AA6DY woke at Grid HN48ph at 9:52 UTC, 4:52 am CDT over the North Atlantic Ocean at an altitude of 13,910 meters. Danielle is now a Tropical Storm with sustained winds at only 70 mph and traveling at 14 mph.
Grid HN48ph at 9:52 UTC
The real good news is that we’re now in a faster Jetstream and will be flying towards land. The three images below, 1) Ventusky Jetstream showing easterly direction at 80 mph and higher towards France. 2) Windy.com showing cloud tops at 9Km starting September 10th at 5 am over France. 3) NOAA Hysplit Trajectory Model showing our balloon’s direction over 48 hours at 13.9Km
Ventusky.com Jetstream from September 9th 2022 81 mph towards France
From Windy.com showing Cloud Tops at 10Km over France September 10th 5am
48 hours NOAA Hysplit Model
The Links to Locate and Track tab has been updated for tomorrow’s Jetstream on Ventusky. APRS.fi for AA6DY will updated throughout the day and HabHub will show other balloons around the world, Enjoy!
AA6DY woke at 10:34 UTC 5:34 am CDT at Grid GN81LB over the North Atlantic Ocean, now at 14,000 meters 45,920 feet traveling northeast at 30 mph. We’re still close to Hurricane Danielle. Noah KD9RDT tells me we need more pictures. In the five images below, 1st is our Grid Location, 2nd is our track on our 5th day launched September 3rd. The 3rd is the Jetstream from Ventusky showing AA6DY just west of Hurricane Danielle. 4th is the projected Hysplit Trajectory by NOAA showing us staying steady at 14,000 meters and our path from Septmeber 7th thru Thursday September 9th over 48 hours. The last image shows the path of Hurricane Danielle becoming a Tropical Storm later on Thursday.
We hope you’ll scroll down to the bottom with a special recognition for today’s flight.
AA6DY at Grid GN81LB 10:34 UTC
Sept 7th 2022 AA6DY is traveling at 30 mph heading Northeast
From Ventusky.com Hurricane Danielle in the center, AA6DY just west
NOAA Hysplit porjected path over 48 hours, AA6DY at 41.77 North and 41.88 West on September 7th (Updated by Doug Mulley KD9TPM and Kelsi Mulley KE9LSI 9:35 am)
Hurricane Danielle center at 43 North and 38 West traveling Northeast at 14 mph
We are flying Pico Balloon AA6DY for Michael Seedman, one of our founders of the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade. As we are also flying near Hurricane Danielle, I’d like to recognize Michael’s daughter Danielle Seedman KD9PAP who is celebrating her birthday today.
We met this morning to launch two balloons, transmitting the call signs KD9UQB and AA6DY. We met at the highest mountain in the area – the Willow Hill Golf Course in Northbrook, IL. Assisting in our launch today were Michael Seedman AA6DY, Jim Janiak KD9UQB, Stewart Spies KB9LM, Doug Mulley KD9TPM, Kelsi Mulley KE9LSI, Gordie Mulley KD9TVR, Noah Berg KD9RDT, Bob Berg KD9RDU and Cary Willis KD9ITO.
We’re flying our latest board design version 2.2, manufactured in China by a contract manufacturer. After multiple attempts we’re successfuly flying a clear Yokohama Balloon reaching an altitude of 46,000 feet.
We had mild winds at ground level and gusty above. For this launch, we used the Icarus Device and 30 foot pole to get our tracker away from the ground at launch. The idea for the Icarus Device came from Noah Berg, KD9RDT (then 13 years old) at a group presentation in October of 2021. Noah suggested using a device to assist the balloons lift after losing some of our balloons in nearby trees. After months of discussing how something like this could work, Michael Seedman, AA6DY designed the Icarus using a small arduino based computer and a pico servo. Jim Janiak designed the 3D printed holder to couple the icarus to the pole. Since getting a 30′ pole in the car is a bit troublesome, Doug Mulley KD9TPM suggested using a telescoping pole which extends from 7 feet to 30 feet making it easy to transport and deploy.
The Icarus Device attached to the end of the 30 ft. pole
The 3D printed top of Pico Servo with lever
The Icarus Version 1.0 AA6DY/KD9RDT
Preparing KD9UQB for Launch
Jim Janiak KD9UQB and Michael Seedman AA6DY preparing the tracker for launch
KD9UQB Tracker package Tracker and Antenna tested on August 31st
KD9UQB Package is held up by 4 monofilament wires on the corners, attached to one in the middle to the balloon, the top antenna is secured to the wire to the balloon, the 16.5 foot bottom antenna makes this a complete Dipole Antenna
Michael is attaching the Balloon to the Icarus Device From Left to Right, Doug KD9TPM, Gordie KD9TVR, Michael AA6DY and Stewart KB9LM. Michael is attaching the balloon to the Icarus Device.
Kelsi KE9LSI securing the 30 ft pole ready for lift
Gordie KD9TVR is pressing the Icarus Device to start the 10 second timer, and Stewart KB9LM is holding the balloon
The Balloon is sitting on top of a 30 foot pole, counting down to 10 seconds for release
The Balloon and tracker has been released from the pole and floating freely
Nice and steady launch
Floating Steady
Preparing AA6DY for Launch
Michael preparing the AA6DY Board
Michael holding the package by the harness
Michael AA6DY is shorting the solar panel for a hard reset of the tracker
Doug, Michael, Gordie and Stewart preparing the Icarus Device and Pole
Doug, and Gordie on the Pole, Bob Berg KD9RDU and Noah Berg KD9RDT in the background
Kelsi KE9LSI securing the pole
Nice and steady launch
The Balloon and tracker has been released from the pole and floating freely
While we’re still waiting for KD9UQB to report, we’re very happy that our Yokohama balloon has reached 46,000 feet. We appear to be in a slow moving air mass over Michigan traveling around 35 mph.
Now that we know our altitude is steady at 14Km we can now provide a NOAA Hysplit Trajectory. We’ll be updating this while we’re watching Tropical Storm soon to be Hurricane Danielle.
NOAA Hysplit Trajectory 14Km from Michigan for 84 hours
