Skydiving ham radio question (HF ops)

[377 20]

Any ham skydivers ever operate on HF while under canopy? Most have done VHF comms with an HT, but the newer low power HF rigs are small enough to take on a jump. You could use a trailing wire antenna just like the WW 2 airplanes did. Has anyone tried this? Wouldn't it be a kick to work some station thousands of miles away while parachute mobile?

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[LouDiamond 1]

It is not uncommon for people to jump with UHF/ VHF comms during military operations while under canopy. I don't know of anyone dragging an antenna behind them though.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
Some people dream about flying, I live my dream
SKYMONKEY PUBLISHING

[skiskyrock 0]

If anything the vhf /uhf band would be more interesting since they are line of sight and you have quite a line of sight. HF?...not line of sight so on the ground in the sky who cares? On the otherhand you get points for combining the most/least adrenaline intensive hobbies known to man.

[EDYDO 0]

I think you would be the first with HF. Seems pretty risky to me for a one or two minute contact. A 40 meter dipole antenna is 65 or so feet long. If that thing caught a tree on the way down, we would be reading about it.

Neat to think about, but not me !!

Ed (K4YDO)= EDYDO

[AggieDave 6]

On an altitude clear and pull you could really give someone really neat to put in their HAM notebook! Even 2 meter would really reach out and touch someone!

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[377 20]

Quote

I think you would be the first with HF. Seems pretty risky to me for a one or two minute contact. A 40 meter dipole antenna is 65 or so feet long. If that thing caught a tree on the way down, we would be reading about it.

Neat to think about, but not me !!

Ed (K4YDO)= EDYDO

I'd do a hop and pop from 14K and use insulated very small diameter antanna wire. I'd either jettison or wind up the wire at about 2K. See any other problems? I bet there are snags I haven't thought of.

I think I could use an Icom 703 QRP xvcr which is small and has a built in antenna autotuner. It could run off of 8 AA cells for the short time I'll be using it at about 5-10 watts SSB output.

Getting the timing right for good HF propagation and possible DX contacts would be tough, but not impossible.

All suggestions welcome and appreciated.

Mark

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[klafollette 0]

What's this SSB crap, you should do it CW!! I've got my Bencher paddles somewhere in the basement. Just strap them to your leg. Grab both toggles and fly with your left hand and key with your right.

Blue Skies & 73s

KD9DB

[377 20]

I just got licensed in April 08, Extra lite, no code. Well... actually I know Morse Code, but at sub Novice speeds, so 14K hop and pop wouldnt give me much time for CW QSOs.

73,
AF6 eye em (abbrev. to foil spambots)

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[propofol65 0]

May take up the HT next weekend. Thanks for the idea!
Bob Heinrich
KD8FUZ (ex. N8EYN, KA4GTH)

[BrianM 1]

Quote

I think I could use an Icom 703 QRP xvcr which is small and has a built in antenna autotuner.

The IC-703 is rather large for a QRP rig. I'd try something like an Elecraft KX1, or an ATS-III, or similar. If you want SSB, I'm not too familiar with what rigs are out there, but there are definitely smaller and lighter ones than a 703.

One advantage of CW is that you wouldn't have to deal with your mic picking up wind noise. I did a 10,000' hop&pop with a 2 metre HT once, and even with a 240 canopy the wind noise was a problem.

73 DE VE7NGR

"It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

[Dumpster 0]

Instead of trying to work 40m why not 10m SSB?

Easy Does It

[377 20]

Quote

Instead of trying to work 40m why not 10m SSB?

not a bad idea... 10 meters much easier antenna length to deal with. Getting mighty close to just taking a CB.

Might try that first and see how it goes.

160 meter parachute mobile QSO would sure be a kick, but quite a hassle too.

Anyone tried a throat mic? I have read that they pick up almost no wind noise, but have muffled (but intelligible) audio. They were used in noisy WW 2 aircraft.

Icom 703 is a bit big, but that's what I have to work with so far.

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[Dumpster 0]

Isn't there a 10m SSB/FM rig that's fairly compact? I want to say Alinco made them but I've been off the air and out of the loop for a few years now.

Easy Does It

[siddacious 0]

Anyone know if there is any semi-official ham club for skydivers? Something along the lines of "The Flying Pigs"? I'm technically a ham, though I think I've actually used my license all of twice.

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[377 20]

I don't think there is any flying pigs club (like that name). Ham radio is generally considered an uncool nerdy hobby, so skydivers with ham licenses don't advertise it at the DZ. Sort of a "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

The reverse isnt true at all. Ham radio people are usually interested in skydiving just because it is an extreme sport and ham radio is at the other end of the hobby-risk spectrum. I think we set a record at a recent local ham club meeting with three jumpers in attendance.

Has anyone ever seen a ham radio antenna on a Porsche, Ferrari or even a Vette? Pretty rare.

APRS (automatic position reporting system) opens up a lot of possibilities for crossover work between ham radio and skydiving. You'd have to work with a rigger to be sure the install was safe, but APRS makes it possible not only to track your cutaway main, but to have its location automatically mapped on Google and accessible on the web. If you have an Internet capable cellphone or PDA you could probably find it without any GPS receiver or radio direction finding gear.

You can get an APRS transmitter with an integrated GPS that is smaller than a pack of cigarettes.

377

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[Dumpster 0]

Helmet mount a cam and wire it to an ATV transmitter = Real - time video feeds to folks on the ground. Been done yet?

Easy Does It

[BrianM 1]

Quote

I don't think there is any flying pigs club (like that name). Ham radio is generally considered an uncool nerdy hobby, so skydivers with ham licenses don't advertise it at the DZ. Sort of a "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Speak for yourself! I think the antennas give it away (especially the 10 foot tall screwdriver).

Oh, and my Rodriguez Brother name is Hamradio... http://rodriguezbrothers.com/cgi-bin/view_brothers.pl?id=1489

"It's amazing what you can learn while you're not talking." - Skydivesg

[377 20]

That Rodriguez Bros name proves that you are out of the ham closet big time! Wish I had your nerve. Maybe someday...

SKYGOD: What's THAT? (looking at my 2 meter HT in a jumpsuit pocket).

ME: Oh nothing, just an old chunky cell phone.

73

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[377 20]

Quote

Helmet mount a cam and wire it to an ATV transmitter = Real - time video feeds to folks on the ground. Been done yet?

Some DZ has done live air to ground video, but it apparently didn't impress customers any more than watching a DVD later.

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.

[piratemike 0]

Quote

Any ham skydivers ever operate on HF while under canopy? Most have done VHF comms with an HT, but the newer low power HF rigs are small enough to take on a jump. You could use a trailing wire antenna just like the WW 2 airplanes did. Has anyone tried this? Wouldn't it be a kick to work some station thousands of miles away while parachute mobile?

I've got a tiny HT that works on 6 meter.
I haven't found much value in it yet.
It hasn't occurred to me to try making a contact while under canopy that wasn't another skydiver.
I am almost done with a tiny APRS rig to be used in skydiving. That's been fun.

As for the HF operation, I guess you could design up a full wavelength antenna that you could let fly behind you. It could be pretty cool.
Just put some cut-aways on that thing. You never know when they might come in handy.

[377 20]

I've done 3 HF jumps using a trailing wire antenna and a YAESU FT 817 transceiver operating on the 10 meter band. Lots of solid contacts on 28 MHz band USB but all within a hundred and fifty miles. Ionospheric conditions for DX just weren't there. Did one jump with a WW 2 surplus BC 611 (huge) vacuum tube walkie talkie on 3885 KHz AM. Heard stations clearly but they could just barely hear me. That rig only puts out about 300 milliwatts.

Hop and pops from 14,000.

377

2018 marks half a century as a skydiver. Trained by the late Perry Stevens D-51 in 1968.