----- Original Message -----
From: Glen E. Thompson <glen.thompson@worldnet.att.net>
> Why not use a balloon to fly the antenna for the in car cameras? I
> wouldn't think that you would need much more than a couple hundred feet
> altitude at mid-Ohio to get full track coverage. Seems like it would make
> a good backup plan in the case of bad weather like we had.
Wind, which isn't kind to tethered balloons -- you're really better off
flying free in gusts or a high wind. I'm guessing the antennas these
systems use are omnidirectional, but usually that means in two dimensions,
not three, so an antenna on an oscillating balloon would have problems. And
if the gusts get strong enough, tethered balloons become free balloons....
Rain, which isn't kind to the people on the ground trying to *operate* the
balloon. WW I observation balloons required a crew of two continuously
monitoring the cable and winch. A balloon carrying a low-power comm relay
probably wouldn't be quite that large, but would still require some inflight
care.
Lightning, which isn't kind to *anything* a couple hundred feet up and
grounded to earth. Granted, you probably wouldn't run a race in a
thunderstorm, but the balloon getting zapped would probably be your first
indication. Of course, we could always get an English balloon -- the
connection to ground would be guaranteed to fail....
Jamie
'92 Prelude Si
Speed Demon Racing
http://www.mindspring.com/~jsculerati/sdr
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