Yes indeed, the skies are full of Pico Balloons and its not much that there are many balloons, but there are many balloons sharing the same programming code. So on our part we do a little extra work, look for more 1st packets which show our callsigns and deduce the rest.

K9YO has been seeing few reports, and did receive a 1st and 2nd packet in the same Grid Square on Novmber 18th at 03:10 UTC, at Grid QM27QX just past Japan. We were last heard over Mongolia, so this was a nice leg of the flight. K9YO is flying at an altitude of 12,780 meters, 41,918 feet. and heading northeast.

K9YO was lauched on October 10th 2022 from Libertyville, Illinois, and now on the 3rd lap around the world.

Our “Best Guess” for K9YO from the 84 hour NOAA Hysplit Model on November 21st 2022

Pico Balloon AA6DY has been enjoying the part of the world with more sunlight, over South America. After traveling the West Coast of South America traveling down Peru, to Chile then starting to head east. AA6DY woke on November 18th 2022 at 12:34 UTC at Grid FH61RE, Challapata, Bolivia, South America flying at an altitude of 14,540 meters, 47,691 feet.

We are greatful for our followers around the world who look at our posts and then help us track our balloons. without them we’d be lost. We’d also like to welcome our newest follower, Pablo, LU7MT from Argentina who has been tracking other Pico Balloons for a while. While we have picked up Pablo recently, I should also note that we have picked up more reporting stations from Japan. I like to send an email to new stations, telling them about our project and invite them to become a follower. Visiting their QRZ page did not show an email address.

For anyone visiting our site and wishing to receive posts when published, we invite you to go to our website and click on “Contact Us” or click here Contact Us send me your email, name and location and ask to be a follower. Anyone visiting our website can scroll on the page and click on add WordPress to become a follower of the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade. You would also create a username and password for this account.

You don’t need to have a license in Amateur Radio to be a follower, just having an interest in Pico Ballooning, wanting to learn about our project, or the science behind it, we’d love to have you.

Followers of the NIBBB can post comments and ask questions.

Our “Best Guess” for AA6DY from the 84 hour NOAA Hysplit Model on November 22nd 2022

Traveling over South America, has been a first for us. We still have 4 more days to enjoy this part of the trip.

Please visit our Locate and Track page for more information, viewing the NOAA Hysplit Trajectory, Ventusky wind speed and direction for both balloons. Sondehub and APRS may be delayed waiting for more data.

We wish to thank everyone for being a part of our hobby. 73, Cary KD9ITO