Month: June 2017

W6/NC-432 Chabot 2 Benchmark

Today we went to Chabot Regional park to pick up an easy 1-pointer in the East Bay: Chabot 2 Benchmark. We parked in the Fairmont Ridge Staging Area, where parking was free. It was late afternoon and above 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 Celsius or so) but mercifully the hike was only about a mile each way, and half of it was shaded by a row of eucalyptus trees. Near the top is a fence that blocks off a historic Nike missile site. This gate is just within the activation zone, but I followed a use trail just left of the fence to get a bit closer to the summit, although it seems the proper way to do this would be to peel to the right of the eucalyptus trees on the east side of the antennas and missile site.

There’s an FM broadcast tower here.
Looking out over Hayward, Oakland, and the bay from my activation spot.
Good views of Lake Chabot on the way up.

I brought a log-periodic with me for this all-VHF activation, but I probably didn’t need it since most of my contacts were located about five miles away in Hayward. At this time of the afternoon people driving home from the day’s activities, so a lot of folks caught me on the road.

Thanks to all the chasers: WU1Q, KG6OMB, N6ACK, AI6F, KK6WBY!

Henry-1 High Altitude Balloon Launch

The East Bay amateur radio club worked with the UC Berkeley ham radio club on a high altitude balloon launch. The balloon went up on March 18, starting on Memorial Glade on the UC Berkeley campus. The payload included a bio-aerosol collection module, a Geiger counter, and a cross-band repeater. I was lucky enough to grab a seat in one of the chase cars despite not having worked on any of the modules that went up with the balloon.

Seconds from launch
The retrieval site
There it is!
Success!

I managed a QSO with W7IV in San Luis Obispo county when the balloon had reached an altitude 30000 feet. After about two hours of flight time, the balloon reached its maximum altitude of 107553 feet just south of Sacramento where it popped and the parachute deployed. Then, the winds pushed the payload to some woods to the east of Folsom Lake where the group retrieved it (with the permission of the property owners).

w6bb_balloon_path.PNG

Here’s a video of the entire flight, assembled by KJ6DZB: