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 […]
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. […]
Weather conditions continue to look good for launch on Friday morning. The approaching storm is predicted to clear out Thursday afternoon and the flight prediction I ran this morning looks about the same as yesterday (Good). Mike KA9CQL and Eric N9RZR have flown 5 similar balloons this year, WarPig-I through WarPig-V, and they shared their […]
In addition to the detailed locations provided by the FSQ telemetry, Flying Squirrel #2 also sent WSPR messages 4 times an hour. WSPR is a very weak signal digital mode, often decoding signals below the noise (i.e. you can’t even hear the signal with your ears). The WSPR mode sends a position as Maidenhead Gris […]
Weather forecasts continue to be good for launch on Saturday May 19th. Winds are predicted to be light. I ran a prediction comparing a theoretical launch today (May 16th) vs our planned launch on the 19th. I combined both predictions into a single graphic below. As you can see the winds today would carry the […]
Save the date(s) The launch date for FS#2 is set for Saturday May 19th, 2017 10 AM with a backup date on May 20th. The location of the launch will be near Anderson Dry Lake inside the Johnson Valley OHV area. More details, including an exact location, will be published closer to the launch date […]
Our eager squirrel was anxious to try out its new insulated hutch in the back yard and test the battery endurance overnight. Powered by a 3.2V 400 mah LiFePO (Lithium iron phosphate) battery, FS2 remained powered up for just under 16 hours. (15 Hrs 50 mins) This is excellent news because the flight hardware will […]
While SpaceX’s Starman gets to drive through space in a luxurious Tesla Roadster, Flying Squirrels have to fly in Styrofoam class. The 1” thick Styrofoam enclosure will keep the flight electronics and battery warm in sub zero temperatures that are found at high altitudes. Our intrepid squirrel will also be wearing a stylish pink fiberglass […]
[This schedule is out of date. The new schedule is located at : ] This is the final FS2 Telemetry schedule. The columns labeled “Min” is the minutes into the hour (i.e. 0 = top of the hour) that the scheduled event should happen. The schedule repeats after 30 minutes. Launch is tentatively targeted for […]