SF-HAB

Welcome to the High Altitude Balloon resource in the San Francisco Bay Area

About Us

After a successful launch at Hayward Cannery Park; K6WW, KN6KZF, K6EAU, W6MRR, K6RGG

Recently featured: Hackaday Supercon Balloon Launches

Who we are

A community of interest for amateur radio and ballooning in all forms. We fly balloons when weather permits, please join us!

Pacificon 2025 presentation (PDF) on Amateur Radio Ballooning
Pacificon 2024 presentation (PDF) on Amateur Radio Ballooning
Pacificon 2023 presentation (PDF) on Pico Balloons
Pacificon 2023 video presentation on Pico Balloons

Stay Connected

Join the SF-HAB announce-only list, used to announce our flights: https://groups.io/g/sf-hab

We also chat about ballooning on the https://groups.io/g/sf-hab-chatter list.

Analysis and information our balloon flights, radiosondes and more
Bryan’s Blog

Beau K6EAU’s QSO Today Interview

or info@sf-hab.org

Active/Recent Expeditions

Call Sign	Launch Date	Description
AG6NS-23	Nov 2, 2025	Kazu’s tracker design with 3x the RF power. Single Yokohama balloon using party helium.
W6MRR-33	Aug 23, 2025	Sharp solar cells and nichrome wire heating of liPo cell, insulated with Multi Layer Insulation, and Kazu’s tracker design.
W6MRR-32	May 13, 2025	Single Yokohama balloon, 4 Sharp solar cells, boost converter and prototype nichrome wire heating of LiPo cell with aerogel insulation. Went splash June 30, 2025 east of Japan – stay tuned…
AG6NS-20 (APRS AG6NS-11)	March 10, 2025	Single Yokoma Balloon 2 Sharp solar cells, boost converter & LiPo battery 10, 20 &40 m WSPR, SSTV & CW HF APRS VHF Improved power usage
KQ6RS-12	Nov 14, 2023	WSPR Buoy

Recent Posts

Kazu’s AG6NS-23 Pico Balloon Launch
by Walter Dunckel
November 2, 2025
At 9:25 am on November 2, Kazu launched a Yokohama pico balloon with Party Balloon Helium. His payload was a his RP2040 pico balloon tracker. This board is flying with about 40 mw of RF power output, which is about 3 times the power of previous flights. This payload used a tilted, pyramid style solarContinue reading “Kazu’s AG6NS-23 Pico Balloon Launch”
Battery Powered Pico W6MRR-34 Launch
by Walter Dunckel
October 19, 2025
Sunday, October 19, W6MRR-35 was launched. This was the third battery powered version, in an attempt to extend transmissions past solar generation “sunset”. The payload was very similar to the previous -33 flight. After a full week of successful testing, immediately after launch, only a few transmissions were heard, and they were very weak. WeContinue reading “Battery Powered Pico W6MRR-34 Launch”
ARRL 2025 Pacificon Presentation
by Martin Rothfield W6MRR
October 13, 2025
Kazu and Martin present “Amateur Radio Ballooning in The Bay Area With SF-HAB” at the ARRL Pacific Division Ham Radio Convention. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_fMJg8vZo3uXH9cOT1Unzsz4RlSpEwQlT6Mk1IBztLA/edit?usp=sharing
Battery Powered Pico W6MRR-33
by Walter Dunckel
August 26, 2025
Saturday, August 23, W6MRR-33 was launched. This was the second battery powered prototype, in an attempt to extend transmissions past solar generation “sunset”. Being very light weight with ~ 10 g for a typical payload doesn’t leave many options for batteries. Floating at ~ 40 K’, temperatures range from -50 C to -70 C. UsualContinue reading “Battery Powered Pico W6MRR-33”