[TowerTalk] Weather Balloon Source

[Dave Hachadorian]

On Wed, 16 Aug 2000 11:19:29 EDT K7LXC@aol.com writes:

>     How much lift does one of those have? Enough for a 160M wire?

I don't know how much lift a 5-footer has. I tried a 3 foot diameter
balloon for a 160 wire, but it was inadequate. I spooled out the
entire quater wavelength, but the wire was WAY off vertical.

I would have gotten the 5-footer, but I didn't have a way to
carry it home, filled, from the store. Maybe it could be done
in a pickup truck bed, if you covered the balloon with a lightweight
tarp, put a blanket on the pickup bed, and drove slowly.

The wire I was using was from a surplus "Gibson Girl" liferaft kit.
It's pretty lightweight, Mil-Spec'd for optimized use with balloons.
Someone (Davis RF?, Wireman?) carries a lightweight wire that they
say is good for balloons.

I've heard of some people using fishing line/aluminum welding wire.
I bought a spool of the welding wire at Harbor Freight, but it breaks
pretty easily when flexed, so I never used it.

My gut feeling is that with no wind, a 5-footer might be adequate, with
lightweight wire. I think a pair of 5-footers would be more than
adequate.

I'd also like to try one of those Tyvek kites that was in QST a couple
months ago!

Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
Big Bear, CA
K6LL@juno.com



--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/towertalk
Submissions:              towertalk@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  towertalk-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-towertalk@contesting.com