planedriver Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 We learn something new every day they say. This morning I was looking at Flightradar 24 at about 5am and spotted what appeared to be a small aircraft. When I clicked on it, it came up as a Google balloon flying at 17knts at an altitude of 63,000 ft. It had been launched deep in Victoria's south and is now drifting east of Batemans Bay in NSW. This is the first time i've come across this, and a little research revealed that Google are launching a number of these to give internet access to remote areas. It was interesting to see it's flight path and you could clearly see where the air currents had taken it in a large orbit east of Holbrook. I wondered how many others were aware of these balloons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeptic36 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 So how does that work? Old mate out the back of Balranald, clicks on google, types in weather radar,then somewhere a massive bank of computers starts pouring through the current weather conditions, not to find a weather report, but to work out where to release the google balloon from so it can get to Balranald with an attachment ( probably an S.D card) so old mate can feed it in to his computer to see when it rained Yeah that's how I reckon it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nobody Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 So how does that work? http://www.google.com/loon/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skeptic36 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 http://www.google.com/loon/ Yeah, I was right. If you look at the vid under "where is Loon going", you will see the attachment under the balloon, it looks like it is wrapped in brown paper....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgwilson Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 What a good idea. If it works it is a whole lot cheaper than launching satellites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacesailor Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Will be great for outback Aussie, some are struggling with 56k download speed. spacesailor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfGnome Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Sorry gents, but you're all missing the main point. What the hell was Planey doing looking at Flightradar 24 at 5am?? Go to bed man! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red750 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Maybe I'm as bad as Planey, but I got this screen print tonight. Data panel shows altitude 715 ft, ascending at 512 fpm. Seems dangerous in a busy traffic area, doesn't it? Peter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planedriver Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 Sorry gents, but you're all missing the main point. What the hell was Planey doing looking at Flightradar 24 at 5am?? Go to bed man! Looked after my little grandson overnight, so went to bed at 8pm, almost unheard of for me. red750 Dont know how the 715ft altitude came about, because I saw that numerous times when it looked like it had dropped off the radar. Next minute it was showing altitude as 63,000 ft again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacesailor Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 U,F,O, spacesailor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDQDI Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 It would be interesting to know what sort of control setup if any is on these balloons I would assume they would have something. Also would be nice to have a pic. Seems that we could be sharing the same airspace while it climbs to altitude and then also when it comes down, I wonder where they release them would it be controlled airspace? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan_c Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 They can release them in controlled airspace yes. They have a transponder on them so ATC can actually see it as long as there is radar coverage. The one that was up in Queensland a few weeks ago was planned to be released in controlled airspace just to the west of Brisbane, obviously with a lot of co ordination with the relevant ATC sector though. Unfortunately I wasnt at work at the time so I couldnt tell you how it all actually happened unfortunately. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red750 Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 SDQDI says: "Also would be nice to have a pic." If you check out the link to Google Loon above, there are a series of photos and videos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDQDI Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 Thanks 750 I had watched one vid but not the others it sure has a bit of size to it. The reason I asked about controlled airspace was I was a bit worried if they were launching outside of controlled airspace as us littlies don't all have much traffic avoidance equipment except the good old Mach 1 and collecting one of these would be a bit of an experience that I think most of us could do without:yikes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shags_j Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Atc get notified of the launch even if outside of radar coverage. Though the last one was inside radar. Atc would give traffic if in g. Just listen out on area and you'll be right ;) what could go wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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