New Zealand Radar

[Oblivian]

ZING. Thanks to Michael..

ASCENT OF FREE BALLOONS WILL TAKE PLACE FM NZTL
(PSN S 44 00 07, E 170 26 29). BALLOONS ARE 13M IN DIAMETER AT
LAUNCH. FIVE LAUNCHES WITH A MINIMUM OF 15 MIN SCHEDULED INTERVAL BTN
LAUNCHES. PAYLOAD WEIGHING 12KG SUSPENDED 9FT BLW BALLOONS.
EST ASCENT TIME 1.6 HOURS. DESCENT TIME APRX 1 HOUR ON PARACHUTE

[NZWND NDB]

balloon.jpg currently a baloon is 53000' @ 50kts and 194 nm from my place

[nzradar]

Some serious stuff going on here, 12kg disposable payload, assuming there's no ship out east to pick it up. And, disposable Mode-S transponders, not cheap.

[Petenz]

Being in Geraldine I was able to watch by eye several of the balloons as they passed overhead at about 45000 feet. My last contact of the balloons as they headed out in the Pacific was 260 Nm at 51,000feet.; don't think there were any ships out there!
On another subject , I have noticed that once I was able,while in PlanePlotter and sharing mode, to watch acft down almost to the ground in ChCh, but today they disappear at waypoint 'odisi' which is out on the coast near Woodend. I wonder if one of the sharers has changed position.

[Templeton]

7th June:

Tekapo police were called to Lilybank Rd about 11am yesterday after a witness reported seeing a collapsed parachute hit the ground. Police said the object was a weather balloon that was claimed by two American scientists.

Timaru Herald

Photo and another.

[Oblivian]

Being in Geraldine I was able to watch by eye several of the balloons as they passed overhead at about 45000 feet. My last contact of the balloons as they headed out in the Pacific was 260 Nm at 51,000feet.; don't think there were any ships out there!
On another subject , I have noticed that once I was able,while in PlanePlotter and sharing mode, to watch acft down almost to the ground in ChCh, but today they disappear at waypoint 'odisi' which is out on the coast near Woodend. I wonder if one of the sharers has changed position.

*plugs network cable back in*

Nothing to see here.. move along. But seriously, may have been me? I've moved out to Kaiapoi and had it offline last night/all day today

[Templeton]

More balloons - this time from near the Waimakariri Gorge Bridge and first just passed over southern ChCh.

[NZWND NDB]

I see 5 of them, all tracking on the same flight line. The front one is currently @ 23000' and travelling at 41 kph

[NZWND NDB]

balloon 15 june 13.jpg screen shot of what I am seeing on Virtual Radar Interesting to see Sri Lanka come up, a/c come up with either New Zealand or australia.

[Petenz]

Probably all these balloons were made in Sri Lanka.
I see one at FL210 is departing from the easterly line and going southeast, showing differing wind directions at different altitudes. Think it is descending per parachute

[Templeton]

It's Google's "Project Loon" apparently... http://www.wired.com/business/2013/0...?cid=co8868374

[Oblivian]

Oh wow.. it's geek heaven

Snap! Beaten to the post

http://googleblog.blogspot.co.nz/2013/06/introducing-project-loon.html

[NZWND NDB]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/new...sky-high-wi-fi more about the project 'loon'

[Templeton]

ZK-OXA is now listed on the NZ registry and I've posted a message in the FR24 database thread. FYI the hex code is C82081.

[Oblivian]

Niiicceee.. Was just hunting it out on its test reg/hex still. Was featured at Paris Airshow and due here on 21st it seems.