I have been trying to start a project to do a high altitude radio balloon launch. Toward that end, I ordered myself a Open Tracker Plus kit from Argent Data Systems today. It seems like a pretty trivial thing to tack together, and includes a nice little plastic case, so it should be good. For a balloon launch, I’d probably use the tiny surface mount version, but I figured this would be better for experimenting with, just to get the hang of the firmware and the like. The Open Tracker has some basic data telemetry functionality, and I could experiment by rigging some temperature and voltage sensors and play with that.
Addendum: I noticed this morning that WB8ELK was planning to launch not one, not two, but three separate balloons near Huntsville this morning. The first two were cut down at around 40,000 feet, but the third went to burst altitude. I was watching the paths of these birds intermittently via APRS on the internet, and was amazed at the speed these things get through the jet stream. KG4WSV-13, the highest balloon reached speeds of 130 MPH. Amazing.
Here are some links to the paths of two of the balloons as I tracked them via APRS on the internet:
What sort of goals did you have in mind with the balloon project ?
Someone was on the AMSAT BBS looking for help / advice on SSTV via balloon, but I don’t think he got any response (publically at least).
I’ve chased my share of balloons. Let me know what you have in mind.