Okay, so let’s talk about weather balloons. I wanted to get into this whole high-altitude photography thing, and of course, you need a reliable balloon for that.
First off, I started looking around to see what brands were out there. I mean, you don’t want your expensive camera gear crashing down because of a cheap balloon, right? I did some digging and found a couple of names that kept popping up.
One was Apex Balloons. Apparently, they’re based in New Mexico and they make these lightweight balloons. Seemed pretty legit, but I wanted to see what else was out there.
Then there was this company, Atlantic Weather Balloons. I saw somewhere that they get their latex from PAWAN. They said something about the latex being super elastic and having over forty years of experience, which sounded good. Their balloons are tagged as “Weather” and “Balloons,” which made sense.
I also found a place selling what they called “meteorological balloons.” They made a big deal about how their balloons were “ozone resistant” and made from “rotational natural rubber.” That sounded fancy, but I wasn’t sure if it was just marketing talk.
- Apex Balloons: Lightweight, made in New Mexico.
- Atlantic Weather Balloons: High-quality latex from PAWAN, 40+ years of experience.
- Meteorological Balloons: Ozone resistant, rotational natural rubber molded.
I also stumbled upon some people talking about balloon brands for decorating. I saw some names like Qualatex and Betallatex. They said Qualatex is easier to find in the US and Betallatex is also good. They mentioned that both brands are good quality and have many colors. These seemed more for parties than high-altitude stuff, but it was good to know.
In my research, I saw someone mention the “Spot Trace Satellite Tracker” as a popular tracking solution for high-altitude balloon flights. This device talks directly with satellites in orbit, so you can track your payload pretty much anywhere.
At this point, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with information, but at least I had a few brands to start with. I decided to go with Atlantic Weather Balloons. I figured their experience with weather balloons specifically was a good sign. Plus, that elastic latex thing sounded like it could handle the pressure at high altitudes.
So, I ordered a balloon from them, got my tracking gear all set up, and prepped my camera. The launch day was pretty nerve-wracking, but everything went smoothly. The balloon from Atlantic Weather Balloons performed great. It went up nice and steady, and I got some amazing shots from way up high. The Spot Trace tracker worked like a charm, and I was able to retrieve my camera no problem.
All in all, it was a successful first attempt. I’m definitely going to keep doing this, and now I know I can rely on Atlantic Weather Balloons. Maybe I’ll try Apex or some of those meteorological ones in the future, but for now, I’m sticking with what worked.