Where Above the World is Our PicoBalloon
Incentive
Balloon Identifier: AD3i-1
Frequency of Transmission: 144.390 MHz
INFORMATION Required for each Entry
Name (first name, last initial) ______________________________
Age _______
School/ Homeschool (incl state) ________________________, _____
Teacher/ Class ______________________________________
Balloon Information
Students should enter information they’ve gathered regarding the balloon’s path. It can be anything about the country below balloon’s location: ie the country’s primary language, if that country exports goods, etc. Students may also provide details provided by the SkyTracker, the balloon’s actual payload: it’s altitude, temperature, latitude and longitude, etc.
What are they? Picoballoons, made of lightweight, non-stretching Mylar or plastic film carry very light payloads with basic GPS and radio transmitters. We opt to fill them with helium, allowing them to rise to the stratosphere, hopefully float for long periods of time, with the goal of circumnavigating the globe. We use them for atmospheric research, amateur radio projects, and tracking weather patterns.
Tools: Several websites are available to track picoballoons: www.aprs.fi or https://amateur.sondehub.org/. In addition, on Sondehub select the balloon, on the left side you'll see a couple of buttons. If you select 'Float' you'll see the projected float path.
ATTENTION: When it is determined the balloon is no longer afloat, entries will cease, the results summarized, and the school with the most entries will be awarded a picoballoon and the assistance to launch.
This picoballoon was launched at 2:00pm Eastern on Saturday Aug 30, 2025 from Shelby, NC.
When it crossed W 81° longitude, it completed its 1st circumnavigation of the world.
We are currently well into our 2nd lap!!!
How do I make an entry???
Just select the Pico-Ballooning menu on our home page and fill out the form.
Please, limit your entries to 1 entry each day, for each student.
Yes, each student may make an entry EVERY day the balloon is aloft.
Share this with others at your school.
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UPDATE June 2025: Yes, we launched the balloon!. Unfortunately, it was brought down by a pop-up storm near Lake Norman, NC. Several of us are scheduling a search and recovery effort over the next few days. Wish us luck.
There still are a couple of other pico-balloons also launched by youth groups. They are W0Y-1, W0Y-11, and N7HPR-1.
UPDATE: Fantastic Saturday. We had approximately 30 kids come through and experience the hands-on the STEM experiments at the Metting Room. We experimented with Inertia and gravity, Morse Code, Visualizing Sound Waves with lasers, measured Surface tension and more. The club has a new record: 5 metal nuts balanced on a 12" hoop successfully dropped in a long-neck bottle. Alice, 10 years young created the Alice Wonder Wave with a Toro-Flux. More to come.
NOTICE: We will NOT launch the 2nd pico-balloon today, Sunday. A new date will be posted here. But N4TVV-2 is afloat. :)
Field Day, June 28 and 29, and we'll be set up at Andrew Jackson State Park in Lancaster, SC. There'll be hands-on STEM experiments, Morse Code (CW), GMRS, VHF/UHF and HF radios. Also, we'll have an antenna set up to make contacts with satellites! Bonus: around 2pm on Saturday we'll be launching another pico-balloon. Everyone is welcome. Yal come and join the fun!! The balloon launch will be on the campus of Van Wyck Elementary School at 4945 Charlotte Hwy, Lancaster, SC. Follow the balloons. :)
