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.
K9YO woke at 01:10 UTC Grid ON50KF just west of Beijing, China. K9YO is flying at an altitude of 12,480 meters, 40,934 feet. Locate and Track has been updated for Ventusky Jetstream, NOAA Hysplit and tracking. The NOAA Hysplit shows K9YO flying to Alaska in 48 hours. K9YO is now in the 7th day and 4th hour of flight.
K9YO last report 06:50 at Grid OM98MW, Yellow Sea China
AA6DY woke at 16:32 UTC at Grid CJ11LQ East of Kitibati Island, Oceania. AA6DY is flying at an altitude of 14,480 meters, 47,494 feet. Locate and Track has been updated for AA6DY with a 48 hour NOAA Trajectory and 84 hour NOAA Trajectory, Ventusky Jetstream and tracking links. AA6DY will be changing direction, traveling east for 48 hours, then start heading north. We will continue to update the NOAA models for any changes.
AA6DY awake at 16:32 UTC, at Grid CJ11LQ, heading east
We’re going to be watching both our balloons very closely as K9YO is preparing for the 1st circumnavigation around the world and AA6DY may be heading to a Jetstream near K9YO.
We’re going to be writing about the Jetstreams in an upcoming post. How they travel, where we find them, and their speed at various altitudes.
Sondehub and HabHub are tracking both our balloons, find our tracking links at Locate and Track
We’re tracking our two balloons on 2 WSPR reporting programs. WSPRnet.org gives us our 1st packet and WSPR.rocks, gives us our 2nd packet. On our Locate and Track page we provide the links to APRS, NOAA Hysplit and Ventusky when our balloons get updated. Under each balloon we’re tracking you’ll find the WSPR spot database, this link is automatically updated. For AA6DY I added another NOAA Hysplit model for 84 hours.
As I mentioned yesterday, K9YO is in an area with very few reporters, actually just one today. K9YO woke at 05:38 UTC at Grid NN65VK, Great Gobi “B” Mongolia. We’re tracking K9YO at 12,900 meters, 42,312 feet. The NOAA Hysplit model is showing K9YO moving east.
K9YO at 05:38 UTC, Grid NN65VK, Great Gobi, Mongolia
AA6DY woke at 17:14 UTC at Grid BJ63EJ northeast of Kiribati Island, Oceania. AA6DY is moving in an east, southeast direction but still slow. AA6DY is now reporting at 14,540 meters, 47,691 feet.
Below is where AA6DY reported awake
AA6DY at Grid BJ63EJ 17:14 UTC on the 2nd packet reporting
Below is the October 22nd projected wakeup using NOAA Hysplit for 84 hours. I’ll continue to update this daily.
I’ve added another tracking link to our Locate and Track page for HabHub to follow our balloons and other Pico Balloons that are flying. HabHub will be discontinued next month and Sondehub will be taking over. Our Technical Team is working on getting Sondehub to track our balloons.
We’re reporting two balloons in flight, K9YO flying over Europe and AA6DY enjoying the North and South Pacific Oceans. While I’ve been reporting these two balloons at one time here on our Blog, the information on tracking both these balloons have been updated before I start writing. Anytime you feel you’d like to know their progress, just go to our Locate and Track page either here or on our website under menu items. Our header has also been updated to show us sharing airspace with other Pico Balloons.
It’s nice to see that we have both balloons doing so well, but it’s not all wine and roses. What you haven’t seen is that we’re not getting regular reports from either of our balloons. K9YO had received just one report on both packets during this flight session. By receiving both packets we were able to get a 6 grid Maidenhead and accurate altitude. Knowing the location within a 15 square mile area and altitude, we can get the direction from the NOAA model that was explained in the last Blog post. We’re still showing K9YO heading towards Japan in a few days. We were also short of spots when AA6DY flew over this area the 1st and 2nd times around the world.
Pico Balloon AA6DY is also having some difficulty getting reports. We did hear from Australia, Hawaii and Half Moon Bay, California early in our wake up today. We have also been getting erroneous spots from grid AA00, which we believe is due to a software issue that we will be working on. It’s hard for us to duplicate the problem here on the ground in Northern Illinois, we have our Technical Team working on this issue. Meanwhile, AA6DY is now reporting for 43 days and 4 hours of flight and K9YO is reporting 4 days and 17 hours of flight.
Pico Balloon K9YO went to sleep at 12:00 UTC at Grid MN65LD, Ulken, Kazakhstan at an altitude of 12,900 meters, 42,312 feet. The general direction is east towards Japan.
K9YO at 12:00 UTC, Grid MN65LD, Ulken, Kazakhstan at 42,312 feet
Pico Balloon AA6DY is awake at 18:22 UTC, Grid BJ14IL, North of Kiribati Island, in the Country of Oceania at an altitude of 14,480 meters, 47,494 feet. You can also see below that AA6DY is south of Hawaii.
AA6DY awake at 18:32 UTC, Grid BJ14IL North of Kiribati Island, Oceania
Pico Balloon K9YO is enjoying a fast Jetstream, while Pico Balloon AA6DY is just enjoying the ride, a very slow ride. Below is AA6DY travel, arriving near Japan on October 4th 2022 through today, October 16th 2022.
The general direction is east towards South America.
This is the first time that the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade has flown a balloon that has gone around the world. From our home page we show our 1st balloon to travel almost around the world in 19 days. Pico Balloon KD9ORR spent 8 days around the Marshall Islands before disappearing. Pico Balloon KD9ORR was our 8th Flight reaching an altitude of 24,000 feet. Our 24th Flight, Pico Balloon AA6DY is now on 43 days of flight and reaching an altitude of over 47,000 feet. Our 25th flight, Pico Balloon K9YO with a slightly different package is flying over 42,000 feet.
We’ve reached a significant milestone within our project, and will continue to meet and share our project so others can do what we do. Stay tuned 73, Cary KD9ITO
Pico Balloon K9YO is asleep and flying at 12:00 UTC, Grid LN33JP, Akhayotar, Russia. Altitude is 12,900 meters, 42,312 feet heading east at 70 mph. K9YO went to sleep just west of the Caspian Sea and is heading east, past Japan over the North Pacific Ocean in about 4 days.
Weather is sometimes unpredictable, so we update our data every day.
One of the great things about our site is that we track our balloons movement using the NOAA (National Oceanic and Athmospheric Administration) Hysplit Trajectory model. Not only does NOAA provide information on weather, hurricanes and typhoons, they give us an opportunity to track our projected direction. By entering the altitude, longitude and lattitude of our balloons, NOAA shows us where we’re heading.
We use the QRZ Gridmapper program to provide the longitude and lattitude and receive the Grid and altitude from our Amateur Radio Station reporters. QRZ Gridmapper gives us the maps as shown below.
Our Locate and Track page has the links to all this information on both balloons.
Pico Balloon AA6DY woke at 18:32 UTC at Grid AJ74CE, just northwest of Kiribati in Oceania over the Central Pacific Ocean. Pico Balloon AA6DY is now flying 42 days and 5 hours at an altitude of 14,480 meters, 47,494 feet. The general direction is east in a wavy pattern, best seen on the Ventusky Jetstream on our Locate and Track page.
AA6DY has been over the Pacific Ocean since October 4th 2022. The NOAA Hysplit model for 48 hours is on our Locate and Track page, below is the 84 hour model which shows us heading towards South America.
K9YO in a faster Jetstream may be passing AA6DY around the world
Below is the projected wakeup of AA6DY on October 19th 2022.
AA6DY Projected wakeup on October 19th 2022
Pico Balloon AA6DY is now getting regular reports of 1st and 2nd packets from stations in Australia and Hawaii and enoying now 42 days of flight.
We’re following two balloons K9YO launched on October 10th 2022, and AA6DY launched on September 3rd 2022.
K9YO which was launched from Libertyville, IL on October 10th 2022, went to sleep at 13:40 UTC at Grid KN30GF over Cannakale, Turkey traveling at an altitude of 12,840 meters, 42,115 feet.
AA6DY launched from Nortbrook, IL on September 3rd 2022 is now awake at 18:52 UTC, at Grid AI29 southeast of Howland Island over the Central Pacific. AA6DY altitude is 14,480 meters, 47,494 feet.
The reporting stations are VK4CT from Australia, 4,530 Km from our balloon. We just received Robert, AI6VN/KH6 from Half Moon Bay California also with a station in Maui Hawaii, welcome back Robert.
AA6DY awake at Grid AI29 at 18:52 UTC southeast of Howland, Island 14,480 meters
Our Locate and Track tab has been updated for both our balloons for Jetstream by Ventusky and the NOAA Hysplit Model for direction over 48 hours. K9YO is current for APRS, I’ll update our map and direction for AA6DY thoughout the evening.
Let’s start with the updates. Our home page has information to help navigate the rest of our site. Thanks to Doug Mulley, KD9TPM for organizing our Locate and Track tab which is now grouped by the balloons we’re flying. Click on the link above and please comment.
We’re in the planning stage of launching additional balloons including 3 of our youngest members, Gordie Mulley KD9TVR in 6th grade, Kelsi Mulley KE9LSI a Sophomore in high school and Mikaela Streicher KD9VIW a Senior in high school all Generals. You can view a recent picture of our group on our home page https://nibbb.org/.
Besides flying Pico Balloons, we’re working on updating our Technical Page with information on how others can build and fly Pico Balloons, this page is a work in progress. When we started our project in June of 2021, we were learning from scratch, trial and error. We’re now testing chips at lower temperatures, trying different ways to secure the balloon valve, updating our solar panel packages for changes in the suns elevation and updating our software to improve the data we collect. Our Technical Page when complete will have step by step instructions for building and flying Pico Balloons including video presentations.
Now to our Flights
K9YO launched on October 10th 2022 is now asleep over the Ligurian Sea, part of the Mediterranean Sea at Grid JN42MV. K9YO is flying at an altutude of 12,540 meters 41,131 feet. The general direction is east traveling in a Jetstream at about 50 miles per hour
K9YO Grid JN42MV asleep at 14:38 UTC
AA6DY launched on September 3rd 2022, is now over the South Pacific Ocean east of Nauru, Oceania. Nauru is a tiny island country in Micronesia, northeast of Australia.
We’re only receiving our 1st packet giving us a 4 Grid Maidenhead of RI68. I used a 6 Grid Maidenhead of RI68bn to get the map below and update our Jetstream and NOAA Hysplit models. The general direction is east towards South America, moving at about 40 miles per hour at an altitude of 14,300 meters, 46,904 feet.
AA6DY Grid RI68bn awake at 19:52 UTC
AA6DY is receiving our location from 2 receiving stations, VK4CT near Brisbane, Australia, 3,566 Km from our balloon and VK3AG near Melbourne, Australia 4,908 Km from our balloon.
The NOAA Hysplit models of direction over 48 hours, Ventusky Jetstream and other balloon information is now updated for both our balloons on our new Locate and Track tab.
We invite all to become followers of the NIBBB, to receive your invite, please email me at Contact Us on our website or find me on QRZ, 73, Cary KD9ITO
K9YO is now asleep and traveling over the Atlantic Ocean near Ireland. You can follow the NOAA Hysplit Model, Ventusky Jetstream at our Links to Locate and Track tab on our menu.
AA6DY woke at 20:42 UTC, 2:42 pm CDT at Grid RJ36 just west of the Marshall Islands. We’re only receiving the 1st packet, so we’re only getting a 4 Grid Maidenhead and partial altitude of 14,000 meters.
We have 2 stations reporting, Hisami 7L4IOU, 2,600 miles from our balloon and VK4CT from Australia, 2,400 miles away from our balloon.
Using our last known altitude for 2 packets of 14,300 meters and a Grid of RJ36gq, I was able to create a NOAA Hysplit model to show our possible direction southeast till tomorrow and then east thru October 14th. Also below is my best guess of Gridmap wakeup tomorrow at 20:00 UTC.
AA6DY moving southeast, sunlight lasts about 13 hours around the Marshall Islands, taking away 4 hours to power up and power down gives us about 6 more hours of sunlight and more opportunities to receive our 2nd packet.
Best guess waking up at Grid RJ50mm October 13th 20:00 UTC
I’m providing this best guess wake up to increase the chances of receiving spots from our followers.
Our Locate and Track tab has been updated for K9YO, and the best guess for AA6DY, as soon as we receive the 2nd packet, I’ll update this link for Jetstream and direction.
I have updated our home page to make it easier to navigate our site. If you’re a follower and only seeing this blog, please take a look at our home page https://nibbb.org/ comments welcome.
We’re very fortunate to have a group of followers that are able to continue to receive our signal far from their location.
Pico Balloon AA6DY, launched on September 3rd 2022, woke up at 03:52 UTC, 10:52 pm CDT at Grid RK04HR just north of the Federated States of Micronesia. AA6DY altitude is 14,310 meters 46,937 feet.
AA6DY at Grid RK04HR North of Micronesia 46,937 feet
Our first station received was from KFS Half Moon Bay, California 7,806 Km or 4,850 miles from our balloon. KFS is a High Frequency Receiver, to read about them please go to KFS Half Moon Bay We also heard from Hisami, 7L4IOU, 3,161 Km away and a station in Utah KA7OEI, 8,679 Km from our balloon.
According to our NOAA Hysplit model below, AA6DY will be travelling east today, then heading southeast tomorrow at about 40 mph. Although the GPS chip onboard our tracker is always receiving information, it’s not until we’re heard from an Amateur Radio Station that we’re able to receive our location and altitude. We hope our followers can point their antennas north of the Marshall Islands. We spent 8 days around the Marshall islands travelling at 2-8 mph on our 8th launch, with our Pico Balloon KD9ORR. Back then we were flying at 24,000 feet. Now we’re at 47,000 feet and looking for a faster Jetstream.
Pico Balloon K9YO launched on October 10th, 2022 woke at 13:08 UTC, 8:08 am CDT at Grid HO41gi over the North Atlantic Ocean between Greenland and Iceland. K9YO altitude is 12,300 meters, 40,344 feet.
K9YO October 12th 2022 at Grid HO41gi 40,344 feet
K9YO is moving in a very fast Jetstream east at about 120 mph. Below is the NOAA Hyplit model for direction over the next 48 hours. Only look at the upper box for direction, we found the change in altitude during flight is not correct.
Our Links to Locate and Track are updated for both balloons. K9YO is still flying and AA6DY will wakeup when heard hopefully in about 5 hours.
For current tracking information with Jetstream, direction and tracking other balloons around the world please click Locate and Track
AA6DY woke at 21:42 UTC, 4:42 pm CDT at Grid QL54XB close to our predicted wakeup Grid. We received both packets 21:42 and 21:44 UTC and at 21:52 and 21:54 UTC from Hisami, 7L4IOU. We had different readings in altitude, which would be considered a record for us. 21:44 UTC came in 14,600 meters and 21:54 came in at 14,480 meters. Our 2nd packet gives us a more accurate 6 grid Maidenhead of 15 square miles of our location and the actual altitude in meters.
We received a first time spot from Sumio, JA5FFO at 22:22, thank you Sumio for receiving our balloon. QRZ doesn’t show an email for Sumio, if you’re seeing our post, please send me an email to be added as a follower, at “Contact Us” above or through QRZ , Cary KD9ITO. Also received from BM2KVV Taiwan. Followers receive posts when published.
Looks like we’re getting a wider audience and now back to an altitude of 14,600 meters.
QL54XB at 21:42 UTC 14,600 meters 47,888 feet
I decided to run two NOAA Hysplit models for 48 hours and 84 hours which show our general direction moving southeast towards Australia. I’ll run another one later this evening, (This afternoon for our spotters)
We’re moving slowly, if we continue in this direction, well find a faster Jetstream that will take us over South America….
Our Locate and Track tab is now updating for APRS, Ventusky for Jetstream, Sondehub for tracking Pico Balloons around the world (including AA6DY) and our NOAA Hysplit for 48 hours.
