08/18/2026 Amateur radio operators in western New York and other northeastern states have an opportunity to help track an educational balloon. Drew Deskur, KA1M, Director of the Kopernik Observatory, a public observatory and informal STEM education center in Vestal, New York, said the balloon was expected to be launched August 19 at 10 AM Eastern (1400 UTC) with Automatic Packet Reporting System (ARPS) and slow-scan television (SSTV) onboard. The flight should last about 2.5 hours. Amateur radio operators throughout the U.S. Northeast are asked to track the flight and send downloadable images and signal reports to k2zro@kopernik.org. With APRS (K2ZRO-11) for tracking, there will also be SSTV transmitting on 145.600 MHz using Martin 1 mode throughout the flight. The balloon should reach over 100,000 feet. Last year there were SSTV reports from New England, Canada, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Maryland.