Steve Fossett missing?

CNN reports Steve Fossett is missing.
"
Fossett took off from a private air strip known as Flying M Ranch, near
Smith Valley, 30 miles south of Yerington, Nevada, on Monday, with enough
fuel for four to five hours of flight, according to the Civil Air Patrol.
Yerington is south of Carson City, near the California border."



Let's hope for the best

On Sep 5, 7:13 am, "Rob Turk" wrote:
CNN reports Steve Fossett is missing.
"
Fossett took off from a private air strip known as Flying M Ranch, near
Smith Valley, 30 miles south of Yerington, Nevada, on Monday, with enough
fuel for four to five hours of flight, according to the Civil Air Patrol.
Yerington is south of Carson City, near the California border."

Let's hope for the best

Anyone know what he was flying?

"JohnO" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Sep 5, 7:13 am, "Rob Turk" wrote:
CNN reports Steve Fossett is missing.
"
Fossett took off from a private air strip known as Flying M Ranch, near
Smith Valley, 30 miles south of Yerington, Nevada, on Monday, with enough
fuel for four to five hours of flight, according to the Civil Air Patrol.
Yerington is south of Carson City, near the California border."

Let's hope for the best

Anyone know what he was flying?


His blue and white Decathlon

--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate.

"JohnO" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Sep 5, 7:13 am, "Rob Turk" wrote:
CNN reports Steve Fossett is missing.
"
Fossett took off from a private air strip known as Flying M Ranch, near
Smith Valley, 30 miles south of Yerington, Nevada, on Monday, with enough
fuel for four to five hours of flight, according to the Civil Air Patrol.
Yerington is south of Carson City, near the California border."

Let's hope for the best

Anyone know what he was flying?

Citabria, according to AvWeb. A search of the area has been initiated.
--
Jim in NC

Fossett had a typical ELT that apparently did not turn on or was out
of range.

I have a APRS tracker that continuously sends position/velocity info
on the ham frequency. Worked very well so far and gives peace of mind
to relatives - and useful to FAA on a flight plan. If Fosset had a
continuous tracker, the job of finding him might have been a lot
easier.

You can build an APRS tracker for about $250. A basic ham license is
easy to get.

For more info http://www.abri.com/sq2000/GPStrack.html
------------------------------------------------
SQ2000 canard, http://www.abri.com/sq2000/

On Sep 4, 2:13 pm, "Rob Turk" wrote:
CNN reports Steve Fossett is missing.
"
Fossett took off from a private air strip known as Flying M Ranch, near
Smith Valley, 30 miles south of Yerington, Nevada, on Monday, with enough
fuel for four to five hours of flight, according to the Civil Air Patrol.
Yerington is south of Carson City, near the California border."

Let's hope for the best

wrote)
You can build an APRS tracker for about $250. A basic ham license is easy
to get.

For more info http://www.abri.com/sq2000/GPStrack.html


http://www.abri.com/sq2000/APRSBasics.txt
Interesting...

Bring a Pilot to School Day:

Can you explain how this works, like we're a class of 8th graders? We'll,
7th graders, really. See, 8th grade just started, but we're still reviewing
from last year...


Paul-Mont

Fairly simple. The (2m) tracking unit has a small gps that feeds
digital signals to the attached transmitter. The signals include
latitude, longitude, speed, altitude, direction and are picked up by a
host of volunteer ham towers - digital repeaters and/or iGates. That
info is transferred to internet servers and you can easily see the
results on a Google (or other type) map on places like www.findu.com -
simplicity itself for users. I suggest that you pay another $15/yr for
a private website YourPlaneName.com where your relatives or FAA can go
to find the latest tracking.

A lot of automobile users use the system so their wives can tell where
they are (hmm?) . But their signals are often blocked by terrain. The
best performance is from aircraft - any ham digi or igate tower within
couple of hundred miles can see the signal. I have flown cross country
- remote areas - and there is rarely a break in 1 or 2 minute
reporting intervals.

Are you still gawking around. Memorize answers to some 100 ham
questions, pay the $20? fee and get a APRS tracker. It may save your
life.

On Sep 5, 11:32 pm, "Montblack" Y4_NOT!...
wrote:
Interesting...

Bring a Pilot to School Day:

Can you explain how this works, like we're a class of 8th graders? We'll,
7th graders, really. See, 8th grade just started, but we're still reviewing
from last year...

Paul-Mont

Thanks!!!! This APRS system is outta-sight. As a retired EE, I've toyed
with getting a ham ticket since I was a kid...and this might just do it.
This has wide coverage....and does not depend on a G-switch like an
ELT.....even the new 406MHz units depend on a G-switch to trip if the victim
cannot trigger the unit manually.

I like the continual tracking feature.....just look where the signal
stopped.

I've spent some time in the past half-hour and understand the electronics.
But has someone put together a small transmitter with an embedded GPS, to
make the whole unit a "one box" solution? I have no problem building a APRS
transmitter myself, but it seems a single small package has a better chance
of always being in the plane, say mounted on a door post or under a glass
turtledeck. Maybe with a rechargable battery, external power plug (to keep
it charged from the ship's power).

OK..... tell me more. What class ham license do I need?

John Severyn
KLVK Livermore, Ca.


wrote in message
ups.com...
Fairly simple. The (2m) tracking unit has a small gps that feeds
digital signals to the attached transmitter. The signals include
latitude, longitude, speed, altitude, direction and are picked up by a
host of volunteer ham towers - digital repeaters and/or iGates. That
info is transferred to internet servers and you can easily see the
results on a Google (or other type) map on places like www.findu.com -
simplicity itself for users. I suggest that you pay another $15/yr for
a private website YourPlaneName.com where your relatives or FAA can go
to find the latest tracking.

A lot of automobile users use the system so their wives can tell where
they are (hmm?) . But their signals are often blocked by terrain. The
best performance is from aircraft - any ham digi or igate tower within
couple of hundred miles can see the signal. I have flown cross country
- remote areas - and there is rarely a break in 1 or 2 minute
reporting intervals.

Are you still gawking around. Memorize answers to some 100 ham
questions, pay the $20? fee and get a APRS tracker. It may save your
life.

"J. Severyn" wrote in message
...
Thanks!!!! This APRS system is outta-sight. As a retired EE, I've toyed
with getting a ham ticket since I was a kid...and this might just do it.
This has wide coverage....and does not depend on a G-switch like an
ELT.....even the new 406MHz units depend on a G-switch to trip if the
victim cannot trigger the unit manually.

I like the continual tracking feature.....just look where the signal
stopped.

I've spent some time in the past half-hour and understand the electronics.
But has someone put together a small transmitter with an embedded GPS, to
make the whole unit a "one box" solution? I have no problem building a
APRS transmitter myself, but it seems a single small package has a better
chance of always being in the plane, say mounted on a door post or under a
glass turtledeck. Maybe with a rechargable battery, external power plug
(to keep it charged from the ship's power).

OK..... tell me more. What class ham license do I need?

John Severyn
KLVK Livermore, Ca.


wrote in message
ups.com...
Fairly simple. The (2m) tracking unit has a small gps that feeds
digital signals to the attached transmitter. The signals include
latitude, longitude, speed, altitude, direction and are picked up by a
host of volunteer ham towers - digital repeaters and/or iGates. That
info is transferred to internet servers and you can easily see the
results on a Google (or other type) map on places like www.findu.com -
simplicity itself for users. I suggest that you pay another $15/yr for
a private website YourPlaneName.com where your relatives or FAA can go
to find the latest tracking.

A lot of automobile users use the system so their wives can tell where
they are (hmm?) . But their signals are often blocked by terrain. The
best performance is from aircraft - any ham digi or igate tower within
couple of hundred miles can see the signal. I have flown cross country
- remote areas - and there is rarely a break in 1 or 2 minute
reporting intervals.

Are you still gawking around. Memorize answers to some 100 ham
questions, pay the $20? fee and get a APRS tracker. It may save your
life.





Check out these folks:
http://www.byonics.com/

In particular:
http://www.byonics.com/microtrak/mt8000.php

You only need the Technician license. Details at www.arrl.org
Lots of study guides are available on-line.

..

OK..... tell me more. What class ham license do I need?

John Severyn
KLVK Livermore, Ca.


Just a technician license, which is entry level. (novice no longer
exists for new licenses). If you are knowledgeable about radio
communications you could even possibly pass the test cold turkey. But
there are enough specific knowledge items there that most of the time
you will need to study a bit to pass.

Morse Code is no longer required to obtain a Tech license

Lets not kid ourselves here. What we are essentially doing is using APRS
as an equivalent to "flight following" in the commercial (as opposed to
ATC sense). Another party is able to track your progress and if you are
overdue, able to use your last known position as the starting point to
initiate a search or report you missing.

APRS (automated packet/position reporting system) is nice for this
purpose, and when the digipeaters are networked onto the net, the data
is accessible to all. for free.

Its not perfect. There IS a limit to the amount of traffic it can carry,
and these limits are reached quite often because of the way individuals
configure their own APRS beacons. This results in lost data and less
than continuous tracking. Its not perfect. As few as 100 users in a
region can saturate the system. The issue is a result of indiscriminate
"repeating" of messages 2 or 3 or more times when one will suffice.
There is no regulatory guidance on this issue, so you are at the mercy
of your peers. BUT.. even if only one out of every 3-4 burst goes
through, thats better than nothing, with regards to a starting point.

If you are flying in a straight line, its pretty easy to look at the
track and know where to look for someone.

One limiting factor is that there is usually but ONE frequency available
for APRS use, and if I am not mistaken this is not necessarily uniform
across the country. So you have to know, and keep up with any frequency
changes in order to enable this flight following.

I'm new to HAM radio.. got my ticket this spring, and obtained it for
one purpose - to be in communication as a motorcycle marshal escort for
charity bike rides. Our rides go into the country, cell phones are
spotty, but Amatuer bands enable communications continuity, and dont
need to rent public safety/business band radios. APRS allows us to track
key vehicles and marshals. I dont rag chew. I dont do any of the field
days. Dont belong to the ham club. I do HAM on the motorcycle during
rides only.

If your radio is not APRS-ready out of the box (look for the term TNC as
part of installed equipment), you will need an external TNC (terminal
node controller). Tiny Trak is about the size of a pager, and hugely
capable. Kingwood has 2 packet-ready (tnc installed radios), the TM-D700
which is a dash mount and there is a handheld that I believe is a TH-D7
or something like that. Give it an NMEA gps data stream and you are in
business.


Dave