Balloon Radio Unit

The radio equipment in the balloon not only needed to be small and light, but also needed to have APRS software and a terminal node controller (TNC).  The radio we decided to use in the balloon is the handheld Kenwood THD-7AG.  This radio was the ideal solution because it has built in APRS software and a TNC and the total weight only comes to 13.4oz.  This will allow us to minimize the space required by the amateur radio equipment as well as the weight of the balloon payload.  The radio was powered by eight 9000 mAh D batteries.  A battery test ran for over 22 hours on the radio’s highest output setting, which is more than enough time for launch and retrieval.