EOSS-398/399/400 Littleton EPIC Program & MSU Launch - Recap

KCØRPS's picture
Submitted by KCØRPS on Fri, 04/24/2026 - 11:44

A perfect day for the launch of 2/1500g and 1/3000g balloons carring student payloads from both Littleton Epic and MSU.  The parking lot at Deer Trail School was full of cars, students and parents. The predicted landing sites were near Limon, a short drive from Deer Trail. Anticipation of the 400th was in the air, coffee and pastries were provided in celebration of the big 400. EOSS 398 launched at 7:00am from Deer Trail reached an altitude of 89,253ft, landed at 8:49am, 33.66 miles from launch and 6 miles east of Limon just north of I70. EOSS393 launched at 7:24am from Deer Trail reached an altitude of 87,394 ft landed at 9:09am 33.78 miles from and launch 5.6 miles east of Limon just south of I70. EOSS 400 launched at 7:44am from Deer Trail reached an altitude of 107,230ft landed at 9:57 am 40.00 miles from launch 18 miles east of Limon noth of I70 at CR 37 and CR3P  EOSS Members: Please submit your mileage for reimbursement here: https://forms.microsoft.com/r/wKHQHifSjL?origin=lprLink.

Recap Gallery: 
Original Announcement: 

This will be two 1500g balloons and one 3,000g balloon carrying student payloads for Littleton Public Schools' EPIC program and Metro State University (MSU).    Flight prediction can be found at https://eoss.org/predict/

Event Date: 
Saturday, May 2, 2026 - 00:00 to 23:45
Flight Coordinator: 
KØNKK
Launch Site: 
Deer Trail
Flights: 

EOSS 398

Balloon Type: 
1500G
Parachute: 
12FT ROCKEMAN
Beacons: 
FrequencyCallsignTypeNotes
Payload Plan: 
PDF icon EOSS-398 Lite Rev C.pdf

EOSS 399

Balloon Type: 
1500G
Parachute: 
12FT ROCKEMAN
Beacons: 
FrequencyCallsignTypeNotes
Payload Plan: 
PDF icon EOSS-399 Lite Rev C.pdf

EOSS 400

Balloon Type: 
1500G
Parachute: 
12FT ROCKEMAN
Beacons: 
FrequencyCallsignTypeNotes
Payload Plan: 
PDF icon EOSS-400 Lite Rev C.pdf
FrequencyList: 

EOSS Preflight Net @ 7 PM Mountain Time the preceding night:

 

The preflight net is hosted on the Fun Machine linked system https://www.we0fun.com/  

EchoLink *CANONCTY* conference and on the TGIF DMR Network Node: 1997 Talkgroup 815

Denver area Frequencies: 

    • 449.225 MHz (-5 MHz Offset, 141.3 Hz CTCSS) Mt Thorodin
    • 448.150 MHz (-5 MHz Offset, 141.3 Hz CTCSS) DIA
    • 449.975 Mhz (-5 MHz Offset, 100 Hz CTCSS) Westcreek
    • 447.525 MHz (-5 MHz Offset, 146.2 Hz CTCSS) Devils Head   

Back up Pre Flight Net Frequincies

        • 146.940 MHz (-600 KHz Offset, 103.5 Hz CTCSS) Rocky Mountain Radio League (RMRL) Repeater if the RMHAM machine is down
        • 146.640 MHz (-600 KHz Offset, 100.0 Hz CTCSS) Denver Radio League (DRL) Repeater will serve as a backup to the backup repeater 

Flight Day:
Launch Site:
        • 446.050 MHz Simplex  
        (Note that some radios assume these are repeater frequencies and attempt to put a 5 MHz offset in the transmit frequency automatically)

Track & Recovery Operations:
        Repeaters:
        • 449.450 MHz (-5 MHz Offset, 103.5 Hz Tone) RMRL repeater

        Simplex Frequencies:
        • 446.100 MHz Balloon #1 Field Simplex 
        • 446.150 MHz Balloon #2 Field Simplex
        • 446.200 MHz Balloon #3 Field Simplex
        • 446.275 MHz Car to Car drive out Simplex
        (Note that some radios assume these are repeater frequencies and attempt to put a 5 MHz offset in the transmit frequency automatically)

Digital Mobile Radio (DMR):

The decision as to which talkgroup use will be made by the EOSS RF Coordinator on a per flight basis.

  • Rocky Mountain Wide Network – Talk Group 700 - Rocky Mountain Ham Radio has approval to the use "Wide" for flight operations.
  • Central Colorado Regional Network – Talk Group 720 - On occasion, EOSS may use the Central Colorado Regional Network (Talk Group 720).

        Legacy 2M Simplex Frequency (not generally used due to desense/interference issues with the 2M APRS packets)
        • 146.550 MHz Simplex

2M Direction Finding Frequencies:

  • 144.340
  • 144.360
  • 144.905
  • 145.535
  • 145.645
  • 145.710
  • 145.765

 

Tactical Calls: 
TacticalCall SignNameNotes
AlphaKB0YRZChris KrengelT & R
CharlieKC0RPSJim LangstedT & R
DeltaKC0SCC, KE0BMVStephen Meer, Parker MeerFlight String, T & R
EchoN0MMDoug Leber Balloon Escort
FoxtrotK0NKKNancy KoosFlight Coordinator
GolfKE0UWC, KF0MBRGlenn Reker, JohnBalloon, T & R
HotelKF0NLQAnne HerringtonBalloon, T & R
JulietteN0JPSJohn SpainhowerFlight String, T & R
KiloWB4ZCPStephen Williams, MicheleFlight String, T & R
YankeeKE0YAL Brad MearsT & R
ZuluN0NDMLarry NobleBalloon Fill / tracking
LimaKD0NKEKatieRae Littleton EpicEPIC Escort
OscarN3RJORandy OwensMSU Escort
PappaKC0DMark PattonBeacon Monitoring
NovemberKF0YAGNate BarrettADSBMSU Escort
TR Breakfast: 
Limon IHOP 6:00 AM BETTER YET COME TO THE LAUNCH SITE FOR COFFEE AND PASTRIES