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