A successful Mission 14 completed!

A big thanks to all of the Parachute Mobile team members for their time and contribution. Without you, we could not have done it.

Mission 14 certainly came with its share of hurdles. Every mission seems to have a few. From manpower to equipment problems, from internet to jump delays. Murphy was sure throwing what he could at us, but to no avail. That’s because we’re hams!

This Mission was a first for a few things. Our spiffy media banners were debuted, which caught a lot of attention. This was our first mission were all our power at the drop zone was provided by generator or battery. We also setup our own internet connection, both at the drop zone and at radiofest, since reliable internet was not available. Due to technical problems with our 2.4 GHz transmitter, we used a 1.2GHZ transmitter without any prior testing, and it worked great!

Unfortunately, our mission came with delays. Every drop zone has their own way of doing things. As we found out, we have to manifest our jumps before 10:00 A.M. to secure a spot on the plane before noon. Well, for safety issues, our jumpers were not ready for that manifest time, which meant our next chance to get up in the air was later in the day. We apologize for the huge delay.

Our jumpers are deployed with a recording station to establish a QSOs log. As you can appreciate, the jumpers are not in a position to complete a physical log. Unfortunately the receiver for the recorder lost audio and thus, we have no record of the QSOs. This is very upsetting for us as we always promise a one-of-a-kind QSL card to all those that make a contact. If you made a contact, then please send us an email stating so to kc6tyd@gmail.com and while get that right out to you.

We will soon post pictures and videos from Mission 14, so please come back and check them out.

No date as of yet for Mission 15, but as soon as we do we’ll post it here.

73,
From the Parachute Mobile team

Radiofest-Mission 14

QST QST QST…

Parachute Mobile Skydiving QSO Jump!

Parachute Mobile is a unique way of combining two great hobbies; skydiving and amateur radio. Our skydivers will jump from 13,500 feet and once they have deployed their parachutes they will make contacts (QSOs) with as many hams as possible. The Drop Zone will be at the Marina Municipal Airport.

Date: March 23, 2013. This will be our 14th mission and we are proud to be scheduled in conjunction with Radiofest, ARRL’s Santa Clara Valley Section Convention. Conventioneers are encourage to make a QSO with the skydiver and to come by our display table to learn more about our projects. Forgot your HT? Not a ham? No problem! Come by our table to make “third party traffic.”
Jump Times: The first jump is scheduled to occur around 1200 hrs and approximately each hour thereafter. We don’t have control over the aircraft or weather so times may change. We hope to make 3 jumps.
Frequency: QSOs with the Jumpers will be on 146.430 simplex with an alternate of 147.570 simplex
APRS: “Jumper 1” and “Jumper 2” will be fitted with APRS that will transmit location and altitude as well as biotelemetry data, which includes SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation) and heart rate. Look for AF6IM for Jumper 1, and KF6WRW for Jumper 2 on your favorite APRS web site. No SSID required.
Live Streaming Video: We will also be streaming live video from the Drop Zone (DZ). Log into ustream.tv/channel/mfwright or come by the display table to watch the action unfold.
Updates: QSTs and updates on the day of the event will be made on:
K6LY Repeater (event talk-in), 146.970- 94.8
LPRC Repeater (Loma Prieta), 146.640- 162.2 (Coastal Region)
Special Event QSL cards will be available.
Hear the action, make a QSO!

Note: This event is subject to weather conditions and there is always the possibility the event could be canceled. But you can still visit with us at our display table at Radiofest.

Do not attempt to go past any closed gates at Marina Airport. If you wish to view jumpers come to the Skydive Monterey Bay hanger where a shuttle van can take spectators to the nearby DZ when space is available. Parachute Mobile will have a table set up outside the hanger and folks there can help explain the DZ access issues and how to avoid problems.
 
Skydive Monterey Bay is located at 721 Neeson Rd, Marina Airport, Marina

What’s Parachute Mobile?

Parachute Mobile is a unique combination of two great hobbies; ham radio and skydiving. About four times a year the team gets together to conduct “Missions” where licensed hams jump out of a plane at 13,500 feet. They deploy their parachutes right away (HAHO: High Altitude High Opening) and make as many contacts (QSOs) has possible. The Drop Zone is located in Byron, California at the Byron Airport. Contacts have been made from as far away as Eureka and Fresno. One-of-a-kind QSL cards are issued for each mission. It takes a lot of work to conduct a Parachute Mobile Mission due to the payload that goes with each jumper. First off, we provide APRS biotelemetry during the jump. This means you can fallow the jumper on APRS.FI. Not only can you track altitude and distance traveled, but the heart rate and oxygen percentage of the jumper. We also stream live video from the jumper’s point of view. To make this all happen a trained ground crew prepares each jumper up with all the equipment before the jump. Safely is paramount, so a safety check is completed before each jump as well.

Mission 14 will be a special event in conjunction with Radiofest in Monterey, California March 23, 2013. Check back soon to get updates.

Spectacular pictures of Mission 13 will be posted soon.

73
Rob-KC6TYD
Team Coordinator

Mission 13 was a success!

The day after Mission 12, plans started for Mission 13. This was the big one: Pacificon, and it was in conjunction with the ARRL National Convention. Work was needed to armor up the 2.4 GHz transmitter. There where glitches with the weather station and data logger.  The media display board was worn and desperately need to be replaced.  We needed to streamline the setup and installation of our growing antenna farm at the DZ. Oh ya, then there’s the forum we need to be ready for the following day.

Well, we did it. The team pulled together and we got the job done. Streaming was the best it’s ever been.  APRS worked great. Communication was handled brilliantly and we now have a better and faster antenna setup.  We had a great Parachute Control team looking down on us like angels.  Our DZ Ground Crew excelled.  From setup to Jumper Prep, you guys rocked!   I even got to debut as Jumper 3 on the last jump!  Jim created a new team poster and Michael G was able to print it out.  I got it laminated and I must say it looked pretty good above the heads of our Pacificon team.  Speaking of Pacificon team, Wow! What a great job you guys did.   I was able to update the old Power Point presentation and even though we only had a hand full of attendees, it was nice to present Parachute Mobile.

A big thanks to the whole team for all that you did.

QSL cards:  QSL cards will go out as soon as we confirm the list of contacts.  Be sure you’re good on “QRZed”.  Otherwise, email me at kc6tyd@arrl.net to get your card.

Come back and visit our website again as we will be adding new photos of Mission 13 as they come in.

What’s next?  Nothing until next Spring and we hope to be back at Radiofest.  In the meantime, we’ll be planning new twists and adding strange gadgets to the payload for all to enjoy.

73,

-Rob/KC6TYD

Team Coordinator

Pacificon – Mission 13 on the 13th from Byron, CA

QST   QST   QST…

Parachute Mobile Skydiving QSO jump!

Parachute Mobile is a unique way of combining two great hobbies; skydiving and amateur radio.  Our skydivers will jump from 13,000 feet and once they have deployed their parachutes they will make contacts (QSOs) with as many hams as possible.  The Drop Zone will be at Byron Airport where we have had great success in the past. 

Date: October 13, 2012.  This will be our 13th mission and we are proud to be a scheduled event during Pacificon.  Conventioneers are encourage to make a QSO with the skydiver and to come by our display table to learn more about our projects.  Forgot your HT?  No problem, go to the San Ramon Comm Van to make a QSO.

Jump Times:  The first jump is scheduled to occur around 1200 hrs and approximately each hour thereafter.  We don’t have control over the aircraft or weather so times may change.  We hope to make 4 jumps.

QSOs with the Jumpers will be on 146.430 simplex with an alternate of 147.570 simplex

“Jumper 1” and “Jumper 2” will be fitted with APRS that will transmit location and altitude as well as biotelemetry data, which includes SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation) and heart rate.  Look for AF6IM for Jumper 1, and KF6WRW for Jumper 2 on your favorite APRS web site.  No SSID required.

We will also be streaming live video from the Drop Zone (DZ).  Log into justin.tv/mfwright or come by the display table to watch the action unfold.

QSTs and updates will be made on:

W6CX Repeater (Mount Diablo), 147.060+ 100

N6NFI Repeater (Stanford), 145.230- 100

SARA Repeater (Mt Oso), 145.390- 136.5 (Central Valley)

LPRC Repeater (Loma Prieta), 146.640- 162.2 (Coastal Region)

Special Event QSL cards will be available.

Hear the action, make a QSO!

Note: This event is subject to weather conditions and there is always the possibility the event could be canceled.  But you can still visit with us at our display table at Pacificon.

Mission 12 Byron on Sunday September 9

QST   QST   QST…

Parachute Mobile is a unique way of combining two great hobbies; skydiving and amateur radio.  Our skydivers will jump from 13,000 feet and once they have deployed their parachutes they will make contacts (QSOs) with as many hams as possible.  The Drop Zone will be at Byron Airport where we have had great success in the past.  This will be our 12th mission. 

Date:  September 9, 2012

Jump Times:  The first jump is scheduled to occur between 1100 and 1200 hrs and approximately each hour thereafter.  We don’t have control over the aircraft so times may change.  We hope to make 4 jumps.

“Jumper 1” and “Jumper 2” will be fitted with APRS that will transmit location and altitude as well as biotelemetry data, which includes SpO2 (blood oxygen saturation) and heart rate.  Look for AF6IM for Jumper 1, and KF6WRW for Jumper 2 on your favorite APRS web site.  No SSID required.

We also hope to provide streaming video by logging into justin.tv

QSTs and updates will be made on:

W6CX Repeater (Mount Diablo), 147.060+ 100

SARA Repeater (Mt Oso), 145.390- 136.5

LPRC Repeater (Loma Prieta), 146.640- 162.2 

QSOs with the Jumpers will be on 146.430 simplex with an alternate of 147.570 simplex

Event specific QSL cards will be available.

Hear the action, make a QSO!

Note: this event is subject to weather conditions and there is always the possibility the event could be canceled.

Mission 11 – Bryon – April 29, 2012

Mission 11 is scheduled for April 29. The Drop Zone is back at Byron Airport. We hope to have the first jump around noon. Parachute Control will back on Mount Diablo to coordinate the event. The frequency will be 146.430 simplex for both QSOs with the Jumpers and to Parachute Control. If you are unable to reach Mount Diablo simplex try using the W6CX repeater at 147.060 +100. We will also attempt to update jump times via Echolink to the N6NFI repeater.