Of the many fun aspects of amateur radio, members of The Tri-State Amateur Radio Group find that "fox" hunting weather balloon payloads to be the most interesting. You, too, may find it interesting to listen in to the signals from near space or even to come and join in on the launch and chase.

Life for a payload can be rough. It starts out on the workbench as sensors, microprocessors, receivers, transmitters, batteries, and other items are assembled and brought to life. Then everything is stuffed into a container, holes are poked in the sides for feedlines, wires, lenses, and sensors are positioned around the package. Unnecessary weight is whittled away and the items are poked and stuffed again. The innards are tweaked, peaked, calibrated, aligned, and sometimes dropped in preparation for the big event. Preparation usually lasts late into the night and starts early on launch day, if there is a break at all. Out at some remote place, on a tailgate, everything gets a few more pokes before the lid is put in place and yards of duct tape are applied.

At launch, the balloon usually leaps into the air, jerking the payload as it begins to swing around in wild gyrations. Ascending at a speed of 10 miles per hour, the package begins the cool-down with the increasing altitude. As the air pressure lessens, the air inside begins to vent out of the package. Surviving a wild ride through the jet stream, with an outside temperature of nearly - 50 C, the payload continues upward toward a rendezvous with the vacuum of near space some 15 to 20 miles above ground, testing the electronic components with this intrusion into the low pressure zone. When the balloon bursts, everything begins to tumble in free fall, accelerating up to 200 mph before coming back into sufficient air density for the parachute to open. Moist air enters into the payload and condensation gives everything inside a bath, including the electronics! The parachute slows the descent to some 20 mph and thump, it all smashes back onto the earth’s surface. If it is windy, the parachute drags everything along until some branch snags onto it and ends its flight. There it waits and waits until someone finds it.

More launchs will be scheduled, usually on a Saturday morning at 10:00 am.

Help is needed with equipment. I need to borrow a handheld radio. I promise to drop it no more than once each flight from 100,000 feet! I don’t understand why SAMSUNG refused warranty repair on a camera that was only dropped once. The parachute failed to open, and the payload hit a boulder, and the camera was exposed to sun and rain for 30 days before it was found! The photo developers said some choice words about the water and sand that was in the film canister when I took it in for development. Samsung did give a 50% credit towards a new camera, which they certainly did not have to do. I would give the same careful attention to your handheld that I did for the camera!