This is my log of hunting for radiosondes flown on weather ballons (mostly by the National Weather Service).

Date Serial Type Site Recovery Area Notes
2024-10-17 24047799 DFM-17 LZK Lonoke Watched it on the way down. Landed in a front yard. Homeowner checked it out with me.
2024-10-18 24044472 DFM-17 LZK Judsonia Starting receiving it at nearby highway intersection. Found next to house in neighborhood.
2025-02-23 24055691 DFM-17 LZK Burns Park Launched on 2025-02-18 during winter weather. Balloon iced over and landed in a tree in Burns Park. On the first trip on the 22nd, I got my arborist’s line and bag hung in a tree. Returned on the 23rd with an extension pole to remove everything. Balloon was burst, but still in two large pieces.
2025-05-10 24081311 DFM-17 LZK LR - Chenal Tracked live, but not there in time to see it. Sonde wasn’t transmitting after landing in a pond. Checked with security guard and managed to fish it out after the wind gave some assistance. First with new Graw logo.
2025-05-12 24081255 DFM-17 LZK Hilldale Watched the final part of the flight. The sonde hit the ground on the side of the road as I passed by it looking for a place to stop. Chute was in the top of a tree, but easy to pull down.
2025-06-02 25002122 DFM-17 LZK N of Redfield Recovery with NG5P. Tracked it on the ground with a T-Beam/RDZ. Very nice farmer drove us out in a SxS to get it. Sonde was in a very neat pile on the ground.
2025-06-04 25000785 DFM-17 LZK Hickory Plains Found less than 100 meters from prediction. It was in a large hay field buried deep enough that it would have been tough to find without a receiver.
2025-06-15 25000715 DFM-17 LZK Good Shepherd Live tracked the PM sounding on 2025-05-10 and located it in a tree behind retirement center too high to retrieve. Returned to find that it had fallen just enough to reach with my 35ft extension pole.
2025-06-30 24082150 DFM-17 LZK Mayflower Arrived about 10-15 minutes after it laneded. Easy grab about 15 meters off the side of the road in the right of way.