RSGB High Altitude Balloon – Update
RSGB High Altitude Balloon
This Morning, the RSGB High Altitude Balloon will launch, and you can track it and watch a live stream from 10:00.
Check the live stream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGIYx5oamkE
For full details on the project, including how to track the balloon, see https://rsgb.org/main/coding-and-amateur-radio/lora-balloon-project/
See how we built a tracker here.
Project Summary.
The RSGB LoRa Balloon Challenge is an event organised by the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) as part of its National Coding Week (third week of September) to encourage practical skills in amateur radio and coding.
What the project involves
A high-altitude balloon, equipped with a LoRa digipeater, will be launched on Saturday, 20 September 202,5 at approximately 11 am BST.
Participants are invited to build their own LoRa tracker following the detailed instructions provided by RSGB. If successful, the tracker will send packets up to the airborne relay, which then transmits to a local iGate.
During the launch event, there will be a live stream starting just after 10 am BST, continuing through the balloon’s release.
Goals & Prizes
The main aim is to have fun, learn, explore amateur radio and coding, and engage with the community.
There is a competition: whoever manages to receive their tracker’s signal at the furthest distance from the balloon launch location may win a prize.
Prizes: a £200 Moonraker voucher for the winner in the “single RSGB member operator” category, and another £200 voucher for the “RSGB affiliated club” category. Membership (or club affiliation) is required to be eligible for the prizes.
Participation & Logistics
Anyone with a valid amateur radio licence can take part; to win the prizes, one must be an RSGB individual member or part of an RSGB affiliated club.
RSGB has published a user manual (v1.8, updated from earlier versions) along with a demonstration video by Fraser MM0EFI to help participants set up the tracker board and decode what’s required.
There are suggestions to improve signal reception: using high-gain antennas (e.g. Yagi or beam), choosing elevated locations, etc.
