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Author Topic: AM Parachute Mobile?  (Read 8835 times)
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af6im
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AF6IM jumping from a C54G, 1999 Quincy Illinois.


« on: April 03, 2018, 12:42:57 PM »

Last Saturday I worked W3IUU in Maryland while under canopy at about 8000 ft over the Byron CA airport. Worked 13 closer stations as well during my descent. MP3 audio file from my receiver output is attached. In the landing photo, if you blow it up, you can see my trailing wire. Had to be careful on my approach to fly WAY above power lines as dragging a wire across them wouldn't be fun.

Rig was Yaesu FT 817 on 14.250 USB running under 5 watts on AA batts. Antenna was a PAR end fed dipole deployed as a trailing wire.

Sure would be fun to work some AM stations on a future jump. Has to be 40M, 20M or 10M, due to antenna size and stowing issues. The FT 817 will do AME I believe. I once jumped a BC 611, but its tiny output power didn't cut it. I did hear AM stations calling me however. One barely heard my BC 611 transmission but not enough to call it a real QSO.

Parachute Mobile's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/parachutemobile

Parachute Mobile's website: www.parachutemobile.com

QST article: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/QST/This%20Month%20in%20QST/May2016/GLIFFORT.pdf

Mark
AF6IM


* Marks HF jump M30.mp3 (2471.88 KB - downloaded 208 times.)

* HF suit up 29872441_948995745260067_5337562693561118797_o.jpg (334.82 KB, 1936x1296 - viewed 493 times.)

* Mark landing w trailing wire 29749789_948994015260240_5314514221077560325_o.jpg (57.01 KB, 2048x1360 - viewed 465 times.)
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W3GMS
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« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2018, 03:10:33 PM »

Hi Mark,

Fantastic on your parachute mobile jump!  I bet it was a great thrill. 

I worked a parachute mobile back in the late 60's from Harry's W3FDY(SK) station who was my mentor. It was Jessie - K3GKB who operated parachute mobile.  He had a small surveillance bug and on the ground was an Elmac AF-67 to send the audio over on 75M AM.   Bill-W3DUQ (sk) was involved in that operation.  I know there are several members with the AM community who recorded that "free fall" transmission. 

73,
Joe-W3GMS
   
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WB2EMS
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« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2018, 03:23:15 PM »

One of my buddies was an avid skydiver. He used to take his Icom IC2AT along and work 2 meters while under canopy. One day the opening shock shook the battery off the HT! When he landed, they looked for it and found it, and snapped it back on and it worked. Glad he didn't bean anybody on the ground!  Shocked

I've worked a bunch of VHF from various aircraft, mostly my ELSA with an FT51 and D7 aboard. Fun to run the nose cam into the SSTV encoder and squirt it out with APRS to mark time and place.

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73 de Kevin, WB2EMS
af6im
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AF6IM jumping from a C54G, 1999 Quincy Illinois.


« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2018, 04:28:26 PM »

Joe,

I've heard about that 75M AM relay and would love to hear the recording some day. I did hear about one early parachute mobile op where the skydiver did the entire QSO (actually a broadcast) while in freefall. Ours are done under open canopy for maximum hang time and the ability to hear replies. The acoustic noise in freefall is just way too loud for good voice comms although I hear rumors that the USAF Para Rescue jumpers have a system that allows jumper to jumper comms in freefall.

2018 marks a half-century for me as a skydiver. Ben a ham for a decade, just renewed. It's really fun combining my two favorite hobbies. Doing an AM parachute mobile jump would be icing on the cake.

73,
Mark
AF6IM


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af6im
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AF6IM jumping from a C54G, 1999 Quincy Illinois.


« Reply #4 on: April 03, 2018, 04:36:12 PM »

WB2EMS,

Cool stuff with the SSTV, APRS and your LSA.  Did you build it? Post some pics.

The big wind generators in the background (see photo below) are called skydiver blenders.

73,
Mark
AF6IM

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W3GMS
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« Reply #5 on: April 04, 2018, 03:51:38 PM »

Joe,
I've heard about that 75M AM relay and would love to hear the recording some day. I did hear about one early parachute mobile op where the skydiver did the entire QSO (actually a broadcast) while in freefall. Ours are done under open canopy for maximum hang time and the ability to hear replies. The acoustic noise in freefall is just way too loud for good voice comms although I hear rumors that the USAF Para Rescue jumpers have a system that allows jumper to jumper comms in freefall.
2018 marks a half-century for me as a skydiver. Ben a ham for a decade, just renewed. It's really fun combining my two favorite hobbies. Doing an AM parachute mobile jump would be icing on the cake.
73,
Mark
AF6IM

Hi Mark,

Yes, Jesse did transmit while free falling.  He was having a difficult time stabilizing himself since I remember him saying "I'm tumbling, I'm tumbling"!   Jesse was quite the character to say the least.  I was a teenager at the time and forget some of the details about the exact gear he had with him.  I am also not sure if it was just a one way transmission or a full two way exchange.  I do remember the FM surveillance bug that he was using.  It was a very small chrome package and not very large.  There was wind noise, but you could easily understand him.   

As a kid I always want to skydive but my parents would not sign the papers to allow me to take the plunge so to speak.  I would go after Church on Sundays and watch them skydive.  They had these big white X's sprayed on the field and they would see how close they could land to those markers! 

Keep having fun and I think its great your still jumping.

73,
Joe-W3GMS
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af6im
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AF6IM jumping from a C54G, 1999 Quincy Illinois.


« Reply #6 on: April 04, 2018, 05:34:32 PM »

That Parachute Mobile jump Jesse made sounds wild. Doubt if it was 2-way, the noise in freefall is truly deafening, but maybe with in-ear headphones it could work.

Trying to find out more about Jesse from old-time skydivers on www.dropzone.com but no luck so far. Our Parachute Mobile team is very interested in ham-skydivers who did this before we did and want to preserve their history on our web page.

Mark
AF6IM

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« Reply #7 on: April 05, 2018, 04:48:26 PM »

I didn't build my ELSA, bought it as a working single seat ultralight, but I converted it to two seat, dual controls, bigger engine and some repairs to the structure. I've rebuilt about 30-40% of it at this point. I'll have to drag some pics in and post them. Running 2 meters from it is fun. I put the FT51 on 50 mw and can talk 100 miles or more into a repeater or to the locals on simplex. Modified the feed to the headset to allow me to have control over the mic gain. With that I can make it quiet enough that with a 68 inch prop spinning 4 feet behind me people can't tell I'm mobile, much less airborne.  Grin

I need to do some ignition suppression and then arrange to trail an end fed half wave from an FT817 or 857.

Those skydiver blenders look scary! Shocked

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73 de Kevin, WB2EMS
af6im
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AF6IM jumping from a C54G, 1999 Quincy Illinois.


« Reply #8 on: April 05, 2018, 05:49:09 PM »

Working HF from a Light Sport Aircraft is such a cool idea, esp AM. Has anyone else done it? Looking forward to seeing pictures of your plane.

Mark
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af6im
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AF6IM jumping from a C54G, 1999 Quincy Illinois.


« Reply #9 on: April 05, 2018, 06:31:20 PM »

Photos from last Saturday's Parachute Mobile jumps.

https://tinyurl.com/y7cxzjsf

Article about my BC 611 AM HF jump:

http://paara.org/newsletter/2014/graph0214.pdf
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W2JBL
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« Reply #10 on: April 25, 2018, 05:41:33 PM »

Bert WA3JYU has the recording of the Jesse operation. I have a copy of it on a CD he sent me. Also on that CD a young WA3GMS signing out to go do his homework(!)
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W3GMS
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« Reply #11 on: April 25, 2018, 06:42:20 PM »

Bert WA3JYU has the recording of the Jesse operation. I have a copy of it on a CD he sent me. Also on that CD a young WA3GMS signing out to go do his homework(!)

Way to funny Chris!

Joe-GMS
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af6im
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AF6IM jumping from a C54G, 1999 Quincy Illinois.


« Reply #12 on: April 26, 2018, 03:13:55 PM »

Can somebody give me some background on Jesse? Want to put something on our parachutemobile.org webpage about this PM pioneer.

AF6IM
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AJ1G
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« Reply #13 on: April 26, 2018, 07:24:27 PM »

I recall listening to a recording of Jesse’s jump transmission on a link from either this site’s audio clips or on the old AM Window site.  Don’t see it on here.
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Chris, AJ1G
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« Reply #14 on: April 27, 2018, 02:48:56 PM »

Quote
Working HF from a Light Sport Aircraft is such a cool idea, esp AM. Has anyone else done it? Looking forward to seeing pictures of your plane.

Mark

Finally got the drive with the pics back on the main computer. Here's a couple of pics of the plane and the ham gear in the cockpit. The FT51R on the right can do dual in band receive so one side is used as as second Airband Receiver, and the right side for 2 meter or 70 cm FM. The GPS on the left is tied into the D7 and generates APRS packets on 2 meters. Can also be used with the SSTV adapter and the nose camera to generate SSTV pictures. The headset is set up with left phone to airband ICOM (center radio) and right ear to FT51 audio when switched to com2. when switched to Com1 both ears are on airband.

The mic circuit and PTT (square switch on the stick) switches between the airband Icom on COM1 or the FT51 on COM2. So in the left position the headset is dedicated to the airband radio. In the right position it's aimed at the FT51 with one ear still on the airband radio.

The mic circuit has a simple gain control built into it so that the gain can be set low. Most microphones run wide open and in the cabin of the aircraft all you hear is noise from the engine and wind with a little voice crammed on top of it. By turning the gain waaaay down, you can clearly hear my voice from the noise cancelling mic, but the engine noise and the prop sounds (68 inch prop 4 feet behind me) are so low stations think I'm sitting in the shack at home.

Cruise at 70 mph@ 4gph, climbs 900 FPM, stalls at 35, crosswind 25 mph (better than a Cessna 172). CGS Hawk Arrow II
 



* IMG_4518.JPG (220.52 KB, 1024x768 - viewed 417 times.)

* airborne hamshack.jpg (1098.58 KB, 3008x2000 - viewed 491 times.)
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73 de Kevin, WB2EMS
af6im
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AF6IM jumping from a C54G, 1999 Quincy Illinois.


« Reply #15 on: April 27, 2018, 05:19:31 PM »

W3IUU's QSL card, note the raised Braille imprint. Lloyd Rasmussen, W3IUU, is blind. Lloyd sure made my day on March 31, 2018. He is our longest distance direct Parachute Mobile contact to date. We have worked Japan from aloft, but that was using VHF DSTAR.

https://parachutemobile.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/w3iuu-qsl-ca
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