Austin Popper
Emperor of Antarctica
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2017
- Messages
- 1,506
- Location
- Colorado, where the gold is still elusive
There are several reasons that balloons don't work, as noted in my comments above. An antenna on top of a helium balloon? I'd like to see that. The land behind the gym was private property, not easily accessible except on foot through other private land, and searched by us. A ham radio antenna attached to a balloon in that spot would make little sense, there on the edge of the river bottom. A mile to the north, just off the highway and at the top of a pretty steep hill, was a disused parking lot that allowed an impressive view across the valley. Then there was the ephemeral nature of the "object" if that's what it was. Anyway, Dad looked around and up, of course, and if someone was back there with any sort of contraption at all, he'd have known about it.
Radio hams do some interesting stuff. Around 15 years ago, I bought some study materials and planned to get a license. Then I bought a couple of small receivers so I could listen in to see what it was used for in my area. It was pretty depressing. I mostly wanted a small handheld that could make use of repeaters, to make my forays into the desert a bit less risky, but I decided I wasn't up to dealing with the bullshit that went with it. Basically, it was a more civilized version of CB radio, with the participants endlessly discussing one of two topics: radio gear and conspiracy nonsense. It's too bad. I was getting into the technology, and at the time some very impressive gear was surprisingly affordable. Some hams bounce signals off the moon and are able to receive them on their return. Stuff like that would be fun, if I wanted to hang around with a bunch of screwballs.
Radio hams do some interesting stuff. Around 15 years ago, I bought some study materials and planned to get a license. Then I bought a couple of small receivers so I could listen in to see what it was used for in my area. It was pretty depressing. I mostly wanted a small handheld that could make use of repeaters, to make my forays into the desert a bit less risky, but I decided I wasn't up to dealing with the bullshit that went with it. Basically, it was a more civilized version of CB radio, with the participants endlessly discussing one of two topics: radio gear and conspiracy nonsense. It's too bad. I was getting into the technology, and at the time some very impressive gear was surprisingly affordable. Some hams bounce signals off the moon and are able to receive them on their return. Stuff like that would be fun, if I wanted to hang around with a bunch of screwballs.