Two of the primary goals of every Flying Squirrels mission is to: 1. Have Fun! 2. Learn stuff. We certainly had a lot of fun! A bunch of middle-aged hacker Geeks are never too old to play with a big balloon and laugh about it! And no matter the outcomes, we learn and use this […]
Get your 3D googles ready or just download the FS3 KML and load it into Google Earth. The image above shows the FS3 flight path, from a mountain level point to the South looking North. LA, Riverside and “The OC” would be off to the left of this image. The flight was short (Actually the […]
The graph above shows the ascent of FS3 into the sky, until the telemetry signal was lost. Our daring squirrel was a good climber! Each time stamp (Day:Hour:Min) is 2 mins apart. (Except for few missing data points). FS3 reach a last known altitude of 9,100 meters. (29,855 ft). If the balloon did not […]
In the world of Ham Radio, the Q-Code QRP stands for operating at low power. In a radio hobby where US hams are legally allowed up to 1500 watts of power, typical HF transceivers run 100 watts, and QRP is defined by operating at 5 watts or less (Some say 10 watts), our FS3 transmitter clocks […]
This is a summary of the FS3 flight. More detailed data/analysis will follow, but for those following along, I wanted to let you know how the flight progressed. Curious Squirrels need to know! As mentioned in the more recent Mission updates, Southern California received a good amount of rainfall in the two days before our […]
Good morning Squirrels! Launch day is here! I ran the flight path predictions for this morning and all remains good. The predictions have been very consistent over the week. Our Squirrel is heading South towards the Salton Sea. Squirrels don’t swim well and that is a big area, I hope our pilot avoids a water […]
A Quick Users Guide to the Flying Squirrel #3 High Altitude Balloon Project. The mission of the Flying Squirrels is to promote STEM (Science Technology, Engineering & Math) skills in a fun project environment. All persons interested in Flying Squirrels are welcome to participate in the project. Our third balloon, Flying Squirrel #3 is ready […]
Weather conditions continue to look good for launch on Friday morning. One day out, I trust the weather reports are pretty good and the predicted ground winds in the area are calm. The rain storm has given Southern California some much needed rain but it is also moving out this afternoon and should be long […]
Weather conditions continue to look good for launch on Friday morning. The rain has started here in LA Area, but is still predicted to clear out Thursday afternoon and the flight prediction I ran this morning looks about the same as the past few days (Very Good). Please follow and like us:
Can you hear me now? I have heard from many interested Ham Radio Operators and SWL enthusiasts that want to monitor the FS3 Balloon telemetry from their home QTHs located in the greater LA Basin. This basin is formed by tall mountain ranges, East of the coastal cities, which reach as high as 11,503 ft. […]
