How to track & recover a NWS weather balloon & radiosonde 🎈🎈 Ham Radio DIY

The US National Weather Service (#NWS) launches over 200 weather balloons everyday carrying an LMS-6 #radiosonde / rawinsonde made by Lockheed Martin to an altitude of over 100,000 ft. and you can track & follow the flights from home and even find the landing site and pick them up! This is a fun #DIY project that you can do yourself from home and I'll show you how to do it here along with some tips so you can go find yourself a weather balloon & radiosonde!
...and always ask permission before entering someone else's property during recovery!
EQUIPMENT USED TO TRACK A NWS LMS-6 WEATHER BALLOON
➡️ 1700 Mhz Antenna: amzn.to/2YOI4v6
➡️ Low loss coaxial cable: amzn.to/2Wbzbz3
➡️ SAW Filter & LNA: amzn.to/2K740NV
➡️ Bias-Tee SDR: amzn.to/2EzGKoe
➡️ HDSDR Software: www.hdsdr.de/
➡️ Virtual Audio Cable: www.vb-audio.c...
➡️ Windows Sonde Decoder: www.blackcatsy...
➡️ Sonde Monitor: www.coaa.co.uk...
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To learn more about our weather balloon flights, Arduino based flight computer, APRS transmitter, RTTY radio transmitter, ham radio balloon tracking methods or any of our other on-board technology and data sensors visit ➡️ overlookhorizon...
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Watch a full flight with beautiful views from launch to the stratosphere and back over Finger Lakes in NY: • GOPRO WEATHER BALLOON ...
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[@miraclo3]

here before the Mark Rober wave comes.

[@Greeneyedguy24]

Well I’m happy he talked about you and I was able to find your channel!

[@jackcommons]

Ditto!😂

[@OLHZN]

Who's here from my cameo in Mark Rober's video? Sound off below! 😃🤘 kzbin.info/www/bejne/eIq5i5troNaUfMk

[@TenNineD]

Hell yea

[@MrSquigglesYT]

Me

[@socalpal8416]

This has to be one of the best videos I've found on You Tube. Your presentation was smooth and full of information. Much better than I expected it to be. Good job Tory....subscribed.

[@Daaaake]

I hardly know a thing about any of this, but the way you present it all was so entertaining I watched the whole thing. Keep 'em coming!

[@closinginonclosure]

Came out of curiosity from the Mark Rober video

[@StephenFischer]

Great how-to!! Instantly recognized Canandaigua in the background too-good thing the payload didn’t take a dip!

[@thatspaceyhomeschoolmom5102]

Great stuff! I think there may be one of these in my backyard way up in a tree after watching this! Going to check it out when I get home, thanks : )

[@kerri7924]

Found one In Marsh, area on Pennsylvania. March 13,2021

[@mattwilliams848]

Just happened to find one of these in the woods while scouting for deer hunting. Very interesting.

[@weusedtobeangels]

So cool to learn new things like this. Came from the Mark Rober vid

[@Prifly70]

Sorry...the first 59 seconds or so I wasn't paying attention to a word you said, I was just looking at how beautiful that area is !! So green !!!

[@Thunder_Dome45]

It's a blast but a lot has changed. They are on 400MHz now and can be tracked pretty well on a mag mount 400MHz antenna. I have 10 sondes so far. I've got close to many more but I'm afraid of what's hiding in the grass and lots have landed in trees.

[@mikebuseyvideo]

Today I Just Found A LMS6 RadioSonde From Lockheed Martin On My Property & I Never Knew This Type Of This Extensive Research Was Happening As Often.... The Science Nerd In Me Was All Kinds Of Excited To Find One On My Property. I Started YouTubing Which Lead Me Here! Thanks For Info & Keep It Up! Much Love -Mike Busey

[@Trekev]

I worked for the NWS launching radiosondes. I've probably launched over 500 sondes in my career. All radiosondes are now on the 400-406mhz frequency now days. I'd be curious if you've found any of the new generation of sondes

[@n8lbv]

Is using 400MHz band (USA) due to lower cost? Or just better tracking at longer ranges and lower altitudes? It is nice that I can hear these with a strong signal well over 100 miles away from a handheld radio with a very simple antenna. I asked a question above and hope it's ok to ask again here hoping maybe you get a notification on your comment. Do these 400MHz (Vaisala RS41-SGP in my area) continue transmitting after they land? Or do they shut down at low altitude? If they keep transmitting, do you know how long for? is it a timed or altitude shutdown? or do they keep going until the two AA lithium cells are depleted? I'd like to know if I can continue tracking the signal/coordinates after they land. I will soon find out but wanted to try to learn and find out before driving hours out to a landing site. If they like these to be retrieved, it would make sense that they would leave the transmitter on until the batteries died or for a reasonable amount of time after landing akin to the 12 hours expected time for the next launch. Or they could co even longer and stagger the transmitter frequencies if they are concerned with interference from the grounded sonde in the rare event if it happened to land back very close to the launch point. I would guess and expect that they do not rely on a single receive site either.

[@jcims]

Dude this is pitch perfect, well done. Going to spend some money lol.

[@OLHZN]

😃 Thanks! Happy hunting! 📡🎈

[@yuri.sa2]

OLHZN Space Balloons dude, you packed so much info, you really started a hobby for me!

[@harrymaule2605]

I’m predicting there’s going to be quite the increase in views over the next few days

[@n9xtn]

I think you could also use this antenna (and perhaps the rest of this setup) to receive GOES-16 weather satellite data. Software is freely available that runs on a Raspberry Pi.

[@OLHZN]

Indeed! Follow up video coming on that exact topic soon! 😃

[@RyanG422]

Yep I have been using my setup for both

[@STABO700]

In Poland we have radiosondes on 400-406MHz and we have 3 station. In Poland you can find RS41 Radiosonde and you cen remake it to amature rtty and aprs tracker

[@sahim1844]

Heyy came from mark roberr

[@Vector_Ze]

Interesting hobby! And, the launch site map shows why neither I, nor anybody I know, has ever found a radiosonde in the 50+ years of living in the central Florida Panhandle. With the prevailing westerlies, our best shot would've been from Slidell, LA, which is 250 miles (400 km) to our west.

[@drocles]

If you are in the Edmonton area, Alberta, and on the hunt, I have found they launch west of Stoney Plain twice a day at 5 or just after, at a frequency of 402.010 and are of the DFM9P variety. I use the MysondyGO app and a TTGO 433 mhz LORA32 T3 v1.6 board. As well as the good ol baofeng uv5r (recieve only😉) to alert for a signal.

[@drocles]

And this site has given very accurate predictions so far. I have just got the setup to work and once the west winds return i will be on the hunt😀

[@antoniogomez7574]

just saw you on the new mark rober video

[@johnnymoran180]

I literally just randomly found one.... Google led me here ..

[@aldenking4427]

Me too lol

[@toms.3977]

Nah...we watch you because you're entertaining. The sticker bushes are a bonus. :)

[@OLHZN]

lol thanks! I wish I could say the thorn bushes were all just for show! 😂😂😂

[@enriquegilmour]

I found one last night in a CVS parking lot in Birmingham Alabama. Its cool. I might keep it. I will probably keep it.

[@Clara.sax33]

Mark rober mentioned this video in his egg drop video!!

[@Hardik7024]

From Mark Rober!

[@anshulraman1611]

Mark Rober, Great video btw buddy!

[@ralphthebrick]

Brilliant, Must try this sometime in the UK

[@thegorn]

The US Department of Defence requires your services for Chinese "weather balloons"

[@ameliarockwell8504]

So I got a question, is it okay to keep those transmitters if you find them? And if the answer is yes to the first one, what can you possibly do with it if you keep it?

[@aiezenberg]

I fall in love! Thanks I'll follow your adventures

[@BikeKayaker]

This sounds like cool fun. You should also try ham radio foxhunting!

[@yuvallitvin]

Your content is amazing,

[@Deathwarrant909]

here from rober

[@bluegizmo1983]

My local weather balloon station here in the USA near El Paso, TX doesn't use LMS-6 Sonde's, they use RS92-NGP Sonde's.

[@tyukikiquinchi7367]

im here after watching the Mark Rober egg experiment

[@RandyUpchurch]

Great video. Added this to my project list. Just curious where you were located, approximately, during the video. Great work.

[@user-vg1zn8tm3x]

here from mark rober

[@babycortez4163]

I dont get it who launches them and for what? Just curious cause i found one near my home? i live in Jalisco Mexico.

[@TRMI221]

Could you keep that gadget for yourself or are you required to send it back in?

[@ChristopherScanlan88]

You can keep it. The parts aren't valuable enough to send someone to get it.

[@RobDale]

It's not required, but there is a postage paid sticker on it so they can reuse them.

[@Paw95]

I found one of these in southern Ohio on December 1

[@vergil1969]

Pov you are here from mark rober vid

[@ThanapongPhanthong]

Great Olhzn

[@Sxoop69]

✅Mark Rober Raid✅

[@DRAGUNOV1902]

Can someone give me some more information about radiosondes in sweden, what type are used? I couldnt find any information about that

[@nunyabusiness3082]

Sooo I'm not allowed to be trusted with a plastic shopping bag. But "big weather science" can litter foam and plastic into trees multiple times a day because.........? Lol

[@kalayaskitchen]

does canada use the same sonds?

[@coolbluelights]

How do you translate azimuth and elevation into which way to point the antenna?

[@OLHZN]

Azimuth is the compass direction. Elevation is the angle upwards from the horizon.

[@coolbluelights]

@@OLHZN Oh ok, that makes it simple enough, Thanks

[@gamestv4875]

What tripod are you using for the antenna ?

[@OLHZN]

It's just a generic light stand tripod: amzn.to/38fLkEe

[@kchoudri]

don' t really need a directional antenna....

[@michaelawheeler64]

Do you know well using a 1/4 wave vertical goes?

[@OLHZN]

A 1/2 wave dipole antenna can work well when the balloon is at higher altitudes. Almost no range below 10K ft, though.

[@leemilica]

Soo... i need help. I couldn't find any suitable antennas for sale that are not too expensive. And since I live in Slovenia, I don't know where the stations are and don't know what to use to find them and i don't know even if Slovenia uses them. I only know that I need a 400-406MHz tuned antenna since I found an italian radiosonde (the rs41) when I was diving at the beach. I would appreciate if someone gave me links or names for all the stuff I need to get started. Thanks!

[@AndrewMurphy8383]

most of the time you have to send the radiosonde back to them

[@RyanG422]

The Older LMS6 and RS92-NGP radiosondes do have prepaid mailing envelopes to send them back. However the new RS41-SGP sondes being launched at some sites in the US do not have any way of return.

[@DigitalAndInnovation]

Just a heads up its data not datta

[@kerri7924]

I just found one weather balloon.

[@n8lbv]

Does anyone who has worked with these know if they keep transmitting after they land? or do they shut down at low altitude? In the event that they do not automatically turn off the transmitter right before they land -- Do they keep transmitting for a long time? Or do they go until the batteries are dead? And how long is that for? a few hours only? Thanks!! Videos like this tend to leave out details like this.

[@OLHZN]

Batteries last about 6 hours from launch, which usually gives you about 3 hours after landing.

[@Thunder_Dome45]

I don't know if you know now, but there's a computer on the RS41 ones and shut it down 8 hours and 30 minutes after it detects the balloon has popped. It gets that information from the GPS. So I've got signals from them in the afternoon as late as 4pm when they launched at 6am.

[@RickardoPandiangan]

its that expensive? how much price is that?

[@sambitkumar7185]

Lol you want to sold that one???

[@bulldogbrower6732]

Did anyone ever tell you that you look like a young Paulie Walnuts ? Tory, does the government offer any type of monetary reward for the return of their spent balloon, parachute and electronics ?

[@Lavabo-Quebec]

in Canada they do the same from about 30 station, is the frequency the same as the USA ?

[@OLHZN]

Might be 403 MHz in Canada which is more common in other countries. The 1680 MHz sondes are actually very old and arguably outdated tech.

[@DutchVanDerLindo]

Ur surname in portuguese means "expensive"

[@kerri7924]

No return information this.