on board locked onto its satellites, Blaise notified us on the radio and we took to APRS tracking once again. Technology is good, but never loose your basic skills as a foxhunter when tracking these balloons. Bad thing was, that we knew this would eventually occur and we were not ready, lessons learned are BE PREPARED.

23. Typical problems with our landings and chases. 2 lake splashdowns (Cotton Lake & Devils Lake) Shotgun was used for Devils Lake Landing to get a boat. 1 Swamp landing 30 feet in trees, ankle deep water with mud, mosquito�s, Poison Ivy 1 landing in bean field. Balloon was hidden from view. GPS lock issue, make sure balloon is being tracked by satellites before you let go of the payload.

24. Balloon Group Inspiration Our balloon group has inspired the creation of the Electrical Engineering Department group called �Scorpio Alpha� Corporation between research groups and colleges UMAC EERC S.G.University in South Dakota Space Studies, Physics and EE departments FORX amateur radio club The beginnings of a high power rocket group are also underway, named the North Dakota Rocketry Association: NDRA

25. Ham Radio Operators

26. Forx Amateur Radio Club UND Space Studies Department UND Physics Department UMAC UND Electrical Engineering Department Grand Forks Airport Ray Nemoseck Doug Olsen Wally Lamb Alinco Radio Grand Forks Airgas TAPR Unysis All those who have flown before us Every ham who has helped us track these down Ryan Kramer Mike Gerszewski Tricia Johnson Folks at the Kansas Near Space Project Tom O�neil Special thanks.

27. Balloon group wants you to join the team. Come fly with us.