At about 8:00 AM Sunday the 27th of September, The Amateur Radio Club, of Battle Creek Michigan, released a helium filled balloon along with a small-powered radio transmitter. The payload quickly ascended to 48,000 feet where the balloon burst and a parachute carried the radio back to Earth.

At this point, the task was transfered to the Branch County Amateur Radio Club, located in Coldwater Michigan. Equipped with radio tracking gear and with an expected flight path plan, the club members formed a line (West to East) north of Quincy, Michigan. Monitoring the UHF frequency, they followed the progress of the payload as it returned to earth guided only by prevailing winds.

The package landed 30 minutes after launch. Then the challenge escalated.

We were extremely fortunate that the payload landed in a bean field owned by Mrs Ruth Galloway. The remains of the ballon, and parachute along with the payload, were sucessfully recovered in 3 hours and 41 minutes.

Team members in Branch County were: Larry Camp
(WB8R), Arnold Hayward(NS8T) Dan Sprow
(KC8RYF, the ham that first found the package)
Justin Lopshire(KD8JEL) BruceWilson(WB8ZSK) and James King (KC8UGV)