On Wednesday, August 13, 2025, the Kopernik Observatory in Vestal, New York, will be running a High Altitude Balloon Camp for local high school students.    

The payload of the balloon will contain an Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) transmitter, call sign K2ZRO-9, for tracking, plus a slow-scan television (SSTV) transmitter on 145.600 throughout the flight. The launch is planned between 10:00 - 10:30 AM eastern (1400-1430 UTC) and the balloon should reach over 100,000 feet. In previous balloon flights, there have been APRS reports from Canada. Total flight time should be approximately 3 hours.   

Drew Deskur, KA1M, the Director of the Kopernik Observatory, is asking for volunteer amateur radio operators to track the flight on aprs.fi and download the SSTV images if possible. “We would love to receive copies of images from stations in the Northeast and elsewhere so we can share with the students how altitude matters on VHF,” said Deskur. Please send images to k2zro@kopernik.org.    

For more information about the Kopernik Observatory, visit Kopernik Observatory & Science Center.