Mastodawn

Going to order the parts for a pico #hamradio balloon. Has anyone tried the Traquito WSPR balloon kits? Apparently you just upload hardware files to a third party PCB manufacturing company! I'm going to try to build one (or probably two... any new project, always buy 2x parts).

https://traquito.github.io/tracker/#jetpack-technical-details

#wspr #electronics

Jetpack WSPR Tracker - Traquito - WSPR Pico Balloons

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AI6YR Ben Feb 27

First hurdle: The PCB manufacturer won't let me use their website, it insists I am a robot. I suspect this is because I am using a Linux machine. PEOPLE, THE ELECTRONICS/MAKER FOLKS WHO WANT TO USE YOU SITE ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE USING LINUX THAN NOT!!

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AI6YR Ben Feb 27

Choices were to order 5 or order 10 boards (!). So, I ordered 5 boards. Enough for 5 balloons, lol. Cost using the cheapest shipping option will be approximately $12.50 for each of the add-on-boards. Will require also Raspberry Pi picos and tiny solar panels. #picoballoon #hamradio #wspr

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AI6YR Ben Feb 27

In addition to circuit boards:

Ordered: Raspberry Pi Picos (2)
3 50 inch random Chinese Party Balloons
100 tiny little solar panels

Was going to order from Adafruit, but they have different spec "pirate" Pi's and a billion notices on their website about shipping delays, and people here have been complaining about lack of shipping/customer support... not sure what that is about.

The party balloons and solar panels apparently only available via Bezos Bazaar :-( -- in particular, buying anywhere else is fraught with de-minimis/tariff surcharge hazards. I'm not sure why the Bezos Bazaar doesn't have those issues, but it probably involves some kind of political payoff. 🤔

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AI6YR Ben Feb 27

The presentations I have seen say it's preferable to fill these balloons with HYDROGEN (hello Hindenberg!), instead of Helium. In particular, it's apparently quite difficult to source full strength Helium now (due to Helium shortages, a nonrenewable gas...). Apparently not easy to get Hydrogen, either. 🤔

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AI6YR Ben Feb 27

Ooh, there are a lot of amateur balloons bouncing around the world right now, actually!

#hamradio #wspr #aprs #balloons

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AI6YR Ben Feb 28

Antenna wire. 26AWG magnet wire. I guess you can use smaller, but already have this. #antenna #picoballoon #hamradio

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azstefano

@ai6yr I would reconsider that choice. Each 0.1g extra weight costs 10 meters of terminal altitude separating your balloon from the cloud tops. I had an old spool of #34 that does well. If I were to buy another spool I would use #35 from Remington Industries. Many use #36 but that strikes me as bordering on fragile.