HABITAT SkyLab Research Balloon Page

High Altitude Basic Investigation Testing And Tracking

Copyright 1997,1998,1999,2000,2001 by Don Pfister, ALL Rights reserved.

(under construction, Hard Hat not required: last update 02/11/2001)

Next HABITAT SkyLab activity will be coming soon. I plan a launch soon to prepare for the launch June 30 near Manhattan, KS. HABITAT SkyLab is one of four balloon groups launching. So our capsule(s) will be readied for activity soon. I plan a test flight before the group flight on June 30. Right now I'm working on having the capule(s) ready to flight at the end of May. Let me know if you are interested in more info.
The other 3 groups are NSBP, NSTAR and TVNSP (formally KNSP). See links below.

"So where is this Fool?" Link to map showing ka0jlF location.

Habitat.txt an overview of the project and it's goals. (old, needs updating)

"Don's other page, GPS connectors" Don's other page, GPS connector link.

Last flight of 2000. Launch approximately 5:07 p.m. CST from near Desoto, KS. Bank thermometer over the hill from us said 14 degrees F.

HABITAT SkyLab predicted flight path 12/31/00

Launch 12/31/2000 afternoon approximately 5 p.m. CST 300 gram balloon.
Simplex repeater flight on 146.55 MHz.
Simplex repeater operation:
the repeater records what it hears until the carrier drops or it reachs max record time abt 30 sec.
Then it re-transmits what it heard followed by a beep.
Then the cycle repeats. Please allow pauses to try and minimize collisions. Have fun! de Don KA0JLF
Please let me know about any signal reports or recordings. E-mail to address below. THANKS!

HABITAT SkyLab 12/31/00 Mission Commander:

Minnie Panda, with her cosmic radiation shield (price tag?)

HABITAT SkyLab 12/31/00 Payload 2M simplex repeater

NO it was NOT my wife's radio (this time;-)

this is actually her radio and N3KKM's simplex repeater (photo body doubles on 01/03/01).

HABITAT SkyLab 12/31/00 Projected Flight summary using 6 a.m. winds

HABITAT SkyLab 12/31/00 Releasing the balloon

HABITAT SkyLab 12/31/00 Away she goes! Dark, cloudy and COLD!!!

These two photos above almost connect directly, notice the string (above the 'g' in the caption) in the top photo. It would connect to the top of the parachute at the top of the lower photo. Hopefully the 35MM pictures will be clearer. The digital camera wants lots of light, and the flash just wasn't doing the job. It was struggling just to recycle. A bad day for batteries. The simplex repeater has worked better (what an understatement!). We did get some reports including; North KC, MO; Independence, MO; and Princeton, KS for sure. I think Mike, KD0FW, had more contacts but these are the ones I remember. I will run another round of predictions with the 6 p.m. Topeka winds, and post them, later.

Previous flights:

HABITAT SkyLab II preparing for launch, left to right; Jerry, Dennis, Judith, Kerry and Mark. A Jim Dexter Photo

HABITAT SkyLab II on the way up, just released, Jim Dexter Photo

Flight 98a July 18,1998 Flight photos and info

Another page of Flight 98a July 18,1998 Inch's story by Beth.

Altitude Chart The line chart of recorded altitudes from the flight.

Habitat.txt an overview of the project and it's goals.

Links:

Netlab Visit Netlab, we are in the hobby wing

KCATV GROUP KC Amateur TV at it's best! Net Sunday nights at 8 p.m. local time.

KCATV GROUP WEBCAM Watch the KCATV Group Sunday night nets on the web, when available.

KNSP KNSP Kansas Near Space Project link.

Near Space Balloon Group (NSBG) Bill's Orion balloon page.

Dan's little world Dan is into Amateur Astronomy, flying and other neat things.

NSTAR Mark N9XTN's balloon project.

HABLIC High Altitude Balloon Launch Information Center.

SSOK Sky Science Over Kansas.

Project Boomerang II Dave Jones' 2.4 GHz airborne ATV link UAV/PRV project.

Wx info Text weather data for flight predictions.

Surely there is INTELLIGENT life SOMEWHERE...?

Unfinished business:

HABITAT SkyLab 2nd Graders' Experiment.

Contact me here: