Message-ID: <009101c48c33$5ae20880$01540150@captbrian>
From: "captbrian" <captbrian@ukonline.co.uk>
To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org
References: <36.60dff716.2e60536c@aol.com> <008601c48c26$ef59c460$01540150@captbrian> <000f01c48c24$16708280$0500a8c0@charter.net>
Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 13:42:45 +0100
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Subject: LF: Re: Re: Re: Re: Gas for balloons
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Next of course.....what is the breaking stress of 22g cu hard drawn..?.

Put another way how high a piece can you dangle before it breaks (at the
top) under its own weight

Bryan
----- Original Message -----
From: John Andrews <w1tag@charter.net>
To: <rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org>
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 11:53 AM
Subject: LF: Re: Re: Re: Gas for balloons


> I am reminded of something that happened to a local AM radio station about
> 30 years ago. Their transmitter site was unattended and prone to
vandalism.
> Somebody managed to cut the guy wires on their 125 meter tower, and it
came
> down during the night. They had a part-time engineer who was a radio tech
at
> the local airport. In the wee hours of the morning, he managed to con a
> weather balloon ("Gee, I thought they were bigger!) from the weather
service
> office at the airport. I'm not sure what gas was used for inflation, but I
> believe it was helium.
>
> His problem then was that he didn't have enough wire. So he woke up the
> owner of a local electronic parts shop, met him there, and purchased a
reel
> of 12 gauge enamelled wire. Back at the transmitter site, he quickly found
> out that a small weather balloon will not lift 125 meters of 12 ga wire!
So
> he scrounged around and found some 4-conductor telephone cable, and got
the
> antenna up in the air. Sort of. Let's just say that there was a strong
> horizontal component to the field. I stopped by in the early afternoon to
> see if I could offer any help. The wind had picked up, and the balloon
kept
> hitting the tops of the trees at the edge of the field. I went inside the
> transmitter shack, and almost got seasick watching the plate current on
the
> 1 kw AM rig. The engineer had been quite busy resetting the overload
circuit
> all day long.
>
> As I recall, the balloon lost all lift by late afternoon, and he gave up.
As
> the tower was easily available unpainted Rohn 45, they had something up in
> the air within a couple of days.
>
> So the suggestion of using #22 wire may be right on target.
>
> John Andrews, W1TAG
>
>
>
>