French Amateur Radio balloon launch
Tuesday 10th March

French Radio Amateurs are launching a balloon carrying an Amateur Radio payload transmitting on 144.390 MHz FM on Tuesday 10th March between 11:00 and 13:00 GMT.

The transmitter which operates on 144.390 MHz FM has been allocated the callsign F6FAO. It is understood that payload has been developed by Planete Sciences students and that the data will be similar to that to be transmitted from the upcoming Amateur Radio satellite Libellule.

The use of 144.390 MHz does not conform to the IARU Region 1 bandplan but was apparently chosen due to ready availability of APRS modules for 144.390 designed for the North American market.

It highlights the problem of regionalised band planning in the Internet Age when people can easily purchase at the click of a mouse button equipment/modules from anywhere in the world. It perhaps illustrates the need for global planning for those Amateur Radio allocations available world-wide rather than the current regional planning. The world is after-all now a single marketplace and equipment available in one continent will inevitably be used in another.

Note: While Radio Amateurs outside the UK are permited to launch balloons carrying Amateur Radio transmitters operating in both Shared and Primary Amateur allocations this is not currently permitted in the United Kingdom.

Project BWing
http://tinyurl.com/cqyphy

Byonics Micro-Trak 300 - 144.390 MHz APRS transmitter modules
http://www.byonics.com/microtrak/mt300.php

Draft Libellule-Dragonfly-Sputnik-50
http://tinyurl.com/b68da2

Dragonfly - an innovative Amateur Radio Cubesat project
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/
august2007/dragonfly.htm

Planete Sciences
http://tinyurl.com/c8ylhn