TABEL-1

Launch Date: Aug 06 2005

Recovery Date: Aug 14 2005

Status: Completed

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The primary purpose of this mission was to send an 802.11b access point to the stratosphere and see if a "skynet" could be created. The secondary purpose is to gather the tools, resources and skills needed to perform other flights.



We were able to make contact with the AP on the balloon at an altitude of 24,000ft and a downrage distance of 3 miles. We could not stay associated with the balloon but a few seconds at a time. We were using a 70cm dish with a patch antenna as a feedhorn for the downlink antenna.



We sustained a failure of the GPS on the primary tracker due to interference from the 802.11b AP.



We fly another "skynet" mission again in August of 2006.

Balloon Project (TABEL-1)

Added On: Aug 07 2005
Added By: ke4pjw
Regarding: TABEL-1

We gave it our best shot and
learned a lot in the process. We had several problems, but over all I am
happy.  We would not have been able to get off the ground or
recover the payload without the help of Bill Brown, WB8ELK. Our tank was
a little slim on Helium so he offered to use one of his parachutes, that
bought us an extra two pounds of lift. We were able to make a couple of
contacts with the AP on the balloon at about 24,000Ft and 3 Miles down
range. I suspect that the payload was swinging like a pendulum. The
patch antenna would swing in our direction and then swing away. That
would correspond with our on and off association with the AP.

 

We also suspect that the AP was interfering with our GPS. We started
receiving erroneous APRS data just after launch. This is where Bill
saved the day (again). He flew his APRS payload futher up the "train" on
an alternate frequency. We were able to track it with his payload.

 

We have confirmed that the balloon reached an altitude of 100,485 feet.
and a speed of 57mph, thanks to Fred Flowers, N4GER.


 

Robin Midgett K4IDC and Jenna Trapp KG4QQK were able to spot the
payload on it's decent. It landed in a tree between the duck river and a
soybean field. It's final resting spot was 30.6 miles due west of the
the launch site, near Centerville, TN.

 

I would like to thank Bill Brown, WB8ELK and David Hoffman, KE4FGW for
helping with the launch and recovery of our little balloon project. You
guys really made all the difference.

Images will be posted soon. The group hopes to fly again
soon, though not with 802.11 on the next flight. However, I have a few
thoughts on how to counteract the affect of the pendulum action on the
antenna radiation pattern and hope to fly another payload like that soon.

Balloon Project (TABEL-1) Announcement

Added On: Aug 03 2005
Added By: ke4pjw
Regarding: TABEL-1

This Saturday, Aug 6th, a group from Nashville, TN is launching a
balloon from Springhill, TN. The payload will be a digital camera, an
802.11b access point and an APRS tracker. We hope to launch at 10AM. We
would like as many amateurs as possible to attempt to connect to the
balloon. It will be operating on Channel 5, No WEP and SSID of KE4PJW.
It should provide host configuration VIA DHCP. We will be using
netmeeting at the launch site. Simply connect to the host

“netmeeting.ham” and if we have a good connection we will be able to
video conference. For those that do not have netmeeting capability, we
would like you to start up a web browser and visit http://www.ham The
site should have a place for you to fill out your callsign and a short
message. There may also be an IRC server setup at irc.ham.

Ralph Wallio, W0RPK, sent me this prediction
of coverage from 50kft (inner ragged edge) and 100kft (outer ragged
edge).

Details about the Access Point: We are using a
stock Linksys BEFW11S4 AP/Router. We have diversity enabled. Antennas
are a patch antenna pointed to the ground and one of the stock dipoles
in the vertical position. Operating on Channel 5, No WEP and SSID of
KE4PJW.

Details about the APRS Tracker: The APRS encoder
and transmitter is a Byonics Pocket Tracker. It produces about 150mW of
power and will be using an inverted groundplane as an antenna. It should
beacon with an SSID of AA4VU-11

Details about the Digital Camera: It is a small
Polaroid digital camera that has been modified to take timed images. It
should snap an images every 3 Minutes. Images will be very small.

Details about the group: Just a group of friends
including KE4PJW, K4IDC, KG4QQK, KI4AMX, KD4NMD, KQ4TV and KG4OZL.

Details about the balloon, payload and etc: The
balloon is a Kaymont
KCI 1500. (1500gr) The payload is made from pieces of 2"
polystyrene. The total weight of the payload will be just under 5lbs.
The parachute is a 72" nylon chute.

Details about flight and recovery comms: Launch:445.975
PL107.2 Recovery: To be Announced

Details about Launch Site: Tennessee Children's Home We may be
launching from either the field in front of the School's campus or the
field in the rear of the campus. There will be a film crew
documenting the launch and recovery.

Contact: Terry
Trapp - KE4PJW

Those of you involved with the film crew, we have a
message board located here.

TNBG member silent key.

Added On: Jun 01 2006
Added By: ke4pjw
Regarding: TABEL-1

Terry Lester Trapp, my father, passed away 2006-05-23 due to complications with cancer. He attended our first launch (TABEL-1) and gave advice on the construction of the air-frame we used. He modified the parachute used on our TABEL-2 flight as well as the one on the upcoming TABEL-3 flight.

He retired from Western Electric / AT&T in 1991 where he worked as a repairman for 18 years. Though not a collage graduate, he only needed to complete a single class in English to obtain bachelor's degrees in both Physics and Mathematics from MTSU. He was the person that introduced me to Ohm's law and introduced me to radio with the book "Elements Of Radio" (Copyright 1959, Marcus and Marcus). He taught me about the relationship of space-time when my peers were learning to read clocks.

He was my father, my elmer and my friend. I am going to miss him so terribly much.

Terry Lester Trapp

1937 - 2006