Listening to Flying Squirrel #3 Telemetry from the Greater LA Basin area.

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.  The low points in these mountain ranges still exceed 4,000 feet.

FS3 will launch near Lucerne Valley, CA  which is East of these mountain ranges around 10 am Dec 7th 2018 local time. From listening points in the greater LA basin, the early part of the flight will be blocked by the mountains until it reaches a sufficient altitude to get a “line of sight” on the balloon. The diagram below illustrates how the mountains blocked the FS2 balloon signal from my Home QTH near Lake Mathews, CA.

The diagram shows the terrain from my home QTH to the last/furthest signal that was heard from this location 60+ miles away at an altitude of 14,153 Ft. The balloon traveled much further out but started descending soon after this point and the signal was probably too weak after this point.

Last Telemetry heard from Home QTH: hab 76 19:20:13 4314m 34.689445,-117.040650 31.31c 5.10v

You can track FS3 on APRS under the callsign KJ6FO-11 and start listening from the basin when you see the altitude is over 10,000 ft. (~3000m)

73s de Don KJ6FO

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