Just to let you know that I received the CW Flea yesterday. 7 days in route from Sweden to the West Coast of USA. Not bad at aqll. Thanks for the efficient handling of this order., KM7DG

Thanks for the information about the Blackcat beacon kit. I like the Flea's DDS approach and itFl is preconfigured for 3 different bands. I looked at the assembly instructions for the Blackcat kit and it seems that some basic components have to be changed even if you remain fairly close to the 13,555.400 frequency for 22 meters. I have no 22 meter equipment and have never been on that band so I know nothing about it. I wanted to use FSKCW mode but am finding that the keyer I plan to use does not support that. It has a QRSS mode but only changes the bit length and not the frequency. I have an old sketch from QRP Labs that does the FSKCW mode but it would be a major addition to the Nano Keyer sketch so before I try that I am going to get the thing going and see how the On-Off version works. This is just a fun project and since I already know something about Arduino programming I think I will stick with it.

I think I will use the sketch by K3NG. He has a large all inclusive program for a keyer that allows the users to pick and choose which options are required. I will use a Seeedrino and include a relay for sending input to the CWFlea. A 2N7000 will also do the trick. The total beacon should fit in a tin that I have that used to have Christmas candy in it. A 9 VDC battery should power the transmitter for quite a while. I am assuming that the CWFlea retains the last frequency used on start up but will have to verify that. This is my first attempt at putting together a QRSS device but I have used some Zach Tek products for WSPR and PICO projects.

I forgot the url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oup9rwCoSZI

Take a look at this YouTube video. It is about a POTA activation with a CW Flea and a small receiver. KM7DG

Hi Steve, We used WSPR net at wsprnet.org which gets its reports from many different monitoring stations and compiles files based on the location transmitted. Our transmissions were all on the 20 meter WSPR frequency, 14.097. LU7AA gets its input from WSPR net and compiles great tracking maps from that. So, we also use them for tracking our progress. VK7JJ has an excellent website that is used for tracking PICO balloons. Zachtek users can use all of the available tracking websites. There is no temperature sensor on the Zachtek trackers that we have used. (Not sure about the latest models.) The tracking is only made possible by the presence of the Weak Signal Propagation Reporter network of stations that detect the very low power (10 mW) signals and report via the internet to a central site. We owe these station owners much gratitude. Also, makers like Zachtek's Harry have done a great job with their tracker devices and without them we would have a tough time being successful in this niche of ham radio.

Well, the WX here in NM has not been cooperative with our plans and we just today, 24 May, 2021 launched our 5th balloon flight using Zach Tek's transmitters. It was a perfect day with calm winds, 10 deg. C. and no clouds. We decided it was now or never since the preceding days were less than perfect. We had prepped the ballon and it was ready for attachment of the payload and to be launched. At 7:17 a.m. we let it go and was rewarded with a very good launch. We waited for transmissions and about an hour later found that we were in fact being tracked. The balloon left central NM and then drifted north toward Taos and finally into Colorado when the sun went down and we lost transmissions. We are looking forward to tomorrow and to seeing what direction and speed our flight has accomplished during the night.

Harry, My partner, AL7CR, and I are presently using 1 balloon. I made a mistake and miscalculated the free lift and ended up with about 7 grams. Assent acceleration was about 2m/sec which is quite a bit according to others. The solar panels are set at about 30 degrees down from horizontal. I thought 45 degrees would work better but we were a bit leery about damage to traces, etc. Personally, I think the flatness is more important than the angle. Also, as winter conditions come into play the angle may have to be adjusted down a bit more. Here are a couple of pics: