Our first balloon launch (CarolinaEOS1) occurred Saturday March 18, 2006. It was a simple payload containing a GPS, TNC a small 2m transceiver, two digital cameras and a simple BasicX computer to control the cameras.

We had 20 to 30 people show up for the launch. The amateur radio hobby was well represented (especially the members of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Amateur Radio Society - W4BFB). There were 8 to 10 children there. Everyone had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect.

We must give a special thanks to the Monroe, NC Regional Airport. They gave us a terrific spot from which to operate. We had a hangar to use to inflate the balloon. We had a great spot on the ramp from which to operate our flight control. They were very enthusiastic and very helpful throughout the entire launch day.
Thanks John and everyone else there who helped us!

Thanks also to MobileHwy LLC for the use of a sprint wireless network card. I'm not sure if we would have recovered our payload without our internet access. Richard (KG4PBG) spent a lot of time looking at satellite images helping the chase crew find the payload.

Also, many thanks to Bill (WB8ELK) for his help. Bill helped us with advice while we were constructing our flight package. He was a tremendous help on the day of the flight in helping us determine where the payload was going to land. I also am not sure that we would have recovered the payload without his help.

Special thanks also goes to Greg (KG4IOE). He showed up and volunteered to help. Richard (KG4PBG) was very busy between helping fill the balloon, sending emails to the ballooning community, talking with the FAA and making sure the payload was ready. Greg's assistance made Richard's job a lot easier than it would have been otherwise. One thing we learned at this launch is that we need to better define roles on launch day and make sure that there are people to fill those roles.

We also received a lot of help from many others in the ballooning community. We pulled off an almost flawless first flight due to their assistance.
We were truly "standing on the shoulders of giants".

Photos showing the construction of Carolina EOS 1:

Photos showing our presentation of the project to students at Olde Providence Elementary

Flight Photos

Flight Data

Kaymont 1500 gram latex balloon

Davis Radar Reflector

Styrofoam Cooler (payload capsule)

Garmin GPS 18

OpenTracker TNC

Alinco DJ-S11 2m transceiver

J-Pole Antenna

BasicX Computer

2 Dakota Digital Cameras

11 Lithium AA Batteries

Buzzer to help locate the capsule during recovery.
(The buzzer has a cutoff switch accessible from the exterior of the payload)

All telemetry was transmitted on 2 meters via APRS on the standard APRS frequency (144.390). Included in the APRS packet was the call sign (KG4PBG-15), position, battery voltage and payload capsule temperature. An email address was also included in each packet.

Launched from the Monroe Regional Airport - Monroe, NC 11:00 AM EST

Climbed - Approximately 52 minutes

Burst - At approximately 72 thousand feet

Descent - Approximately 33 minutes

Landed in a swamp 9 miles SE of Lumberton, NC approx. 12:24 PM EST