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Re: Topband: Balloon Supported Vertical

To: "topband@contesting.com" <topband@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: Topband: Balloon Supported Vertical
From: Grant Saviers <grants2@pacbell.net>
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2021 07:10:48 -0800
List-post: <mailto:topband@contesting.com>
Having watched/been watched by the TARS aerostat radar off the coast of FL, I would think that the "balloon" shape that generates lift with wind would be the better choice for 160m verticals.

Helikite also balloon plus kite
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allsopp_Helikite

Never tried one, but then a challenge is the wire strong enough to counter the max wind lift.

Grant KZ1W

On 11/8/2021 18:24, W7TMT - Patrick wrote:
As others have mentioned losing the balloon and/or getting hung up in nearby 
hazards is a serious risk. Consider this, learned from flying them from my 
sailboat.

What if the tether point for the balloon is raised above the surrounding 
terrain? In my case I was trying to make a 45-50 foot/13-15 meter vertical 
longer. My setup involved raising the tether point for the balloon above the 
ground/feed-point. The tether point for the balloon was nearly 50 feet/15 
meters above the water so when the wind blew it was pivoting at that point 
rather than at ground level and subjected to all the closer hazards.

Have a pushup mast? Try setting it up so the balloon is actually tethered from 
the top of the mast rather than at ground level. This is a whole new ballgame. 
A scrap of graph ruled paper will easily sort it all out.

I got it down during the day by using a plastic cable tie ring slid over the 
wire and attached to a piece of fishing line. Walking away from the mast 
allowed me to pull on the ring and get the down-pull process started. Once a 
bit of the support wire/line moved thru the ring the rest came down easily.

At the time the boat was out on the end of a dock with no other sailboats and 
their pesky masts close by. Even when the 20+ knot winds were laying the 
balloon supported wire almost horizontal it was free of physical hazards. While 
the transition from vertical to Inverted L during the gusts made the tuner in 
rig go nuts at least there was no physical damage.

Just an option to consider.

W7TMT
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