NOAA HYSPLIT Model

October 10th 2022, Projected Wakeup for 22:00 UTC today.

/ Cary Willis, KD9ITO / Leave a comment

We left you yesterday without enough information to accurately predict where we may wakeup today. We received a couple of more spots from Seto, JA5NVN and Hisami 7L4IOU which gave us a final Grid at QL62JK and altitude of 14,420 meters.

We hope that our followers in Japan will continue to point their antennas in our direction to help us find our way.

Having our last location and altitude, we were able to produce a NOAA model for 48 hours to project a possible direction as seen below. Starting with the star at the bottom right hand corner and following the path to the upper left hand corner.

The way we find our projected wakeup is to follow the NOAA Model starting with a star and and counting the larger triangles and small triangles leading to the projected wakeup, then go back to the NOAA path and count the same start and triangles. Use the longitude and latitude and fill in the Gridmapper on our Links to Locate and Track tab.

Our first projected wakeup is around 21:00 UTC at Grid QL35MA

Projected wakeup QL35MA, October 10th 2022, 21:00 UTC

Follow the same for the October 11th wakeup which is near the top left hand corner of the NOAA trajectory path for our projected wakeup at 21:00 UTC, Grid at QM10LA

Projected wakeup Grid QM10LA, on October 11th, 2022, 21:00 UTC

I’ll start looking for our balloon around 21:00 UTC this evening 5:00 pm CDT our time.

October 9th 2022, 21:42 UTC, Grid QL61id

/ Cary Willis, KD9ITO / 1 Comment

AA6DY took a while to get both packets. We received our first packet QL60 at 21:42 UTC, 4:42 pm CDT from Hisami, 7L4IOU. We received our 2nd packet at 23:44 UTC also from Hisami, 7L4IOU giving us the Grid QL61id and altitude of 14,300 meters, 46,904 feet.

Grid QL61id, Altitude 46,904 feet

We’re not sure of our direction getting conflicting NOAA models. The one below is for Grid QL61jf, received on October 10th 2022, 00:24 UTC at 14,360 meters, 47,100 feet.

We should have about 5 hours more of sunlight, I’ll update the NOAA model tomorrow if we receive any new spots. Currently all our spots are from Hisami 7L4IOU. Thank you Hisami for finding us.

October 8th 2022, 21:12 UTC Grid QL75ip

/ Cary Willis, KD9ITO / Leave a comment

What can I say, we just love the North Pacific. Our balloon AA6DY woke at 21:12 UTC, 4:12 pm CDT at Grid QL75ip. I was waiting for the 2nd packet which didn’t come till 22:54 UTC. We wish to thank Hisami, 7L4IOU for receiving our signal on both packets from 1835 Km away.

By receiving packets on the 2’s and 4’s, we have our altitude at 14,240 meters, 46,707 feet.

Our general direction is southwest.

Grid QL75ip at and altitude of 47,707 feet

Looks like we’ll be changing direction and start heading southwest towards the Philippines, over the next 84 hours. Below is the NOAA Hysplit model from October 8th thru October 12th, the star on the upper right corner is our starting point. The little sliver of land in the upper left hand corner is Naha, Okinawa, Japan.

Our Locate and Track tab are updated for Ventusky Jetstream as of 23:00 UTC, the other data for APRS and tracking AA6DY in relationship to other Pico Balloons around the world will take a little time to update. I’ll continue to update the NOAA Hysplit model and upload any changes.

For those that haven’t been to our home page in a while, we have a new group picture as of today. We’re sorry John Walsh, W9BLN was not able to join us as he’s very active with the Adler Planetarium’s Far Horizon, High Altitude Balloon Project. We have a picture of John and Michael from a previous launch. Please visit our home page https://nibbb.org/ and for information on the Far Horizon’s project, please visit Adler Planetarium Far Horizons John has been focusing his work with the GoNet program. Also, Henry Fiely KD9SRZ, was not able to join us for this picture. Henry is in the 8th Grade at Central School in Glencoe, IL.

October 7th 2022, 21:42 UTC Grid QL69OJ,

/ Cary Willis, KD9ITO / Leave a comment

AA6DY woke at 21:42 UTC, 4:42 pm CDT at Grid QL69OJ. We received both the 1st and 2nd packets from Hisami, 7L4IOU one of our newest NIBBB followers. Having received both packets, we have our altitude of 14,300 meters, 46,904 feet. We are now on our 34th day and 8th hour of flight.

Thank you Hisami, for pointing your antenna in our direction.

Our general direction will be south over the next 48 hours as seen below on the NOAA Hysplit Model. As it appears we’ll be staying here a little bit longer, we’re just happy to be flying.

We’re still waiting for all our links to update, Ventusky has been updated for our Jetstream

October 6th 2022, 21:42 UTC, Grid QM74NG

/ Cary Willis, KD9ITO / 1 Comment

AA6DY woke at 21:42 UTC, 4:42 pm CDT at Grid QM74NG, over the North Pacific Ocean. We are now flying 33 days, 8 hours and 22 minutes. Our altitude is 14,360 meters, 47,100 feet.

On our first trip around the world in 22 days, we spent 8 days over the North Pacific Ocean. Our direction has changed from yesterday, and now we will be moving south at about 30 mph.

As a change of pace, I thought I’d share another view of our recent travels. Each grouping of flags is a separate day. We moved fairly quickly from China to Japan, now enjoying the North Pacific Ocean for a little while longer.

Spending some extra time with our Friends from Japan

Below is the NOAA Trajectory for the next 48 hours, southerly direction then heading east, hopefully.

Our Links to Locate and Track tab has been updated for today. Ventusky shows we’re moving south at about 30 mph. We may be picking up a new Jetstream heading over Mexico and the Southern United States, or we may be here a little longer. Click on the link above and Ventusky for October 6th 21:00 UTC.

The other links in our Links to Locate and Track are now updated for following us on APRS and Sondehub Balloon Tracker. Tom Medlin launched another balloon today, W5KUB-113 which is near Charlotte, North Carolina. W5KUB-112 on it’s 117th day is now just south of Greenland over the Atlantic Ocean. You can follow the Amateur Radio Pico Balloons on the Sondehub link on our website.

As I’m finishing up this post, AA6DY is now at 14,420 meters altitude at 22:22 UTC.

October 5th 2022, 22:22 UTC, Grid QM13, Southeast of Yokohama, Japan

/ Cary Willis, KD9ITO / Leave a comment

AA6DY woke at Grid QM13 at 22:22 UTC, 5:22pm CDT. We received our 2nd packet at 22:54 giving us a 6 Grid Maidenhead of QM13WM and an altitude of 14,240 meters, 46,707 feet.

Our actual total flight time is 32 days, 9 hours and 32 minutes, having launched on September 3rd 2022 at 13:30 UTC.

We are near where we were yesterday, moving northeast. Below is the Gridmap for our current location and the NOAA Hysplit Trajectory over 84 hours from October 5th thru October 9th, which I will continue to update.

Grid QM13WM 22:54 UTC

To follow where we are and where we are going we use the site Ventusky, which tracks the Jetstream at our location and altitude. From the above NOAA model, you’ll notice a change in direction on October 9th, this is based on the expected weather pattern over the coming days.

Ventusky is updated on our Links to Locate and Track tab, but also here Ventusky Oct 5th 21:00 UTC on this site you can zoom in and out, change the calendar date at the bottom left hand corner and follow where we may be going in the coming days. We use Ventusky in planning all our launches.

Our Links to Locate and Track tab is now updating all information including APRS, Following other Pico Balloons around the world, Ventusky and NOAA Hysplit. Please enjoy.

October 4th 2022, Day 33, 22:22 UTC, South of Yokohama, Japan.

/ Cary Willis, KD9ITO / Leave a comment

AA6DY woke at Grid PM90RI at 22:22 UTC, 5:22pm CDT, just south of Yokohama and north of the Ogasawara Islands of Japan. Our altitude is 14,420 meters, 47,298 feet.

Grid PM90RI, Between Yokohama and Ogasawara Islands of Japan

The NOAA Hysplit below shows us heading northeast over the next 48 hours. The Ventusky Jetstream shows us staying in the same area for the rest of this evening. I’ll update the Hysplit later this evening, to see if it changes.

Our Links to Locte and Track tab is now updating for APRS, Tracking Pico Balloons around the world (including AA6DY), Ventusky for Jetstream and NOAA Hysplit.

We’d like to thank all those who are following our balloon, and a special call out to our new followers, from Japan who have been tracking us and reporting back to me by email. It’s a wonderful feeling knowing you’re out there and reaching us.

We’re working on updating our Getting Started and Technical page so others can do what we do. This is a work in progress, hope you can take a look and comment Getting Started/Technical page

October 3rd 2022, Day 32, 22:32 UTC, East of Yokohama, Japan, North Pacific Ocean

/ Cary Willis, KD9ITO / Leave a comment

It’s Deja Vu all over again. AA6DY woke at 22:32 UTC, 5:32 pm CDT at Grid QM14MJ just east of Yokohama, Japan over the North Pacific Ocean. Our altitude is 14,420 meters, 47,298 feet.

QM14MJ East of Yokohama, Japan

For those that have been following from our launch on September 3rd 2022, we are flying a Yokohama 32″ sphere balloon that had been pre stretched to an almost 100 inch circumference, by our team member Stewart Spies KB9LM. It also took a special consultation from one of our newer members, Ken Daniel K9YO who has been very successful in long haul flights.

So here we are again, near Yokohama, Japan flying a Yokohama Balloon.

One of the members of our Pico Balloon Community, Tom Medlin, W5KUB is also flying a Yokohama balloon, currently flying 114 days, you can follow Tom’s flight here W5KUB-112

We’re in a Jetstream that’s going to loop up around, I hope we can get back to an easterly direction. Below is the NOAA Hysplit Trajectory model for the next 48 hours.

It’ll take a little while to update APRS and Sondehub, the Ventusky Jetstream has been updated on our website Locate and Track

Till tomorrow, 73, Cary KD9ITO

October 3rd 2022, Day 31, 01:24 UTC, North of Chengde, China

/ Cary Willis, KD9ITO / 1 Comment

This is truly amazing, we woke up far from where I thought we would be. We woke at 01:24 UTC, 8:42 pm CDT, northeast of Beijing China at Grid ON81XE. We received both our 1st and 2nd packets and now have our altitude at 13,960 meters, 45,789 feet.

Grid ON81XE North of Chengde China

While I started tracking our balloon this evening, I received an email from one of our new followers, Hisami 7L4IOU from Japan, who first saw spotted our balloon on our first time around the world. Hisami, emailed me to tell me he received our WSPR signal at 01:42 zulu and offered his congratulations on our smooth flight.

Now that we received 2 packets I was able to create a NOAA Hysplit model for 48 hours. We look forward to flying over Japan within a day or so.

We’re still a little slow to get all our data. From what I see, we’re in a Jetstream traveling 145 mph Jetstream from Beijing

I’ll be updating our links to locate and track tab as the information becomes available.

October 1st, 2022, Day 29, Aghstafa, Azerbaijan

/ Cary Willis, KD9ITO / Leave a comment

Good Morning, AA6DY woke at 5:22 UTC, 12:22am CDT at Grid LN21RC, in northern Azerbaijan near Armenia and Georgia, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Our altitude is 14,060 meters, 46,117 feet. AA6DY is in a Jetstream moving southeast at about 80 miles per hour, then picking up speed moving northeast. We’re in an area of the world with few Amateur Radio spotters, but we were able to receive our coordinates and altitude and hope for more readings tomorrow morning.

Grid LN21RC 5:22 UTC, 12:22 am CDT

Below is the NOAA Hysplit Trajectory model for October 2nd and October 3rd, (48 hours). If we assume the same altitude of 14,060 meters, for 48 hours, this is where we will be going. (Calling all Sleuths, see below)

Now Calling all Sleuths out there. What general area will we wake up tomorrow, Sunday October 2nd and Monday October 3rd?

Using the Hysplit Model above, using the wake up time and find Log: and Lat: Go to Links to Locate and Track tab and enter that data into QRZ Gridmapper, scroll in and send me the City and Country closeset to that wake up map point. I’ll post the map and show who was closest to that City or Country.

Use Longitude and Lattitude for direction, wakeup on October 2nd around 04:00 UTC and, on October 3rd around 03:00 UTC wakeup.

We only have a few more days before we wind up over the water and harder to play this game

Please don’t pay any attention to the altitude, just look at the direction and wakeup coordinates on the Hysplit Model.

If you’re a follower on the NIBBB website, just add your comment with your guesses. Others can send me an email.

The Links to Locate and Track tab has been updated for Ventusky Jetstream, NOAA Hysplit and APRS.fi, (though you may see a different altitude, ours is 14,060 meters, 46,117 feet)

Please get your guesses in by 8:00 pm this evening October 1st

Have fun, 73, Cary, KD9ITO