My radiosonde RDZ receiver at
my home QTH. Low loss coax attached to a Diamond X-50 dualband
amateur radio antenna. It may not be turned for 403.21 MHz but
I am consistently tracking balloons down to 1 or 2 degrees.
Furthest so far has been 65 miles. See the Sondehub.org web
site for my location in Spokane.
I have recovered
three of these now. First was done by knowing the approximate
location per Sondehub.org website and doing a hidden transmitter
hunt with my Icom IC-R20 and Elk Antenna. The other two were
using the MySondyGo and Android App. These recoveries we saw
them land. They were both in open fields. Will continue
to recover more that land close to home. Maybe venture further
when the weather warms up and the snow in the mountains is gone.
Balloon launch from
the Spokane National Weather Service Office
Balloon is about 3
feet in diameter when launched. They are using hydrogen
currently due to the high cost of helium. Our host advised us
he had heard it was as big as a two car garage when it bursts.
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