We’ve been pretty busy preparing for our upcoming launches, if only the weather would cooperate (there’s actually a little more to it than just the weather). We now have 5 of our members in Queue for launch, Gordie Mulley, KD9TVR; Kelsi Mulley, KE9LSI; Mikaela Streicher, KD9VIW; Cal Knowles, KD9WNU; and Janet Knowles, KD9WVO.
Gordie and Cal are the youngest members of the NIBBB, both in 7th grade, Kelsi is a Junior in High School, Mikaela is in her Freshman year in college, and Janet is Cal’s Mom. Since we transmit on the 20 meter band, all are licensed as a General or above. We’re not only tied to the weather and Jetstream for launch, but also to the kid’s school schedule and other activities.
We’ve updated our home page with more current information. Slideshows of preparations for upcoming launches, build sessions, a little bit about our members, and the history of the NIBBB. You can find it at this link NIBBB Home Page
We hope that you’ll bookmark this page, visit often, and feel free to share.
Last Saturday, July 8th 2023, our three youngest Generals, Gordie Mulley; KD9TVR, Kelsi Mulley; KE9LSI, and Mikaela Streicher; KD9VIW met with Ken Daniel; K9YO and learned how to put the Pico Balloon package together. The package consists of a 7 cell solar panel, Pico tracker, antennas, monofilament line and balloon. Doug Mulley; KD9TPM was there to assist with the build.
The group found that many of the solar panels that were built on September 10th 2022 had cracked cells, thanks to Jim Janiak KD9UQB, everyone in the group knows how to fix those.
Below are images from our September 10th 2022 Solar Panel Build Session
September 10th 2022, learning how to build the 7 cell solar panel
Jim KD9UQB teaches the group how to build our 7 cell solar panel
Gordie KD9TVR and Mikaela KD9VIW
Mikaela KD9VIW testing the solar panel
Mikaela KD9VIW
Doug KD9TPM and Gordie KD9TVR testing the solar panel
Gordie KD9TVR
Stretching the balloon
I met with Ken a week before his build session where he was in the process of stretching the 4th SAG Balloon. After the Pico Tracker and Solar Panel are built, the antennas are soldered to the tracker and the balloons are stretched prior to filling with either Helium or Hydrogen. The stretching of the balloon gets all the wrinkles out allowing for the balloon to reach its maximum altitude for the duration of the flight. Depending on the weight of the total package, we can expect an altitude of between 40,000 and 50,000 feet. The heavier Low Sun Angle – High Power Solar Array for winter flights would get around 40,000 feet. The Standard Solar Array shown above would get closer to 50,000 feet.
We have 10 Yokohama balloons and 6 SAG balloons ready for stretching. The SAG Balloon and Yokohama balloon are both 32” rounds that can be stretched to a 100 inch circumference. Ken wrote a program that slowly stretches the balloon over a 10 hour period using an aquarium pump and an arduino
This was a beautiful Saturday morning. Some of our NIBBB members gathered at the Northbrook Library’s Makerspace and learned how to solder surface-mount chips to prepare for more launches this year.
Our teacher today was Michael Seedman, AA6DY one of the Co-Founders of the NIBBB. Our Pico Balloon tracker pictured below is a 2 sided surface-mount soldered tracker weighing 1.6 grams. All the chips are soldered to pads on the board. The 6 pin connector used for programming the board are through-hole soldered with the small pins soldered on the oppposite side of the board. Once the tracker is programmed with a callsign and tracking code, the 6 pin connector can be broken off.
Our two hour session was with practice printed circuit boards and digital microscopes. Below is a 2 picture slideshow of the 103 Resistor (103 is for 10 and 3 zero’s after), 10,000 Ohms next to a dime shown on a digital microscope. It takes a steady hand and a lot of patience to get these chips in the right place on the board.
A roll of 1,000 10k resistors cost $10. Which is a good thing because they’re easy to lose
103 Surface-Mount Resistor up close
Michael demonstrated how to solder using a Flux pen for smooth flow of the solder. Below is the digital microscope and practice printed circuit boards. With today’s practice session and our home sessions, we’ll be more comfortable soldering our actual trackers.
Digital Microscope
Blank practice circuit board
We then broke into groups and practiced our newly learned skills
Calvin and Janet Knowles, Kyli, Kelsi and Gordie Mulley
Cal Knowles, Doug Mulley, Stewart Spies, Jim Janiak and Loren Pollack
Gordie Mulley KD9TVR with his Dad, Doug Mulley KD9TPM
Loren Pollack, AD9AY came by today to try his hand at soldering with our members Stewart Spies, KB9LM and Jim Janiak KD9UQB
Michael Seedman, AA6DY helping Cal Knowles KD9WNU and Janet Knowles KD9WVO, Doug Mulley KD9TPM working with his son Gordie Mulley KD9TVR with Kelsi Mulley KE9LSI and Kyli Mulley
Kyli, Kelsi, Gordie and Doug Mulley
Stewart Spies, KB9LM, Jim Janiak KD9UQB, Michael Seedman AA6DY, with our guests Loren Pollack AD9AY and David Auerbach W9KRP
Cal Knowles KD9WNU and Gordie Mulley KD9TVR are the youngest members of the NIBBB, who will be entering the 7th grade. Kelsi Mulley KE9LSI will be starting her Junior year in High School. Not pictured are Mikaela Streicher KD9VIW who just graduated High School and will be attending the Colorado School of Mines, Noah Berg KD9RDT starting his Sophomore year in High School and Henry Fiely, KD9SRZ starting his Freshman year in High School.
Cal Knowles, KD9WNU with his new radio, the Yaesu FTDX10. Cal passed his Amateur Extra license and his Mom, Janet KD9WVO passed her General license on June 3rd 2023.
Almost 1 year ago, Kelsi and Gordie Mulley received their Official FCC General license on August 23rd 2022. We’ve been planning their Pico Balloon launches since last January. Now that summer vacation has started and the weather is more favorable, we hope to launch soon
Our next sessions will be programming our Pico Balloon tracker and pre-stretching the balloons.
Hamvention is the World’s largest Amateur Radio gathering, attracting hams from around the globe. Hamvention is taking place this weekend May 19th, 20th and 21st 2023 in Xenia, Ohio.
Congratulations to our team member, Ken Daniel, K9YO who has been chosen as one of the speakers. The Amateur Radio High Altitude Balloons Forum will take place on Friday May 19th 2023. at 11:45 am in Room 3. Hamvention Forums Schedule 2023
There will be four presentations for this session, “Introduction to long duration amateur radio balloon flights”, “Build your own Arduino – based WSPR Pico Balloon tracker”, “Launching Amateur Radio Pico Balloons from Antarctica” and “The QRP-Labs U4B Pico Balloon tracker”
The moderator of this Forum will be Bill Brown WB8ELK, and the speakers, Ken Daniel, K9YO; Todd McKinney, KN4TPG; Hans Summers, G0UPL; and Dave Beverstein, VE3KCL
We owe our long duration flight successes to the expertise of Ken Daniel. Ken has created a website Pico Balloons by K9YO, Everything about Flying a Pico Balloon. Ken has provided the information on how to build his three part Arduino based tracker, for the PDF instructions, please visit Pico Balloons by K9YO-Transmitter
Todd McKinney, KN4TPG is the research gradulate student that lauched our Pico Balloon KD9UQB for our team member, Jim Janiak. Jim designed the Low Sun Angle – High Power solar array for Pico Balloon KD9UQB launched from Neumayer Station III, Antarctica on November 24th 2021.
If you’re attending this year’s Hamvention, we hope you can drop by and see the Amateur Radio High Altitude Forum, and say Hi to Ken.
We’ve been a little quiet here, and still working. This morning, several of our members met at the Lake County Makers Faire at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois. Enjoing the Makers Faire were Doug, Kelsi, Kyli and Gordie Mulley, Ken Daniel, Cary Willis, Janet and Calvin (Cal) Knowles and Michael Seedman.
We added a few members to our NIBBB group, and continue to meet and plan. Next up in our launch Queue are two of our younger Generals; Gordie Mulley KD9TVR and his sister Kelsi Mulley KE9LSI. Gordie is 12 years old, in the 6th grade, and until today was our youngest General. Kelsi is 16 years old and a Sophomore in High School. Gordie and Kelsi received their General license in August of 2022 and have have been waiting patiently for their launch date. Pictures of of the NIBBB members from September of 2022 are on our home page along with slide shows of the launch of Pico Balloon AA6DY and our solar panel build session at the bottom of the page https://nibbb.org/
Here at the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade (NIBBB) we’re always looking at “What’s Next” What our next project will be, either an improvement in our Pico Balloon project or a new project.
The NIBBB members are all licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as Amateur Radio operators. These exams are conferred by Volunteer Examiners also known as VE’s. We now have our own exam team, the NIBBB exam team. The NIBBB is made up of 18 members, five of whom are volunteer examiners. We have two Lead Examiners, Doug Mulley KD9TPM, and Cary Willis KD9ITO, the rest of the NIBBB VE team are Jim Janiak KD9UQB, Ken Daniel K9YO and Michael Seedman AA6DY.
Our exams are conducted using the exam tools electronic testing program. Candidates take their exams on laptops or tablets that they provide. They get their results as soon as they click submit and three of our examiners will sign off on their exam. The results of the exam are uploaded to our national organization the ARRL the same day as the exam. There’s another step for newly licensed hams requiring an additional fee paid to the FCC.
Today we conducted our first examination for our youngest member Calvin (Cal) Knowles KD9WNU. Cal is 11 years old, a 6th grader at Central School in Glencoe, Illinois and a member of their Ham Club. Cal received his Technician license on February 11th 2023 and soon after joined the NIBBB along with his mom Janet. Janet KD9WVO received her Technician license on March 22nd 2023.
Today Cal upgraded his license to General and is now our youngest General, (he’s actually an Acting General until his callsign is updated on the FCC website which should happen Monday). I think Gordie is actually relieved that he no longer has the youngest General title. For those licensed hams around the world please visit Cal’s QRZ site at https://www.qrz.com/db/KD9WNU
Pictured below is Cal taking his exam. We don’t normally mention how well someone does on their exam, but we’re so proud of Cal having received a perfect score of 35 questions correct out of 35 questions. He took his time taking his exam and reviewed his exam before submitting, Well Done!
And the proud parents, mom, Janet Knowles KD9WVO and dad, Alex Knowles pictured below with Cal KD9WNU in the middle
The NIBBB is looking forward to more youth getting licensed in Amateur Radio. It’s easier than ever to learn with online programs like https://hamstudy.org/ Ham Study is the same organization that gives us our exam tools testing program. Janet informed me that she bought Cal an ARRL General textbook before his exam that he got through in 2 days. Cal used Ham Study to prepare for the exam and the ARRL Handbook for a better understanding of Amateur Radio.
We’re still checking the weather for our next launch. Here in the Chicago area we’ve been experiencing wild weather patterns. We’ll have a nice sunny day but very windy or rain and snow. Today it was in the 80’s, sunny and windy in the morning and rain in the afternoon, Monday we’re exepecting snow. For launch weather we look for sunny or partly sunny days, very mild winds at ground level and mild wind gusts.
We have had very succesful launches at 5 degrees below zero. We can launch in very cold or hot days as long as the winds are mild at ground level. Once the balloon reaches maximum altitude it will follow the speed and direction of the Jetstream or weather pattern at that altitude. The balloon can travel at 2 miles per hour or 200 miles per hour, visiting the world at a snails pace or around the world in 10 days, it’s pretty amazing following our balloons in flight. At the ground we look for mild winds, with less of a chance of the tracker package hitting a tree or bouncing on the ground.
Stay tuned for Gordie and Kelsi’s Pico Balloon launch
Congratulations to our NIBBB team, to Cal Knowles on passing his General license, his family and the Central School Ham Club for their support.
We have a few more followers to the NIBBB. We met this morning and decided it was time to bring back our site. We will be updating our website with posts from members of our group, so stay tuned.
We want everyone to know we discuss Pico Balloons here. We share what we know so others can do what we do. We’re licensed as Amateur Radio Operators by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and follow the FAA regulations relating to balloons.
We welcome your comments, however, we may choose not to accept your comments or delete them. We are taught as Amateur Radio Operators that a 5 year old could be listening, so please be civil.
We believe Pico Balloon K9YO is now lost, and we’re ok with that. Pico Balloon K9YO was launched on October 10th 2022, having flown 123 days and 7 circumnavigations around the world.
Pico Balloon KD9UQB reported March 4th, 2023, at Grid DH05ld, at 02:02 zulu, just after 8pm our local time on March 3rd 2023, at an altitude of 38,585 feet. Pico Balloon KD9UQB had been traveling in a circle over the South Pacific Ocean east of Peru, South America
While we were at our breakfast meeting on March 4th, Pico Balloon KD9UQB reported at Grid CG86tt, 14:52 zulu, just after 9am our time at an altitude of 6,431 feet. At 9:22 am our time, Pico Balloon KD9UQB was at an altitude of 2,822 feet. The WSPR Spot Database shows Pico Balloon KD9UQB losing altitude.
Pico Balloon KD9UQB was launched on November 24th 2022 from Neumayer Station III, Antarctica as part of a special project. Pico Balloon KD9UQB last reported on March 4th, 2023 at Grid CG86ts at 15:12 zulu having flown for 100 days, 9 hours and 12 minutes, and having completed 7 circumnavigations around the world.
Flight of KD9UQB launched November 24th 2022, to March 4th 2023, 100 days, 9 hours and 12 minutes
We’d like to thank the new followers of NIBBB and those that have asked to financially support our group. We are a very small group of 18 members, our youngest is 11 years old. We rely on the expertise and team approach of our group, and all our members assist in making our launches a success. We thank you for your offer. For very little money, we get so much enjoyment, and are not accepting donations at this time.
For those that are interested in building and flying Pico Balloons, the 1st step is getting a license in Amateur Radio. I recommend this site which provides free learning (Study Mode) and practice tests. You can find an exam session remote by zoom or in person at “Find a Session” https://hamstudy.org/ It takes about 10 hours of study time to pass the Technician license, a little more to get a perfect score. The real learning takes place after you get a license, we call this a license to learn. There are 3 classes of licenses; Technician, General and Amateur Extra. Our youngest General is 12 years old.
Once licensed, we urge you to join a Ham Club in your area, volunteer and get involved.
We end our messages with “73” which means, Best Wishes.
Pico Balloon K9YO last reported on February 11th at 00:48 zulu near Hagemeister Island after 123 days and 18 hours of flight.
Hagemeister Island is an uninhabited island in the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the north shore of Bristol Bay at the entrance to Togiak Bay. The island is 16 miles long, has a land area of 115.9 square miles, and its highest point is 604 feet. It has no permanent population at the 2000 census. Wikipedia
The 84 hour NOAA Hysplit Trajectory showed Pico Balloon K9YO making the 7th circumnavigation on February 13th around 18:00 zulu, and then traveling north of the Day/Night Change Line.
Below is a screen shot from Ventusky from February 11th showing the possible wind speed and direction. The darker colors near Hagemeister are 63 mph, the green color further north is 24 mph.
Ventusky is interactive, you can change the date at the lower left hand corner and slide the time at the bottom. This is a nice site to play with, search a location, and change the parameters on the left. Clicking on any location on the map will open a screen with information for that location.
The links for Ventusky and NOAA are on our Locate and Track page for each balloon.
Two of the several programs we follow to track our balloons are NOAA and lu7aa.org NOAA showed us going in a general eastward direction, lu7aa showed us going northeast. Pico Balloon K9YO on lu7aa
lu7aa shows a projected location using Ventusky. Projection seen below for February 15th 2023, 03:58 zulu, Grid DQ14er, 4 days and 3 hours from our last official report.
For now we are calling Pico Balloon K9YO Missing in Action.
Pico Balloon KD9UQB was launched from Neumayer Station III in Antarctica on November 24th 2022, completing the 7th Circumnavigation, on February 14th 2023 at 18:12 zulu at Grid ID52vd.
Pico Balloon KD9UQB last reported flying at an altitude of 11,560 meters, 37,928 feet, completing the 7th time around the world in 82 days and 12 hours of flight.
The 84 hour NOAA Hysplit Model shows Pico Balloon KD9UQB heading north also by Ventusky for February 14th 18:00 zulu
We update the NOAA Hysplit Model and Ventusky every day our balloons report. The WSPR Spot Database is updated automatically everytime our balloons receive a report.
Though you may not be seeing regular posts here, we update our Locate and Track page daily when our balloons are reporting. The WSPR Spot Database is updated automatically everytime our balloons receive a report. Pico Balloon K9YO and Pico Balloon KD9UQB have their own WSPR Spot Database link on our site and the easiest way to see when our balloons report. The WSPR Spot Database shows the reporting station and the distance to our balloon in Km and miles.
Thank you for following the NIBBB. 73, Cary KD9ITO
Our Pico Balloons are 32 inch diameter with a 100 inch circumference, pre-stretched prior to launch and becomes full at highest cruising altitude (Between 32,000 feet and 50,000 feet depending on the package weight)
Our Trackers, solar panel, and antenna packages are lighter than a small bird. Our balloons are filled using a gram scale filled at less than a cubic foot of gas, enough to lift the package +- 8 grams of gas, and are exempt from 14 CFR 101
Below are excerpts from 14 CFR 101
This part prescribes rules governing the operation in the United States, of the following:
(1) Except as provided for in § 101.7, any balloon that is moored to the surface of the earth or an object thereon and that has a diameter of more than 6 feet or a gas capacity of more than 115 cubic feet.
(2) Except as provided for in § 101.7, any kite that weighs more than 5 pounds and is intended to be flown at the end of a rope or cable.
And Part 4
Except as provided for in § 101.7, any unmanned free balloon that –
(i) Carries a payload package that weighs more than four pounds and has a weight/size ratio of more than three ounces per square inch on any surface of the package, determined by dividing the total weight in ounces of the payload package by the area in square inches of its smallest surface;
(ii) Carries a payload package that weighs more than six pounds;
(iii) Carries a payload, of two or more packages, that weighs more than 12 pounds; or
(iv) Uses a rope or other device for suspension of the payload that requires an impact force of more than 50 pounds to separate the suspended payload from the balloon.
(a) No person may operate a moored balloon or kite, between sunset and sunrise unless the balloon or kite, and its mooring lines, are lighted so as to give a visual warning equal to that required for obstructions to air navigation in the FAA publication “Obstruction Marking and Lighting”.
(b) No person may operate a moored balloon or kite between sunrise and sunset unless its mooring lines have colored pennants or streamers attached at not more than 50 foot intervals beginning at 150 feet above the surface of the earth and visible for at least one mile.
No person may operate a moored balloon unless it has a device that will automatically and rapidly deflate the balloon if it escapes from its moorings. If the device does not function properly, the operator shall immediately notify the nearest ATC facility of the location and time of the escape and the estimated flight path of the balloon.
I’ve previously wrote about our Team Member, John Walsh, W9BLN who is a member of the Adler Planetarium Far Horizons Project. John volunteers with the GoNet Project that monitors Light Pollution in the Chicago area. They launch weather balloons that get as big as a house at maximum altitude. These balloons carry a 10 lb payload with cameras and other equipment costing thousands of dollars. These High Altitude Balloons with expensive payloads must be recovered. Far Horizons has a launch committee and a recovery committee. I’ve followed a past flight on APRS that usually lasts 5 hours. The Far Horizons group flys a flight plan with the FAA.
The Code of Federal Regulations is a good read, and I hope you follow our link above.
On our Locate and Track page we have several links to follow the worldwide Amateur Radio Pico Balloons in flight that are registered through APRS. One of the links is Amateur Sondehub
From Amateur Sondehub January 31st 2023 showing K9YO and KD9UQB with the group
We are a small group of Pico Balloon enthusiasts.
Sondehub also tracks other balloons flying around the world at Sondehub.org
These are very crowded skies.
Clicking on the Sondehub links above and scrolling out will show all the registered balloons flying around the world.
New from the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade
From the start of our program in June of 2021, besides having fun, our goal was to teach others how to build and launch Pico Balloons. This is a continued work in progress.
Our Team Member, Jim Janiak, KD9UQB has designed and started to teach our team members how to build our solar panel packages. Jim has updated our website on the solar panel builds.
When you visit our main page https://nibbb.org/ you’ll read about the introduction to our program and our members. The heading on each page show the links for more information.
Two recently added links are information on how to build our Low Sun Angle – High Power solar array with Bill of Materials and the Standard Array with Bill of Materials. The Low Sun Angle High Power array was designed and built by Jim for the Antarctica launch on November 24th 2022, now on the 71st day of flight and getting ready for the 6th circumnavigation.
Our Pico Balloon K9YO after missing in action for 30 days, made the 6th circumnaviation on January 31st 2023, and is expected over Finland around February 4th.
For updated information on our balloons in flight, please visit our Locate and Track page. For posts starting with the most recent please visit our Blog page.
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions. I can be reached through my QRZ page or the Contact Us link on our website.
Pico Balloon K9YO was missing in action after last reporting December 26th, 2022 after the 5th Circumnavigation and 76 days and 23 hours of flight. We were hoping for the best for a safe return.
On January 26th 2023 K9YO came back and reported at Grid ON25LL over Mongolia at 03:08 zulu.
It was Ken Daniel, K9YO that alerted our team that Pico Balloon K9YO reported just passing Japan on January 27th 2023 and asleep at Grid QN74LL at 04:08 zulu.
We did an 84 hour NOAA Hysplit Trajectory seeing a move over the North Pacific Ocean towards Alaska, but waiting for today’s report to confirm.
After 109 days and 5 hours Pico Balloon K9YO has reported on January 27th at Grid AO01LL at 22:38 Zulu flying at an altitude of 12,000 meters
Pico Balloon K9YO reporting Grid AO01LL January 27th 2023 now flying for 109 Days and 5 hours
The 84 hours NOAA Hysplit Trajectory is showing Pico Balloon K9YO heading north into darkness and over Canada preparing for another circumnavigation around January 31st, 2023
Our Locate and Track page has been updated for Pico Balloon K9YO and Pico Balloon KD9UQB with the 84 hour NOAA Hysplit as seen above, Ventusky for windspeed and direction, and APRS for the world view for both our balloons. We’ll continue to follow these balloons and will update the Locate and Track page.
The Low Sun-High Power solar panel is being used on our Pico Balloon KD9UQB for Antarctica with build pictures coming soon, please visit Power Solar Panels
Welcome back to our Pico Balloon K9YO now reporting on January 28th 2023, at Grid AO12bv, 00:20 zulu.
Pico Balloon KD9UQB was launched on November 24th 2022 from Neumayer Station III, Antartica
The cyclinder solar panel array, Low Sun Angle-High Power using a flexible film for the panels was designed by Jim Janiak, KD9UQB specifically for this launch.
Low Sun Angle-High Power Solar Panel Array
On January 26th, 2023, at 05:34 zulu, Pico Balloon KD9UQB, Circumnavigated the World a 5th time in 62 days and 23 hours, reaching Grid IE75ri at an altitude of 11,240 meters, 36,878 feet.
Pico Balloon KD9UQB, completed the 5th Circumnavigation on January 26th 2023 at Grid IE75ri, altitude 36,878 feet
We are predicting by using the 84 hour NOAA Hyplit Trajectory, that Pico Balloon KD9UQB will be south of Tasmania around January 29th 2023.
Best Guess, January 29th 2023, Grid QE33dw, 18:00 zulu
Our Locate and Track Page has been updated for the 84 hour NOAA Trajectory, Sondehub for Float, Ventusky for wind speed and direction and APRS for location on the world map.
In addition, our Technical Team has provided two new Headers to our website with information on how to build our solar panels.
Power Solar Panels, showing the build of the Low Sun Angle- High Power Solar Panel used in this Antarctica Launch
