Pico Balloons - Amateur Radio Transmitters 📡

[D31245]

Haven't seen this discussed here so thought I'd post.

I came across a post on Reddit months back about Pico Balloons and found it interesting. Not sure I would ever try it but it is an interesting twist to amateur radio Tx and monitoring. From what I can gather, various VHF/UHF, and HF frequencies are used and tracked using WSPR and other means.

From Pico Balloon Archive — every flight, free and open
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What these are

A balloon that floats for months​

A pico balloon is about the size of a party balloon. Sealed, filled with a little hydrogen or helium and hung with a solar-powered radio tracker weighing a few grams, it rises until it floats — usually somewhere around 12 to 14 kilometres — and then simply stays there, carried by whatever the wind is doing. It has no engine, no ballast and no way to steer.
Amateur radio operators have been launching them for years, and receivers all over the world pick up their position reports and pass them on. The Pico Balloon Archive collects that record: every flight, where it went, how long it lasted, and what the air was doing around it.
One balloon launched in May 2022 stayed up for 820 days and covered 1.1 million kilometres — thirty-four laps of the Earth — on a tracker that weighs less than a slice of bread.
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This article explains the basic idea:

Build Your Own Pico Balloon and Explore the Stratosphere

A $4 Raspberry Pi Pico can help you track a DIY balloon around the world.

spectrum.ieee.org

This web site let's you track various pico balloons aloft (click on the various balloons listed under "Airborne Now" - left column - to view info & telemetry):

Pico Balloon Archive

Every recorded flight of a super-pressure pico balloon — live tracking, seven-day forecasts, and the whole archive as one dataset.

picoballoonarchive.org

 

[oldradioguy2010]

D31245
Do you know what band or freq to monitor?
May be fun to try to pick up telemetry.
I am sure 2 meter or 440.

DW
swl op
wdx6hwo

 

[D31245]

I did look into it this morning and saw the following references for VHF and UHF but could not find anything for HF although the 20 meter band was cited to be best for long distance monitoring. (Found HF frequency references - see below):

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To monitor pico balloons, you should listen on the 433.775 MHz frequency for LoRa transmissions and 144.39 MHz for APRS transmissions, depending on the specific protocol being used. These frequencies allow you to receive the position and telemetry data from the balloons.
avweb.com Google

Monitoring Pico Balloons​

To effectively monitor pico balloons, you need to be aware of the specific frequencies used for their transmissions. These frequencies depend on the communication protocol employed by the balloon's tracker.

Key Frequencies for Pico Balloons​

Protocol	Frequency	Description
APRS	144.39 MHz	Used for position and telemetry data in the 2-meter band.
LoRa	433.775 MHz	Used for low-power, long-distance transmissions.

Additional Information​

• APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System): This protocol is commonly used for short-range communication and can transmit limited data. It operates on the 2-meter band, making it suitable for local tracking.
• LoRa (Long Range): This protocol is designed for long-distance communication with very low power consumption. It allows pico balloons to transmit data over thousands of miles, making it ideal for global circumnavigation.

By tuning into these frequencies, you can receive real-time data about the position and telemetry of pico balloons.
avweb.com lora-aprs.org

More from AI:

For HF pico balloons, the main mode is usually WSPR. Monitor these frequencies:

• 20 meters: around 14.097 MHz USB —WSPR dial frequency
• 30 meters: around 10.1387 MHz USB —commonly used by some pico-balloontrackers
• 40 meters: around 7.0401 MHz USB — lesscommon, but used by some WSPRpayloads

WSPR is a weak-signal digital mode occupying about 6 Hz, so tune your receiver to the dial frequency and decode the passband with software such as WSJT-X, JTDX, or a WSPR receiver network. The actual transmitted tone appears slightly above the dial frequency, typically within the mode’s audio passband.

Many trackers transmit on 20 m, while some alternate between 20 m and 30 m. The exact frequency can vary by tracker configuration, so the balloon’s callsign or flight documentation is useful. Pico-balloon examples have used 20 m near 14 MHz and 30 m near 10 MHz for WSPR telemetry. Google2

Use the correct regional band plan and your jurisdiction’s amateur-radio rules; receiving is generally easier than transmitting, and WSPR decoding works best with an accurately calibrated, GPS-disciplined SDR.

 

[oldradioguy2010]

Ok kewl, 144.39 (apers) is in the scanner.
433.775 is out here, garage door/ gate and some kiddie walkie talkies.
I will scope it out.

DW
swl op
wdx6hwo

 

[oldradioguy2010]

QTH here
Austin Arkansas
North East of Little Rock

DW
swl op
wdx6hwo

 

[nd5y]

Rember just because you hear data on 144.39 or 433.775 doesn't mean it's coming from a balloon.

 

[oldradioguy2010]

Thank you Tom,
I know 144.390 is always data.
433.775 is a different story.

DW
swl op
wdx6hwo

 

[GlobalNorth]

It sounds interesting, but I'm concerned about adding mylar pollution into the ecosystem.