EOSS-267 Fun Flight - Recap

Thanks to everyone that supported the EOSS-267 flight yesterday. It was a resounding success in several ways.  We shook the cobwebs off of our knowhow and  tracking stations, we successfully qualified several new payloads, and we had some new members join us in the chase!  We had several University of Colorado CBASE students join us for the launch and recovery to help hone their skills for assisting in planning, launch, and recovery later this year.

The weather was OK, except for the cold at the launch site, and the high wind at the recovery site.  It was better than dealing with the snow/freezing rain which was forecast but didn’t seem to make much of an appearance.  Thank you everyone for your flexibility in the date change.

KCØD-1 and wireless release #2

We had issues setting a new frequency in KC0D-1 before launch.  The issue was tracked down to a defective radio on the board.  That has now been replaced and the payload is now back up and working (and we are able to set the frequency!).   Tom’s (KE7KCK) GoPro mounted just below the release captured the successful operation of the new wireless release.  The microswitch that is activated when the release mechanism opens moved, so the report back was that the release did not open when it actually had. The battery inside of the release moved on impact at landing.  Both of these issues have already been addressed.  KCØD-1 and release #2 are now qualified and ready for the next flight.

KCØD-11

This payload quit transmitting on the last flight. It was tracked down to a broken antenna cable.  Just to make sure that was all it was, this payload was flown and requalified.

KCØD-15 and release #1

This pair served as the ‘top’ beacon and release for the flight.  During this flight we tested the ability of the release to operate under full load, and under normal flight conditions.  This pair has flown many times and has automatically released the balloon after burst, but not under the full load of the flight string.  As hoped, it worked perfectly.  The balloon was manually commanded for release just above 65000 Ft. The on-board log file shows that the balloon was released at 65,462.  Not bad!

The successful release saved the trackers a long trek North of Sterling had the balloon gone to burst at around 95K feet.

AEØSS-12

This payload was not being qualified, but is a workhorse of the EOSS inventory.  It served as the ‘bottom’, which is the APRS beacon/digipeater that most trackers use to track the payload during flight.  As usual, it performed fine.

Again, thank you all for your participation and help

See you  mid-March for the next flight!

Mark Patton – KCØD

EOSS-267 Flight Coordinator