Tennessee hams to
launch balloon carrying 802.11b access point, APRS (Aug 4, 2005) --
Terry Trapp, KE4PJW, and a group of friends hope to launch a balloon Saturday,
August 6, that will provide--among other things--a 802.11b wireless access point
(WAP) operating on channel 5 (2432 MHz) under Amateur Radio Part 97 rules. The
balloon will go aloft from Springhill, Tennessee. Also onboard will be a digital
camera and an APRS tracker. Trapp says that since this is the group's first
flight, he's not sure how high it will go but estimated it could reach 75,000
feet. "We hope to launch at 10 AM," he told ARRL. "We would like as many
amateurs as possible to attempt to connect to the balloon." The WAP will be open
access (WEP disabled), and Trapp says it should provide host configuration via
DHCP. "We will be using NetMeeting at the
launch site," he said. "Simply connect to the host 'netmeeting.ham,' and if we
have a good connection, we will be able to videoconference." he explained. An
IRC server may be set up here. The WAP is a stock
Linksys model BEFW11S4 with diversity
enabled. The balloon will have a patch antenna aimed at the ground, while one of
the router's stock dipoles will be in the vertical position. "We will be using a
75-cm dish antenna and a wireless bridge at the launch site," Trapp added. The
APRS encoder and transmitter is a Byonics Pocket Tracker. It
produces about 150 mW of power and will be using an inverted groundplane
antenna, Trapp said. It should beacon with an SSID of AA4VU-11. The camera is a
small Polaroid digital, modified to take "very small" images every three
minutes. Others involved in the project include K4IDC, KG4QQK, KI4AMX, KD4NMD,
KQ4TV and KG4OZL. E-mail Trapp for more
information.
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Frank Keeney
Pasadena Networks, LLC
Antennas, Cables and Equipment:
http://www.wlanparts.com
Frank Keeney
Pasadena Networks, LLC
Antennas, Cables and Equipment:
http://www.wlanparts.com
