I used to be, let's not say heavily involved, but eagerly observing, this community. I was lurking in #highaltitude when M0XER's B-64 crossed its launch longitude, marking a circumnavigation, and the place went _nuts_.<p>Then B-63, launched a few days earlier, did the same. But B-63 popped shortly thereafter, while B-64 just kept going, eventually circling 8 times over the coming 4 months. It's one thing to set a record, it's another thing to smash it so thoroughly immediately after setting it.<p>I want to say he was using dry-cleaning bags as envelopes early-on, but I think he switched materials to achieve that kind of durability.
It is important to realize the difference in scale between amateur balloons and the Chinese spy ballloon. Some amateur ones are less than ounce of payload, the Chinese one was thousands of pounds.<p>The ham radio balloons mostly just transmit position. It is impressive that they do that in small size and can make multiple circumnavigations.
I would love to do this but have never considered it an option because of all the regulations I imagine exist. Could these interfere with an aircraft? What if you fly one over a military site? What about flying over other countries? The rules seem complex, but I’d love to build one.
Awesome!<p>I found this site which tracks current amateur radio balloons: <a href="https://habhub.org/" rel="nofollow">https://habhub.org/</a>