As it rises into the atmosphere it measures parameters such as temperature, humidity, pressure, gps location etc, and transmits this data back down to a receiver base station using a radio signal. Last month jeff deaton from edge of space sciences eoss presented a talk called sdr multi balloon tracking, where he discusses how eoss are using rtlsdr receivers to track their aprs high altitude balloons. Automatic position reporting system current location of wa8lmf. Kiss tnc, and also can make use of the kenwood radios with built in tncs tmd710, thd72, etc. Sometimes life gets in the way, and my life has kept me busy for the past few years. Eoss is a denver, colorado based nonprofit organization that promotes science and education by exploring frontiers in amateur radio and high altitude balloons. My next step is to write the software which will transmit the aprs data, for which i think i can modify the trackuino code. It makes tracking weather balloons, model rockets, rc aircraft, and anything else that flies simple. The ic9700 is based upon icoms direct sampling sdr platform. Stations currently moving user guide faq blog discussion group linking to aprs. More than 40 million people use github to discover, fork, and contribute to over 100 million projects.
Roger was the author of winpack, uiview and uiview32, as well as other programs. The radio bug aprs tracker plugs into our eagle flight computers s1 port and transmits your payloads position, altitude, speed, temperature, and pressure once every minute. Our balloon should be able to reach an altitude of about 100,000 ft before it bursts and the payload returns to earth via a parachute system. Stratotrack aprs transmitter high altitude science. Live weather balloon aprs tracking system build youtube. The ap510 aprs tracker has a built in sirf4 gps, bluetooth to interface with your smartphone and aprsdroid app, temperature sensor, microsdtransflash card slot for saving your waypoints to a card. Aprs configuration and testing pi in the sky project. If it is nearby an aprs station, it either gets retransmitted and reaches further, in case of the receiving station being a digipeater, or it gets uploaded onto the internet, in case of the station being an igate. This code provides transmission of radio telemetry via aprs as well as telemetry logging on olhzn arduino mega compatible circuit boards for high altitude ballooning.
This software is free can be obtained from the yahoo group that is also its support forum. Its effectively an opensource, opendata, communityrun, free to use, iot system with potentially worldwide coverage. It is what i used when i flew my first weather balloon geocache camera. The addition of the ic9700 completes a key part of our satellite station 4. It makes tracking pico balloons, weather balloons, model rockets, rc.
So light that you can send him on a helium balloon with aprs payload on world trip. Build this battletested rig to launch, track, and recover a highaltitude balloon. The naval academy balloons are typically detected as far away as south carolina and conneticut. For real time aprs tracking, the same passive method can be used with aprsdroid software or with an appropriate cable to interface the radio to a smartphone. This large 58 gb database is hosted on two servers using data replication techniques. Rs41 radiosonde tracking software a radiosonde is a small weather sensor package that is typically attached to a weather balloon. Accessing one of the aprsis servers with an aprs mapping program, over any internet connection. The amateur radio community lost a great friend on that day. Most chase and recovery teams listen to the information from the balloon directly on rf using radios and computer based tracking software such as aprsisce32 and uiview. Aprs automatic position reporting system ham radio.
Space systems have redundancy to ensure mission success should one gps fail. The documentation on aprs is an open vault with tons of. The microtrak tracker line combines the tinytrak controller with a gps and built in transmitter. The next logical thing to look into would be tracking a balloon of some sort. A balloon was launched in bangalore on september 29th 20 at 0615 indian standard time. We can achive fast realtime updates since each user browser will be connected directly to our own aprsis server with no intermediate databaseserver. Review of the software defined aprs system being used to track multiple balloon flights at eoss. Track your weather balloon payload with live data anywhere in north america. Payloads always sent up consist of a camera box, aprs automatic position reporting system tracking system, and a recently added flight computer. Looking for a way to track your highaltitude balloons but dont want to mess with sending data over a cellular network. Our high altitude weather balloon flights, launched in the rochester, ny area, can be tracked in real time anywhere in the world online or using ham radio. It is able to report location, altitude, temperature pressure and humidity to the internet or direct to an amateur radio once a minute for up to twelve hours with just 2xaa batteries. All this works without the need of actively tracking the balloon. Our goal is to bring you a fast and easytouse map with the latest aprs activity.
Aprs was introduced at the 1993 arrl computer networking conference in new jersey. Of course the first few flights will have a backup tracker. Whats interesting is that it supports the kiss protocol via a tcp port. Reliable worldwide aprs tracking at any altitude no subscription fees required. Tnc and a computer with suitable aprs software installed. A cellphone tracker is illegal and should never be used. Perhaps you may tire of the same general activity on aprs terrestrial activity or even what may be bouncing off a satellite. Uiview also supports tncs in kiss mode, agwpe host mode and bpq host mode. When it comes to tracking a weather balloon, the three most common options are a satellite tracker, an aprs tracker, or a cell phone. Lightaprs is the most affordable, smallest, lightest, powerful and one of few open source aprs trackers available. Mode advanced options could include a mobilinkd tnc2, combined with any 2m capable hand held radio.
Eoss is a denver, colorado based nonprofit organization that promotes science and education by exploring frontiers in amateur radio and high altitude. Aprs is a popular method of geotracking over amateur radio. Hab tracking methods global space balloon challenge. By combining a gps, 2meter transmitter and controller, stations can send their locations, and be tracked live with just a web browser. Client software for users of the automatic packet reporting system amateur radio network. Clicking on any of the ship or vehicle symbols will open up an info balloon showing current information on that tracking target. Or read the ukhas beginners guide to high altitude ballooning to start planning your own flight. No other aprs solution offers this level of integration, compact size, and customization. Mission duration may last from a few hours to a few days and just about matches the modern students attention span.
Ive had this tracking board for over a year now, and still didnt program it. You can do messaging, aprs email, igate, station tracking, just. This video shows the aprs igate setup tracking the balloon from my s. Many arhab flights use the aprs tracking gear to report location information to ground tracking stations. The extmodem application is a command line tool that implements a software packet modem. Tracksoar is one of the smallest, lightest, open source aprs trackers available. We have developed a pi addon board and software that together add aprs capability to the pi in the sky telemetry board this example has the 144.
For more information on arhab, this wikipedia entry is a great introduction. Aprs is used to share realtime data including vehicle location gps, weather stations, highaltitude balloon tracking, remote sensor platforms, disaster relief coordination, and more. The used gps module works up to an incredible 80km. Balloons make a good low cost test bed for small satellite payloads. The callsign name labels shown on the map have colors which mostly match the aprs symbol attribute colors in bob bruningas original aprs software. Taner db1nto has a new product out to cater to people looking to track something that can only carry a very light weight device. Picoaprs words smallest aprs transceiver tracker with.
Basic understanding of gps technology one of the key technologies that have all. Learn how you can follow our aprs transmitter live during flight. Automatic packet reporting system aprs is an amateur radiobased system for real time digital communications of information of immediate value in the local area. Includes weather overlay, predictions, and access to historic hab fligts on habhub. To decode the rtty signal, we recommend using the software dlfldigi. High altitude science has released a new aprs radio transmitter which can pair with. Aprsisce is also available in a version that runs on later versions of windows ce, the pocket pc operating system, and windows mobile smartphones. An alternative aprs tracking software for windows is aprspoint. The radio bug is a state of the art aprs transmitter designed specifically for weather balloon tracking. It makes tracking pico balloons, weather balloons, model rockets, rc aircraft, and. Aprs automatic position reporting system ham radio links category is a curation of 57 web resources on, aprs using a weather station, manpack communications, aprs web server and live streaming web cams. The best tracking method to start with is using the automatic packet reporting system aprs which only requires a technician license in the us. Aprs software for ham radio category is a curation of 33 web resources on, usaphotomaps, adaptive home logic, aprstrack. Aprs direct is a website that brings you global realtime aprs tracking and weather data including cwop.
Tracking multiple amateur radio aprs balloons with rtlsdrs. By flying tracksoar on a weather balloon you can reduce the required helium and balloon costs per launch and it can pay for itself with just 2 launches. Call center call recording call tracking ivr predictive dialer telephony voip. The payload will include a computer, gps and a 2 meter aprs transmitter to record the balloons flight track, atmospheric data and altitude throughout the flight. Uiview has had a huge and positive impact on the aprs community. Nearspace balloon cam with arduino and aprs radio make. You will normally see stations within a hundred miles or so. Uk and have played with aprs tracking in a vehicle using uview, software tnc, 2mtr radio and an old laptop with. The primary source of data is an amateur radio system called aprs, some weather data comes from an internet based system called the citizen weather observer program. This is the aprsonly version of the lightaprs tracker.
In addition to aprs, our onboard tracking systems also broadcasts a secondary radio signal using rtty radioteletype as a backup hab tracker. Balloon finder is an aprs tracking software specifically designed to track high altitude balloons using serial, usb, or bluetooth attached tncs. Ive thought a lot about the software and battery saving features. This application differs from most aprs software in that it isnt designed just to be used with tncs in terminal mode. Aprs is used for tracking weather, for tracking moving cars, boats, weather balloons, and many other things. Data can include object global positioning system gps coordinates, weather station telemetry, text messages, announcements, queries, and other telemetry.
Aprs is a multifaceted system used primarily within amateur radio for tracking many different types of things. They are available in portable, car, and high altitude balloon versions, and are available preconfigured with your amateur radio callsign. After you place your order, we will program your callsign and requested ssid. Radio tracking high altitude weather balloons launched in the rochester, ny area. Microtrak rtg the microtrak rtg is the easiest way to add aprs tracking to a vehicle. Aprs and high altitude ballooning arhab nw climate. This software requires some arduino libraries in order to function. The new icom ic9700 transceiver has begun shipping and weve recently added one to our portable station. It makes tracking weather balloons, model rockets, rc aircraft, and anything else that flies simple and easy. You can see additional details, below for details on howradio tracking high altitude balloons works for us. Tracksoar can also use a range of drop in transmitters to allow for easy world wide operation.
Because the eagle flight computers gps receiver works above 18,000 m 60,000 ft, you will be able to track your payload all the way up to burst altitude. Aprs was developed by bob bruninga, wb4apr, as a realtime local tactical communications system for rapidly exchanging digital data of immediate value to operations. Tracking systems how to launch a weather balloon to space. Roger barker g4ide became a silent key on september 8, 2004. It makes tracking pico balloons, weather balloons, model rockets, rc aircraft, and anything else that flies simple and easy. The tracksoar aprs tracker is the smallest, lightest, ready to fly open source aprs tracker. This really took off when gps became available and maps were integrated into the system for tactical situational awareness of everything in the net. You can also use it as an aprs tracker for all other aprs purposes. It supports all modes of operation on the 2m, 70cm, and 23 cm.