SuperIlmari 2003

The Ilmari Project is not a Viestikallio Project, this just happened to be a place where we could host these web-pages...

Amateur Radio systems on different balloons

The Ilmari 2003 Balloon - Tracking Stations

Things to track:

• APRS position reports
• HF-beacon CW/MFSK16 data
• Translator BPSK and CW/MFSK16 beacons
• ATV-picture
• Nowcast/forecast of flight direction, landing location, and coverage areas

Ways to track:

• APRS receivers in moving cars
• People listening on CW beacon data (~25 WPM) (in moving cars)
• At fixed stations receiving interesting frequencies in USB/NBFM mode with multiple radios, and storing received audio signals to a "everyman long-duration audio recorder", namely a HiFi-Video VCR. A 4 hour tape can store 8 hours of audio in two wide (20 kHz or so) channels, when running at half-speed. Sometimes mono-audio is third separate option.
• Receiving entire translator output bandwidth at IF level sampling 16 bits at about 70-150 kHz. One possibility would be to record into different channels different parts of the pass-band. (About gigabyte per hour.)
• Receivers as above, processing it in real-time using PC machine's prevalent audio hardware capabilities. Recording received data.
• At fixed stations with a wide-band network connectivity a real-time data-stream feed to central correlation system, which will then produce publishable "sensor fusion" presentation.
  Input stream is unprocessed SSB USB audio at 9600 samples/sec, at 16 bits/sample. Either sending that datastream to external processing in UNCOMPRESSED form, or processing it locally, and sending resulting data.
• Combinations of the preceding cases.

Ways to present:

• In web (for people without radios/technology) easily readable near real-time (10-120 sec) presentations of:
  • All telemetry
    • Raw data files
    • Decoded presentation for individual packets
    • Time-series plots of all datas
  • Map-plots:
    • Of the flight, and forecasted landing location.
    • Communications ranges.
    • Recommended transmitter+antenna ERP power
• Post-flight individual charts will be rendered into DivX movies.