One of the many irons I have in the fire is amatuer radio. A good friend of mine is way better at it than I am and tomorrow he will be demonstrating his skills.

A year ago Andrew Koenig and I were working with UTD’s Science and Engineering Education Center running a space themed summer camp. In the first week there was lots of ballistic rocketry, and the second week had lots of weather balloon fun. The Balloon from that launch did not do well but it inspired us to do better. I helped with some of the initial troubleshooting of the first Raspberry Pi based balloon, but unfortunately could not see it through to completion. Luckily, Andrew could. His website contains a wealth of information about what makes the entire system work, as well as the appropriate frequencies if you’d like to listen in. If you are licensed to transmit, there is a crossband repeater. Otherwise, the SSTV broadcast is a great way to take part in a balloon launch without leaving your desk.