Alright, so I decided to give these satellite balloons a whirl. You know, the kind that go way, way up there. Looked easy enough online, a bunch of folks doing it, so I figured, why not me?
Getting All The Gear
First off, I had to gather all the bits and pieces. That was an adventure in itself. I ordered a pretty big balloon, much bigger than your average party balloon, obviously. Then there was the gas. I thought about helium, but man, that stuff isn’t cheap, and you need a fair bit. I eventually found a supplier, but getting the tank was a whole other story I won’t bore you with right now. Let’s just say it involved a lot of phone calls and a confusing rental agreement.
Then, for the payload. I wanted to send something up, right? So I got:
- A tiny, cheap action camera. I wasn’t about to risk my good one.
- An old GPS tracker. The kind you might put on a pet. I thought, “Perfect, I’ll see where it goes!”
- Lots of string. Strong stuff, I hoped.
- And I tried to cobble together a small parachute from a plastic bag and some more string. Looked a bit sad, if I’m honest.
Putting it all together was fiddly. I attached the camera and GPS tracker to a small, lightweight foam box. Then I spent ages trying to get the balloon neck sealed properly around the gas nozzle without any leaks. My fingers were sore by the end of it.
The Big Day… Sort Of
I waited for a clear day, not too windy. Hauled everything out to a big open field. Inflating the balloon was nerve-wracking. It just kept getting bigger and bigger, pulling upwards like crazy. I was half expecting it to pop right there.
Finally, it was ready. Payload dangling underneath, my dodgy parachute hopefully ready to do its thing. I took a deep breath and just… let go. And wow, it shot up! Faster than I expected. It was pretty cool watching it shrink into a tiny dot and then disappear. A real sense of accomplishment, for about five minutes.
So, What Happened?
I rushed back to my computer, all excited to track its journey on the GPS app. And it worked! For a while. I saw it climbing, drifting east. It got pretty high, according to the tracker. I was glued to the screen.
Then, nothing. The signal just vanished. Poof. Gone. I kept refreshing, hoping it was a temporary glitch. But nope. Silence. The balloon, the camera, the tracker – all gone, somewhere out there. I drove around a bit in the general direction it was heading, staring at the sky like a lunatic, but it was a lost cause.
I never saw any of it again. No cool footage from the edge of space, no recovered tracker. Just an empty feeling and a lighter wallet, especially after that helium cost.
Lessons Learned, I Guess
So, that was my big satellite balloon experiment. It was definitely an experience. What did I learn?
- This stuff is more complicated than it looks on YouTube. Shocking, I know.
- Cheap GPS trackers probably don’t have the range for that kind of altitude. Or maybe the battery died. Who knows?
- Always assume you’ll lose whatever you send up. That’s a big one.
- Making a reliable parachute is harder than it looks.
Would I do it again? Maybe. But I’d do a lot more research first. And probably start with something smaller, much smaller. Or maybe I’ll just stick to flying a kite. Less drama, you know?