Our software code allows our trackers to send out a signal twice during a 10 minute period after receiving GPS information. If all the information is correct the packets will be sent. AA6DY sends and receives a transmission on the 2’s and 4’s and K9YO sends and receives a transmission on the 8’s on 0’s. Each of these transmissions provide parts of the pieces that we need to track our balloons.
When our packets are received by Amatuer Radio stations we are able to determine our location and altitude which allows us to then track our direction and speed. Sometimes it takes a little more work on our part to determine if the 2nd packet actually belongs to us. If we receive regular 1st and 2nd packets it makes it easier determining our girdsquare. Sometimes it can take hours or days between tranmissions received.
AA6DY first received a 2nd packet at 10:34 UTC giving us a 6 Grid Maidehead of GK82BK. It wasn’t until 11:32 UTC that we received a 4 Grid MH of GK82 which told us the 2nd packet was ours. We only received 3 more 1st packets during this reporting period. Sometimes our tracker needs to be reset which only happens when the sun goes down and rises which turns off and on the tracker. This is like using Ctrl, Alt and Delete to reset a computer, but done automatically. We’re hoping tomorrow we can receive more regular packets. We have made our predictions based on the transmissions received and will update again tomorrow.
K9YO woke at 10:28 UTC at Grid IO43TV near Camport, Ireland flying at an altitude of 12,420 meters, 40,738 feet. We are now projecting that K9YO will make a northeasterly track along Russia, near the Barrents Sea by November 1st.
K9YO awake at 10:28 UTC, Grid IO43TV, altitude 40,738 feet
AA6DY woke at 10:34 UTC at Grid GK82BK near northeast of French Guiana, of the northeast coast of South America. AA6DY is flying at an altitude of 14,360 meters, 47,100 feet. AA6DY will be heading east, northeast towards Egypt by November 1st.
AA6DY awake at 10:34 UTC at Grid GK82BK, altitude 47,100 feet.
K9YO and AA6DY tracking information with NOAA Hysplit model for 84 hours, Ventusky for wind direction and speed, maps of last locations and projected location on November 1st, and Sondehub for tracking Pico Balloons around the world can be found on our Locate and Track page
K9YO was first to wake at 10:10 UTC, Grid HN82DP over the North Atlantic Ocean, near Portugal, flying at an altitude of 12,420 meters 40,738 feet.
The NOAA Hysplit model has K9YO projected path over 84 hours to Egypt, linking Northeast Africa with the Middle East. NOAA, Ventusky, APRS, Sondehub and “Best Guess” wakeup on October 31st are updated on our Locate and Track/ page.
Pico Balloon AA6DY woke at 12:02 UTC, at Grid GL07TR, northeast of Puerto Rico, North Atlantic Ocean, flying at an altitude of 14,420 meters, 47,298 feet.
The NOAA Hysplit model has AA6DY projected path over 84 hours to Mali, West Africa. NOAA, Ventusky, APRS, Sondehub and our “Best Guess” wakeup on October 31st are on our Locate and Track page.
Our Best Guess over 84 hours on October 31st 2022, has Pico Balloon K9YO arriving over Egypt linking Africa to the Middle East, and Pico Balloon AA6DY arriving over Mali. From West Africa to Northeast Africa, sharing the same Continent and Bridging the Gap.
AA6DY is now on its 54th day of flight, and 3rd time around the world. K9YO is now on its 17th day of flight, and 2nd time around the world.
Our two Pico Balloons, AA6DY and K9YO are awake around the same time, and thousands of Kilometers apart.
K9YO was first to wake at 11:20 UTC at Grid HO31LG, Mid-North Atlantic Ocean, flying at an altitude of 12,180 meters, 39,950 feet. Our Locate and Track page is updated for tracking our Pico Balloons K9YO and AA6DY.
K9YO, Grid HO31LG, 11:20 UTC, 39,950 feet
AA6DY woke at 12:32 UTC at Grid FK37SJ, near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, over the Caribbean Sea, altitude 14,300 meters, 46.904 feet.
AA6DY, Grid FK37SJ, 12:32 UTC, 46,904 feet
Once in a while we show these features on our Locate and Track page.
Below is from the Sondehub program which tracks Amateur Radio Pico Balloons in flight around the world. We should note that Sondehub will track these balloons if they’re registered on APRS. Sondehub will take data from NOAA, at different altitudes and project the Balloons direction. As we show in our NOAA Hysplit model projections, our balloons path may travel in different directions from day to day. Here at Sondehub, they put it all together on one map.
Search for a specific balloon on Sondehub and click “Float” will show the map below, or something similar. Each color represents a different altitude, click on the circle’s color for an altitude. The Ventusky model also receives information from NOAA and puts it into a nice color portrayal of wind movement by altitude, time and date.
The Sondehub program coincides with the 84 hour NOAA Hysplit models on our Locate and Track page
If you find our project interesting, please share. If anyone would like to receive these posts when published, please send me an email with your name and email address. To be invited click on “Contact Us” on our website or to me through QRZ. 73, Cary KD9ITO
K9YO woke at 11:58 UTC at Grid HO57MC between Greenland and Iceland flying at an altitude of 12,180 meters, 39,950 feet.
K9YO October 25th 2022, 12:10 UTC Grid HO57MC
We track different aspects and views of our balloons flights. Below is the 84 hour NOAA Hysplit Trajectory model for K9YO October 25th thru October 29th. We also update the Ventusky windspeed and direction, APRS and Sondehub for other Pico Balloons around the world.
Our forecasts are updated daily when our balloons are reporting. Weather does change and we like to keep our followers informed to help them point their antennas toward our balloons. Without their reports, we wouldn’t know where we were.
Our Locate and Track page has been updated for our tracking information, maps and “Best Guess” wakeup on October 29th 2022.
AA6DY woke at 13:42 UTC at Grid EL87JJ near Tampa, Florida, flying at an altitude of 14,360 meters, 47,100 feet.
AA6DY October 25th 2022, 13:42 UTC, Grid EL87JJ
Both the 84 hour NOAA Trajectory model, and our “Best Guess” maps are located on our Locate and Track page
AA6DY “Best Guess” on October 29th 2022
If you know of someone who would like to become a follower of the NIBBB, please send me their email at “Contact Us” above, send and ask to be invited, I’m also good on QRZ 73, Cary KD9ITO
Pico Balloon AA6DY was launched on September 3rd 2022 from Willow Hill Golf Course in Northbrook, Illinois. AA6DY made its first Circumnavigation around the World on September 24th 2022 after 21 days and 7 hours of flight. Now after 51 days and 7 hours of flight, AA6DY has Circumnavigated the World the second time, going to sleep over Grid EM52 near the Alabama border at 21:22 UTC.
AA6DY woke at 14:52 UTC at Grid EL11ic just north of Austin, Texas, at an altitude of 14,300 meters, 46,904 feet.
AA6DY woke at 14:52 UTC, Grid EL11ic, north of Austin, Texas, altitude 46,904 feet
Our NOAA “Best Guess” shows AA6DY heading east of Puerto Rico on October 28th 2022. Our Locate and Track page has been updated for 84 hour NOAA Trajectory model, Ventusky and Sondehub.
AA6DY Best Guess on October 28th 2022
K9YO woke at 11:48 UTC at Grid HO35PN between Greenland and Iceland, flying at an altitude at 12,180 meters, 39,950 feet. Our NOAA “Best Guess” shows that K9YO will be near France on October 28th. The Locate and Track page has been updated for the 84 hour NOAA Trajectory model, Ventusky, and Sondehub. K9YO is on the 2nd lap around the world.
K9YO at Grid HO35PN between Greenland and Iceland at an altitude of 39,950 feet
K9YO Best Guess on October 28th 2022
K9YO after 13 days and 22 hours is on the 2nd lap around the world and AA6DY after 51 days and 7 hours is on the 3rd lap around the world. 73, Cary KD9ITO
K9YO was first to wake at 13:38 UTC, Grid GO27LC over the Labrador Sea, between Newfoundland and Greenland. Our Locate and Track page has been updated for Ventusky, Sondehub and NOAA Hysplit Trajectory for 84 hours and now show K9YO to head east and make a short loop to be just east of the current location between Greenland and Iceland. K9YO is flying at an altitude of 12,140 meters, 39,819 feet. K9YO is now on 12 days and 21 hours of flight and the 2nd lap around the world.
K9YO awake at Grid GO27LC 13:28 UTC over the Labrador Sea
AA6DY woke at 15:42 UTC at Grid DK18NE, west of Guadalajara, Mexico. Our Locate and Track page has been updated for AA6DY for Ventusky, Sondehub and the NOAA Hysplit Trajectory for 84 hours with another change from yesterday. NOAA has AA6DY waking up over Newfoundland on October 27th, 2022 not too far from K9YO. AA6DY is flying at an altitude of 14,480 meters, 47,494 feet for 50 days and 2 hours of flight, and the 2nd lap around the world.
AA6DY awake at Grid DK18NE 15:42 UTC west of Guadalajara, Mexico
We were tracking Hurricane Roslyn over the North Pacific east of AA6DY which made landfall as a Major Hurricane and now a Tropical Storm over west central Mexico.
We will update our Locate and Track page for any updates. AA6DY was launched on September 3rd 2022 and K9YO was launched on October 10th 2022. It would be pretty amazing if they were flying in the same area on October 27th 2022. 73, Cary KD9ITO
After 11 days and 23 hours of flight, K9YO woke at 16:18 UTC, Grid EO66HD over the Hudson Bay, near Fort Severn, Ontario, Canada for its First Circumnavigtion around the world. K9YO was launched on October 10th 2022 from Independence Grove Forest Preserve in Libertyville, Illinois. This was the fastest time around the world that we’ve experienced, AA6DY making its first lap in 22 days. Our Locate and Track page has been updated for K9YO for APRS, Ventusky, and NOAA projected trajectory model for 84 hours. K9YO is currently flying at an altitude of 12,050 meters, 39,525 feet. NOAA is projecting K9YO will be between Greenland and Iceland on October 26th, 2022.
K9YO First Circumnavigation in 11 days, 23 hours Grid EO66HD
Pico Balloon AA6DY woke at 15:12 UTC at Grid DJ37FQ just west of Costa Rica, Central America. AA6DY is flying at an altitude of 14,420 meters, 47,298 feet. Our Locate and Track page has been updated with a change in the NOAA projected trajectory for 84 hours.
Yesterday, I reported that AA6DY would fly towards Wisconsin on October 25th. NOAA is now predicting that AA6DY will be flying towards Florida by October 26th, 2022.
Maps of current locations and 84 hour NOAA, “Best Guess” locations are on our Locate and Track page and are updated when we see a change. You can also follow other Pico Balloons around the world by clicking Sondehub on our Locate and Track page.
AA6DY at Grid DJ37FQ, October 22nd 2022
Below we see an image from Sondehub with K9YO-15 over Canada and AA6DY-15 over the North Pacific Ocean. With our Pico Balloon hobby, we are never alone.
We’re very excited here at the NIBBB to have two balloons, K9YO and AA6DY circumnavigate the world with AA6DY ready for the 2nd lap. 73, Cary KD9ITO
I often mention how fortunate we are to have our NIBBB Team involved in making us so successful. John Walsh, W9BLN is one of our Technical Advisors, also involved with the Adler Planetarium’s High Altitude Balloon Far Horizon’s Project and GoNet Project studying Light Pollution. John provides us among other things the “know how”, to use the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Hysplit models to track our balloons. With John’s help we are now tracking both our balloons with the NOAA projected trajectory over 84 hours.
You can find NOAA, Ventusky for wind speed, APRS for each Balloon, and Sondehub links for all Pico Balloons around the world at our Locate and Track page. We are also showing maps of our projected “Best Guess” wakeup location for October 25th for both balloons. These maps will be updated every day while we’re flying on our Locate and Track page.
We finally have both balloons, K9YO and AA6DY awake and doing well. AA6DY woke at 14:52 UTC at Grid DJ66BC west of Bogota, Columbia, South America flying at 14,480 meters, 47,494 feet.
AA6DY awake at Grid DJ66BC
K9YO woke at 17:28 UTC at Grid DO67AX, Northwest Saskatchewan Territories of Canada flying at 12,050 meters, 39,524 feet.
K9YO was awake for an hour yesterday October 20th, at Grid CP62 over the Northwest Territories, Canada shown on the upper left corner of the map below.
K9YO awake at Grid DO67AX
For those getting our posts for the first time, please visit our home page for a slide show of our balloon launch AA6DY, on September 3rd 2022 and our solar panel build session on September 10th 2022 at https://nibbb.org/
Below is the image from Sondehub which tracks Amateur Radio Balloons around the world. K9YO-15 is over Canada and AA6DY-15 is approaching Mexico. We use the -15 designation to track our balloons on APRS and Sondehub. We may use a different designation for different flights so please check our Locate and Track page for future launches.
I’ll update our Locate and Track page for any changes to the projected path of our balloons. You can click on APRS to track our balloons in flight. 73, Cary KD9ITO
We’re always getting new followers here at the NIBBB. We are in the process of updating our Technical Page which will provide all the information you will need to build, launch and track a Pico Balloon. I have mentioned, that we are part of a larger Pico Balloon community, we share our information to improve the success of all. We encourage you to follow our Technical Page as it will be updated by two of our Technical Team members, Doug Mulley KD9TPM and Jim Janiak KD9UQB. Our website Design Team is lead by John Walsh W9BLN. Here at the NIBBB, we are a work in progress.
Now to tracking. We follow our balloons on several WSPR (Weak Signal Propogation Reporter) sites. We need to receive Amateur Radio stations in order to locate our position. Some areas of the world have few stations reporting and it may be days before we know and report our location. We update our tracking information before it is posted. Please visit our Locate and Track page for updated tracking information.
Most of our reporting stations have been Amateur Radio operators reporting from their home stations. We receive these signals and are reported with their callsign and grid location of their station. With that information we are able to see the distance from our balloon to the receive site. The farthest we have received a station was several days after a launch to Australia, 10,000 miles away.
At NIBBB we have a following of stations around the world that we count on to find and track our balloons. We also hope that as we report on our progress, that more stations will use the WSPR mode on WSJT-x.
We are also very fortunate to have two radio receive sites, station KFS and station KPH near San Francisco, California tracking our balloons.
Receiving station KFS is located near Half Moon Bay, California at Grid CM87TJ KFS High Frequency Receiver. Receiving station KPH at Grid CM88MJ near Point Reyes National Seashore, California KPH Maritime Radio Receiving Station. Please visit their websites to learn more information about their receive stations.
One of our members, Jim, KD9UQB, was in Half Moon Bay, CA where the KFS High Frequency Receiver is located the day after it spotted our balloon. He stopped by the station to check it out. Unfortunately, the site was secured, and he could not get close. He was able to take a picture.
KFS High Frequency Receiving Station, Half Moon Bay, CA on Oct. 14, 2022.
Now you don’t see this every day. While traveling around the world we cross the International Date Line, where we get to repeat a day. It’s hardly noticeable at the speed or time that our balloons travel. Also, this is only the 6th time since our first flight on September 25th 2021 that we’ve crossed the International Date Line.
Our 8th Launch, KD9ORR, crossed twice within a couple of days, once going east and back again going west. KD9ORR last reported after 19 days of flight near the Federated States of Micronesia. Our 11th Launch KR9T crossed once, last reported after 10 days of flight at the Alaska/Canada border. You can track our earlier flights at our Earlier Flights page. Our Blog page tracks all of our flights starting with the most recent data.
AA6DY crossed the first time around the world after 22 days, and on its 2nd lap multiple times. The International Date Line runs from the North Pole to the South Pole and is not a straight line.
International Date Line runs from the North to the South Pole, it is not a straight line.
K9YO just crossed the International Date Line yesterday on October 19th 2022 after 9 days of flight.
K9YO Crossing the International Date Line on October 19th 2022
K9YO was able to report asleep, awake and asleep all on the same day October 19th 2022.
K9YO has been in a very fast Jetstream waking over southern Alaska on October 19th 2022 at 20:28 UTC at Grid BO08QJ. K9YO is traveling at an altitude of 12,240 meters, 40,147 feet. This was a shorter period of being awake as K9YO was moving east in while the sun was setting. Through October 19th, K9YO has enjoyed 9 days and 5 hours of flight.
To get a better visual cue, there are three images below. K9YO asleep on October 19th 03:30 UTC at Grid RN39NM, K9YO awake on October 19th 20:28 UTC at Grid BO08QJ, and K9YO asleep on October 19th, at 23:40 UTC at Grid BO29IP. Our Locate and Track page has been updated for October 19th and are awaiting data for the October 20th wakeup.
For a recap, K9YO went to sleep on October 19th 2022, at 03:30 UTC Grid RN39NM, just west of the International Date Line.
K9YO asleep on October 19th 2022, 03:30 UTC at Grid RN39RM
K9YO woke on October 19th 2022, 17 hours later at 20:38 UTC, at Grid BO08QJ Kvichik Bay, Southern Alaska Altitude 12,240 meters
K9YO awake October 19th 2022, 20:38 UTC Grid BO08QJ, altitude 12,240 meters
K9YO asleep on October 19th 2022, 3 hours later at 23:40 UTC at Grid BO20IP, near New Halen, Alaska altitude 12,240 meters
K9YO asleep on October 19th 2022 at 23:40 UTC, Grid BO29IP, altitude 12,240 meters
AA6DY woke on October 20th 2022 at 15:02 UTC at Grid DJ31FK. AA6DY is flying at an altitude of 14,420 meters, 47,298 feet. AA6DY made it around the world in the first 22 days, now on the 47th day of flight. Our Locate and Track page has been updated for NOAA Hysplit predictions for 48 hours and 84 hours with Best Guess map predictions based on NOAA. Also updated is Sondehub Balloon tracker, and Ventusky for wind speed and direction.
AA6DY on October 20th 2022 at 15:02 UTC, Grid DJ31FK, Altitude 14,420 meters
While AA6DY is enjoying more wake flight time around the equator. K9YO is flying further north and we are awaiting K9YO to report.
Our Locate and Track page will be updated throughout the day for updates to Ventusky and NOAA Hysplit Trajectory models for both our balloons. 73, Cary KD9ITO
K9YO woke on October 18th at 23:00 UTC at Grid QN75IR between Russian and Japan over the North Pacific Ocean, and went to sleep on October 19th 02:48 UTC at Grid RN39RM just west of the International Date line over the North Pacific Ocean. K9YO is at an altitude of 12,310 meters, 40,377 feet. All the tracking information Locate and Track is updated for K9YO with the NOAA Hysplit model showing K9YO over Canada in 48 hours. K9YO has been in flight for 8 days and 8 hours.
K9YO asleep on October 19th 2022 at Grid RN39RM 02:48 UTC
AA6DY woke on October 19th at 15:52 UTC at Grid CJ60. We’re getting multiple 1st packets giving a 4 Grid Maidenhead. We’re also receiving 2 Grids, CJ60 and CJ70 within the hour which shows AA6DY moving east. AA6DY has been in flight for 46 days and 4 hours at an altitude of 14,420 meters, 47,298 feet.
AA6DY on October 19th 2022 at Grid CJ60MX at 13:52 UTC west of Ecuador, South America
On our Locate and Track page has been partially updated. The NOAA Hysplit for 48 hours and 84 hours which show AA6DY general direction east, northeast. This page also shows 3 images for AA6DY, the location on wakeup, Best Guess for 48 hours and Best Guess for 84 hours. When the 2nd packet arrives, I’ll update Ventusky which will show AA6DY speed and direction as well as APRS and Sondehub.
