Regular Meetings held the Third Saturday of Each
Month, 8:00 AM at the Tex-Mex Restaurant, 144 21st Street Purcellville
VA.
THE FOX HUNT:
A great time was had by all on our clubs first fox hunt.
In preparation for our balloon launch tentatively planned for the fall, we
decided to practice our Fox hunting skills. Charles, K4LJH, volunteered
to be the fox and departed our regular meeting a few minutes early to hide.
Cha!rles was equipped with a low power transmitter of approximately 100mW
and used.his memo-ry keyer to send a CW identifier at regular intervals.
output power was held at a constant level which would be representative of
our balloon transmitter. John, W3GOI, was chosen to coordinate the
hunt and act as the control station. Many members responded with their favorite
DF gear which included beam antennas, a DF loop, and several phase detecting
type systems. John, with his topographical map and protractor, collected
da-La and guided the operators to various locations in Purcellville to
triangulate a location.
On our first hunt, Gary (NC4S) and Tom
(WB3AKD) working as a team were the first to locate the fox. Using a
3 Element Yagi and a DF loop they were able to home in on the Transmitter
located in the parking lot of the Purcellville community center quickly.
Everyone was eager to try again so K4LJH disappeared for a second time to
another elusive location. on the second hunt Wes (WA4TSC) was the
first to locate the fox located behind the Purcellville shopping center.
Wes was using his homebrew handi-finder which has a small bowtie antenna
with a phase detection circuit. Everyone participating had a great time and
is eager to try again.
BALLOON COMMITTEE:
Tom, WB3AKD, has compiled a list of preliminary specifications for
our balloon payload. Tom volunteered to design the telemetry package for
the first launch. Charles (K4LJH) and Dale (KD4LSL) will be
working together to build the Transmitter portion. John (W3GOI) will
be working on the Package design and the Recovery Parachute. The payload
will consist of a 145.650 Mhz FM transmitter with approx. 500mW of output
power. A CW ID will be transmitted, followed by the telemetry data of temperature
and pressure. on board will be a programmable timer to control a payload
release to limit the flight duration. An audible beacon (solalert) will emit
a tone once a second. The payload will be enclosed in a water tight, buoyant
enclosure, which must withstand extreme temperatures. For obvious reasons
the package will be painted a bright Aviation Orange color and will be clearly
marked with instructions of how to deactivate the Audible beacon and how
to return or arrange for pickup in the event we are unable to locate it.
PLANS FOR NEXT MEETING:
A short business meeting followed by 6t-scussion of our upcoming balloon
launch. Immediately following the meeting (Weather permitting), we will
have another fox hunt to further refine our direction finding skills.
Charles, K4LJH, will be increasing his distance to make our hunt more
challenging. In the event of rain, the club plans to view a Video tape of
a several balloon launches by Edge of Space Sciences in Littleton
Colorado. This video provides some incredible footage of all aspects
of a launch.
Calendar of Events:
Aug. 19, 8:00 AM Club Meeting, Purcellville, VA
Every Sunday, 8:00 PM Radio Net, 28.360 MHz USD
Sept. 10 F.A.R. Fest, Gaithersburg, MD |