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U3S-18 in the air

 

My final flight for some time is in the air.
New test balloons and no-battery on this one to compensate for smaller balloons (weight).
Low and slow this morning.
Purely experimental with first time using direct solar only.
N2NXZ using WSPR/JT9 - 20/30m
http://www.qrp-labs.com/flights/u3s18.html
 

Amazing as it is,U3S-18 returned to life this morning right on time @ 9am EST !!
Predicted trajectory appears to be dead on using this website and altitudes of 4200m -

The tiny balloons are holding up and waiting for more spots and data for new altitudes.
Pretty satisfied with this particular experimental flight especially on my birthday.
Should be interesting to see more spots from this flight.
 

Hello James,


Many happy returns to you and bon voyage to your craft!


Monday, September 11, 2017

Amazing as it is,U3S-18 returned to life this morning right on time @ 9am EST !!
Predicted trajectory appears to be dead on using this website and altitudes of 4200m -
,43.115,-77.558,5
The tiny balloons are holding up and waiting for more spots and data for new altitudes.
Pretty satisfied with this particular experimental flight especially on my birthday.
Should be interesting to see more spots from this flight. _._,_._,_





--

2E0ILY
Best regards,
Chris mailto:chris@...
--
Best regards, Chris Wilson (2E0ILY)
 

Thank you Chris.
Maybe it will return over my QTH :)
 

Hello James,

Monday, September 11, 2017

Thank you Chris.
Maybe it will return over my QTH :) _._,_._,_


If it deflates and lands back at your place you should get a job
predicting lottery numbers :)


Remarkable how well it is doing with no battery, I am following it in
fascination.




--

2E0ILY
Best regards,
Chris mailto:chris@...



--
Best regards, Chris Wilson (2E0ILY)
 



 

JT9 is also being used for tracking balloon location and altitude.
Spots are seen here when received under call N2NXZ -

It appears pskreporter is now capable of plotting balloon location.
 

Day 3 and U3S-18 is back in action.
A bit lower in altitude but will most likely rise as everything warms up a bit more.
This flight so far surprises me and has been lucky to be in clear sky with such low altitudes.
A few more spots needed to determine trajectory,but appears to be coming back this way :)
Jim,N2NXZ
 

Trajectory for today.
So far,this flight has been a bonus since the first 3 hours.
 

Day 4 and U3S18 has appeared yet again right on track.
First 3 days it started up almost like clock work around 9am.
This morning as I sat to have coffee,it appeared just as I sat in the chair to observe around 7:42 am.
So far so good,altitudes are steady and gaining a bit as the sun rises.Hoping it finds it`s way around higher clouds and storms since it is at such low altitudes.
Will run a Hysplit soon as my eyes start working :)
 

Trajectory for low altitudes.
 

Great to hear it's still alive!

John K5MO

On 9/13/2017 8:45 AM, James Zelazny jr wrote:
Day 4 and U3S18 has appeared yet again right on track.
First 3 days it started up almost like clock work around 9am.
This morning as I sat to have coffee,it appeared just as I sat in the chair to observe around 7:42 am.
So far so good,altitudes are steady and gaining a bit as the sun rises.Hoping it finds it`s way around higher clouds and storms since it is at such low altitudes.
Will run a Hysplit soon as my eyes start working :)
--
III
 

John,
It sure is.
Just woke here to see it had just started again this morning.Altitude steady as well as speed.
This flight is in no hurry to get anywhere but persistent.
Worried about it flying into weather or clouds but so far,it has somehow made it...so far.
I`ll post a new trajectory soon.
Jim
 

Was hoping for a more East to Northeast trajectory...but what can you do?
 

Day 6 with u3s18 spotted by a few 30m WSPR stations who must have exceptional receiver/antennas.
2017-09-15 11:14? ?N2NXZ? ?10.140100? ?-19? ?0? ?GM04? ?0.01? ?VE3EFF? ?FN15rj? ?1916? ?315?
?2017-09-15 10:56? ?N2NXZ? ?10.140099? ?-23? ?1? ?GM04? ?0.01? ?VE3EFF? ?FN15rj? ?1916? ?315?
?2017-09-15 10:56? ?N2NXZ? ?10.140149? ?-23? ?0? ?GM04? ?0.01? ?N2HQI? ?FN13sa? ?1779? ?307?

Trajectory for today looks slow but altitude is much higher than past days @ 4140m.Lets see if hurricane Jose leaves it alone :)
 

A 30m spot is fascinating since the payload uses a 20m dipole.
Any station receiving this flight on 30m deserves credit for excellent RX setups.
20mw besides...amazing.
My hat`s off to any station receiving the flight on 30m.
?2017-09-15 13:28? ?N2NXZ? ?10.140152? ?-27? ?0? ?GM04? ?0.01? ?KK1D? ?FN31vi? ?1383? ?307?
?2017-09-15 13:28? ?N2NXZ? ?10.140148? ?-28? ?0? ?GM04? ?0.01? ?WA9WTK? ?FN42fk? ?1400? ?313

 

The awards go to the first 2 stations for spotting U3S18 on the 7th day since launch for 30m.
Startup was later than usual and was thought to have been taken down by storms,not so apparently.
?2017-09-16 11:28? ?N2NXZ? ?10.140101? ?-28? ?0? ?FM83? ?0.01? ?VE3EFF? ?FN15rj? ?1756? ?323?
?2017-09-16 11:28? ?N2NXZ? ?10.140151? ?-21? ?0? ?FM83? ?0.01? ?N2HQI? ?FN13sa? ?1577? ?316?
Altitudes still averaging just over 4000m.However,yesterday they were as higher than 4200m which were the highest during this flight so far.
Maybe some material stretch but not a bunch.
 

Possible trajectory -

 

7 full days in the air,6 nights.
One hour later than predicted,U3S18 gets the very first spots on 30m.
?2017-09-17 12:14? ?N2NXZ? ?10.140148? ?-24? ?0? ?FM83? ?0.01? ?N2NOM? ?FN22bg? ?1488? ?315?
?2017-09-17 12:14? ?N2NXZ? ?10.140147? ?-29? ?0? ?FM83? ?0.01? ?K9AN? ?EN50wc? ?2343? ?296?

 

Hurricane is nearby but hoping like Harvey during the first few days,it will get pushed away.Need to avoid storms yet.
Trajectory for the next 48 hours -

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