HAB Modem and Tracker

Tracking app for high altitude balloons, includes RTTY modem and offline mapping

Ground tracking app for high altitude balloons, complete with RTTY modem, offline mapping, online distributed listener integration, chase car location reporting and more.

Connecting a SSB radio to the audio in of your device will allow for payloads transmitting RTTY to be decoded and displayed on the map. The decoded data is uploaded where it can be also viewed at http://spacenear.us/tracker/ along with data from other listeners. Positions from other listeners are also downloaded so that balloons can be tracked without being able to receive the radio signals. When enabled, the location of the user can also be uploaded and displayed on the online map.

The app supports multiple balloons at once, and includes graphing for received data. The modem is automatic, only the baud rate needs setting, while signal is located and tracked automatically.

Offline mapping is provided by mapsforge, and maps can be downloaded from http://download.mapsforge.org/maps/

Most devices allow audio input via the combined headset connector. A cable is needed to convert between the combined headset connector and a connector for audio input. Suitable cables are hard to come by, and so it may be easiest to make a cable manually. For a pinout of the combined headset connector referring to http://pinoutsguide.com/HeadsetsHeadphones/samsung_moment_pinout.shtml

For help and support ask on IRC channel #highaltitude on freenode.net . Webchat - http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=highaltitude

More information:

The radio system - http://ukhas.org.uk/general:beginners_guide_to_high_altitude_ballooning

The online database - http://habitat.habhub.org/

What's New in the Latest Version 0.8.2 (pre-release)

- Saves the state of the app if closed and reopened

0.7

- Decoder improvement. Should now work with all payloads
- Downloads predicted data
- Screen stays on when the app is in the foreground (can be disabled in settings)

0.6.3

- No longer needs a map file if only the decoder is to be used
- Hyperlink to maps location
- No longer crashes if device does not support audio settings
- Minor graph fixes