{"id":111,"date":"2026-05-09T19:26:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T19:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kd9lvx.com\/?p=111"},"modified":"2026-05-09T19:26:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T19:26:23","slug":"pico-balloons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kd9lvx.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/09\/pico-balloons\/","title":{"rendered":"Pico Balloons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Did some ground tests for the APRS tracker we are planning to launch at Field Day this year. Man these capacitors took forever to charge using a USB power bank! Thought I would document what I\u2019ve done so far if anyone cares to follow or wishes to use this to build your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

APRS packet shown on APRS.fi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The one picture is the APRS packet. Notice at the top I\u2019m transmitting telemetry from the tracker including temperature, pressure (for altitude reference), and voltage (for battery monitoring). Also doing a plug for the club website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LightAPRS 2.0 tracker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Other picture is of the tracker. Some stats:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Output varies from 0.5-1.0 watt depending on the charge level of the capacitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The capacitors are 3.0 volt 3.3 farad. There are 4 in series-parallel to give 6.0 volts and 3.3 farad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CAPACITOR 3.3F 0% +100% 3V T\/H<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The antenna is 26ga enameled wire at 50cm. It\u2019s a monopole antenna which is fine since the tracker is meant to be up in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solar is pending arrival from DigiKey. I\u2019ll be using 2×2.76 volt 55.1 mA monocrystalline solar panels in series. This will give me 5.52 volts at peak sun which is near perfect for my capacitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MONOCRYST SOLAR CELL 123MW 2.76V<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve got plenty of both Mylar and CyMylar balloons, but this tracker is likely to be a bit on the heavy side. I\u2019m at 15.1 grams so far and im not sure yet what the solar package will weigh. To be safe I\u2019ll use the 60\u201d CyMylar balloon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

60Inch Jumbo Large 4D Clear Sphere Balloons\/Transparent Foil Balloons<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next step is to wait on the solar panels and figure out how I want to arrange\/attach them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The APRS tracker project is in full swing, and I’m thrilled to share the progress so far! With the capacitors, antenna, and solar panels in place, I’m ready to test the tracker’s performance and make any necessary adjustments before its launch at Field Day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[16,17],"class_list":["post-111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-field-day","tag-pico-balloons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kd9lvx.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/img_5859-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kd9lvx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kd9lvx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kd9lvx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kd9lvx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kd9lvx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kd9lvx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112,"href":"https:\/\/kd9lvx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111\/revisions\/112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kd9lvx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kd9lvx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kd9lvx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kd9lvx.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}