Ulala Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Hi there, My name is Caleb Cornelius, and I work for the Oregon NASA Space Grant Consortium. A couple weeks ago, we launched a high altitude weather balloon with experiments middle school students put together from the Cascades here in Oregon. The balloon went up and came down all as it should, except that we lost contact with it at 12,000 feet! Because the Kenwood+GPS stopped transmitting packets, we couldn't locate our payload. However, there is hope. On our command module, we mounted a bird tracker that sends out a blip on a specific frequency. We even picked it up on our search! But we still didn't have any luck. My question is this, if I were to give the last GPS coordinates of the balloon, the "prediction zone" coordinates, and the frequency of the bird tracker, would geocachers be at all interested in looking for our balloon? If so, where might I find some from my area? Thanks everyone! -Caleb P.S. You can check out OSGC's website here: http://spacegrant.oregonstate.edu/ and its balloon information here: http://spacegrant.oregonstate.edu/programs...on/balloon.html Quote Link to comment
+humanloofa Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 I know of a person who searched for a cache thrown out of an airplane, so I am willing to bet there is someone out there willing to help. You may want to try in the state forums. Quote Link to comment
+humanloofa Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 here is a link to that area's forums. link hope that might help a little. Quote Link to comment
+TheBeanTeam Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 where might I find some from my area? Thanks everyone! -Caleb P.S. You can check out OSGC's website here: http://spacegrant.oregonstate.edu/ and its balloon information here: http://spacegrant.oregonstate.edu/programs...on/balloon.html You can try the various forums in Oregon. Oregon Geocaching Central Oregon Corvallis Cachers Emerald Valley Cachers Southern Willammette Valley PDX Geocachers Portland You may get a bite from the Northwest Regional forum on this board as well. There are a few others. in Oregon but I don't have their URL's handy. You should be able to find links to others in the local forums that I provided. Good luck. Wish I could be of help. Quote Link to comment
btrodrigues Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 ...as long as you bundled the thing with a stashnote and a logbook I know a couple of blokes who'd certainly go for the FTF on their lunch breaks... Quote Link to comment
Keystone Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Hi, I am a moderator here in the Groundspeak Forums. This is an interesting challenge! I am moving your topic to the Northwest regional forum, since it doesn't really relate to Getting Started with geocaching. Good luck in the recovery project. Quote Link to comment
Ulala Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 Thanks for the help! I'll try those links as see what I can find. Quote Link to comment
+Suziq Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 (edited) Lost balloon in northwest forum I started this back when it was first lost. I know some of the guys involved. But maybe you can peak some new interest. I also posted this to the PDX page lost balloon PDX.com and the Washington state geopage. But feel free to do so again. Like I said maybe since its from somone official it will spark new interest. Edited June 29, 2006 by Suziq Quote Link to comment
Ulala Posted June 29, 2006 Author Share Posted June 29, 2006 (edited) Hey, it's PSUs balloon! The one they lost near Mt. St. Helens, we launched a balloon at the same time as they did, and from about 20 feet away. We found ours though, it went up and came down far more quickly than theirs did. I'll register in the PDX forum and post our information. Edited June 29, 2006 by Ulala Quote Link to comment
amateur Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Hi there, My name is Caleb Cornelius, and I work for the Oregon NASA Space Grant Consortium. A couple weeks ago, we launched a high altitude weather balloon with experiments middle school students put together from the Cascades here in Oregon. The balloon went up and came down all as it should, except that we lost contact with it at 12,000 feet! Because the Kenwood+GPS stopped transmitting packets, we couldn't locate our payload. However, there is hope. On our command module, we mounted a bird tracker that sends out a blip on a specific frequency. We even picked it up on our search! But we still didn't have any luck. My question is this, if I were to give the last GPS coordinates of the balloon, the "prediction zone" coordinates, and the frequency of the bird tracker, would geocachers be at all interested in looking for our balloon? If so, where might I find some from my area? Thanks everyone! -Caleb P.S. You can check out OSGC's website here: http://spacegrant.oregonstate.edu/ and its balloon information here: http://spacegrant.oregonstate.edu/programs...on/balloon.html Quote Link to comment
amateur Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 I was wondering if the ham people could help? how long will the bird tracker last? what frequency would listen to? some of transmitter finder RDF may be help. try there. jack Quote Link to comment
+Map Only Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Have you tried the local Search and Rescue groups and the Civil Air Patrol? One or the other will have experience finding downed aircraft, with and without Emergency Location Transmitters. There is a good chance they would be happy to help. Good luck! Out of curiosity, how long do you expect the transmitter to trans? Quote Link to comment
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