Way off topic, but what antennas are you guys using for this? Vertical  
monopoles have a null in the downwards direction. I'm sure it's been  
thought out throughly, just curious.

-Dan N7NMD

On Oct 12, 2009, at 15:31, Scott Miller <[email protected]> wrote:

> Well, this is annoying... aprs.fi has one packet (with no pulseox  
> data),
> findu has none, aprsworld.net's history search is broken, and
> openaprs.org doesn't show anything.  I just wanted to see how the
> pulseox worked.
>
> Scott
>
> James Ewen wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 3:09 PM, Keith VE7GDH <[email protected]
>> <mailto:ve7gdh%40yahoo.com>> wrote:
>>> Scott N1VG wrote...
>>>
>>>> I'm not seeing it on the site - the only link I see is for the  
>>>> forums.
>>
>> It's tough to know what they are up to without knowing the callsigns
>> used... I see AF6IM-7 around the Byron Airport on Sept 19th and 20th.
>> This station was using a path of RELAY,WIDE3-3. That would make it
>> effectively a zero hop path unless some stations around were
>> mis-configured.
>>
>>> The forum makes a mention of WIDE3-3 but also mentions some  
>>> alternate
>>> frequencies as well as 144.390. I understand they are using either  
>>> a T2
>>> or OT2m so they could vary the path and beacon rate based on  
>>> altitude.
>>> It would be nice to use a short path (or no path) while at 24,000  
>>> feet,
>>> but something like a two hop WIDE2-2 below a few thousand feet. The
>>> last post indicates they will be on 144.330, so no path would be  
>>> needed
>>> unless they set their own digis up. Regardless of the frequency, I  
>>> can
>>> see that recovering the payload would be of prime importance!
>>
>> Everyone has to go through the same process... 10,000 feet of antenna
>> height and 3 hops paths, and still seeing holes in the tracking, so
>> the next obvious step is to take an amplifier up to get more power...
>> maybe a 13 element yagi too!
>>
>> For a project like this, in an area of dense APRS activity, you HAVE
>> to move off 144.390. Zero hop paths work just fine. With a low
>> altitude drop like this, and a manned payload that is going to be
>> actively returning to the drop zone, a zero hop path is the logical
>> choice. If there should be an issue with an incapacitated skydiver,
>> then your recovery teams should be already deployed down range into
>> the anticipated recovery area.
>>
>> As they have suggested, if they are going to be moving to a separate
>> frequency, then they will need to provide their own receive stations,
>> and if desired i-gates. It is pretty easy to set up a mobile i-gate  
>> on
>> any frequency using a cellular telephone with a data plan, and a
>> laptop connected to your receive equipment. The open trackers could
>> easily be set up on a single simplex frequency with a 5 second
>> reporting rate each, and use time slotting to keep from clobbering
>> each other.
>>
>> I would not plan on using the APRS-IS as my main source of data
>> recording, and especially not for tracking and recovery of manned
>> payloads.
>>
>> If those involved in this project are interested, we have a similar
>> project happening around here that we are involved in. We are doing
>> experiments with high altitude balloons using unmanned payloads, with
>> the BEAR and SABLE projects, but will be primary tracking and  
>> recovery
>> crews for Le Grand Saut, a manned expedition to 40 km (131,000 feet)
>> above the earth with a world record skydive/parachute recovery jump.
>>
>> Of the many tracking systems on board, only one will be on 144.390.
>> Critical telemetry from Michel which includes physiological sensors
>> will be done on a licensed frequency. Other trackers for the 1 ton of
>> balloon, and 1 ton of gondola will be on distinct frequencies as  
>> well.
>>
>> Le Grand Saut has been many years in planning, and attempts to get  
>> off
>> the ground, and hopefully next May will see a successful launch and
>> recovery.
>>
>> Le Grand Saut
>> http://www.legrandsaut.org/ <http://www.legrandsaut.org/>
>>
>> BEAR
>> http://bear.sbszoo.com/ <http://bear.sbszoo.com/>
>>
>> SABLE
>> http://bear.sbszoo.com/sable/ <http://bear.sbszoo.com/sable/>
>>
>> We're always more than happy to share experiences and lessons learned
>> with others. I know I can't afford to make all the mistakes made by
>> others again... I'm happy to learn from others and modify my
>> experiments to suit.
>>
>> James
>> VE6SRV
>>
>>
>
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