BACAR - two launches, but both marginal

It was great excitement when BACAR balloons took the three payloads up in the sky, all equipment, the HF beacon, the VHF beacon and the APRS beacon worked flawlessly.

The excitement was however short-lived when the payload and balloons separated soon after launch and BACAR floated back to the ground on its parachute.

BACAR was recovered some distance from the launch site and brought back for a second launch attempt.
On inspection it appeared that where two cords were connected the joint came apart.

With only two balloons in hand, a team was dispatched to Brits to buy up as many party balloons as they could. After inflating the two weather balloons, the party balloons and some plastic bags, BACAR took to the skies again, ascending very slowly.

It reached about 2 400 metres where it seemed to hover. All signals were good and particularly the APRS signal attracted a lot of attention. It was possible to follow BACAR on the internet on the APRS site. The APRS data showed clearly on a map where BACAR was, the direction it was travelling in and its height above sea level.

However the party balloons and refuse bags deflated quickly and BACAR was on its descent back to the ground.
The commentator at the launch site described it as a party in the sky.

The large crowd who were present at the launch scrambled to track BACAR and recover the payload which indeed it was in a very short time.

If you have any reports or pictures, please mail them to bacar@sarl.org.za.

When will another BACAR flight be attempted was the general question. We hope soon. Some dates in September are being considered and an announcement will be made next week

The South African Radio League