Good morning Ground Squirrels! The upcoming Flying Squirrel #4 flight is only a few days away (June 17th). This mornings prediction run for flight time is looking about the same. Just like your local weather forecasts, the predictions are based on NOAA weather data and tend to get better and more “Stable” as you get […]
Good morning Ground Squirrels! The upcoming Flying Squirrel #4 flight is only a few days away (June 17th) and as we get closer to the launch date flight prediction data, which is based on NOAA weather data, start becoming more reliable. Earlier in the week the predictions did not look good at all. The predictions […]
Another brave squirrel is preparing for flight and a perilous journey to the sky next Monday. Development on the FS4 payload is complete and only a few last-minute assembly tasks remain to be completed prior to launch. Barring adverse weather conditions (Wind), Flying Squirrel #4 will launch on Jun 17th 2019 from the area around […]
Flying Squirrel 4 transmits FT8 data on 28.075Mhz (Normal 10m FT8 Freq + 1kc) Flying Squirrel sends telemetry data on every even minute. The telemetry is broken into four 15 second FT8 transmissions, Type 1 through Type 4. The Type1 message starts at 0 seconds and send a station ID: KJ6FO FS4 HAB Type 2 […]
No one likes a rock-solid frozen squirrel, especially the squirrel. In order to keep our pilot warm we have to find a method to stay warm but not weigh the payload down too much for our lightweight mission goals. It is cold up there. FS3 climbed to 9,100m (just under 30,000 ft) before the signal […]
The Flying Squirrel #4 payload electronics package has been built and testing has started. The electronics are similar to the FS3 hardware, but a few changes were made to produce more heat inside the cabin and to clean up the board design. FS4 has a new electric blanket that can be switched on and off […]
A brave new Squirrel – Flying Squirrel #4 It was a busy winter and spring around Squirrel Engineering HQ, but despite a lot of non-squirrel projects a lot has been happening behind the scenes on the next HAB project, Flying Squirrel #4 (FS4) This article will bring you up to date on what has been […]
Rules, Rules and Rules Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and these rules may have changed since this article was published. This article should be considered a helpful guide on where to find the rules you should follow. This article only describes the rules in the United States of America, other countries will have different […]
Our brave, and lucky squirrel is badly in need of a bath, but otherwise is in good shape and happily resting at home. FS3 launched at 10:29Am Dec 7th, 2018 and was performing very well as it flew over the tall San Bernardino Mountains to the west of our launch point. One hour and 24 […]
FS#3 phoned home! After being lost for exactly 1 month, our brave Flying Squirrel #3 has “phoned home”. Flying Squirrels all have a label on the outside and on the inside with an email address to use to report its location when found. Yesterday, I received an email informing me that a gentleman found Flying […]