Alright, folks, gather ’round! Today, I’m gonna share my little adventure with weather balloons. Yeah, those big things that float up into the sky. Now, I ain’t no expert, but I was curious, so I decided to give it a whirl myself.
First off, I had to figure out what exactly I needed. Turns out, you need more than just a balloon. There’s the balloon itself, obviously, then you gotta have a parachute, a payload box to hold your stuff, and some way to track the thing. I figured, to keep this simple, I’d just buy a kit, no pre-flight conditioning is required as I read on some website.
So, I started poking around online, looking for where to buy these kits. Let me tell you, there are a bunch of options. I went with a company, and I bought from them before, so I felt pretty good about it. The kit cost me, well, that’s what we’re talking about today, right? The cost. Let’s just say it wasn’t cheap, but not break-the-bank expensive either. I’ll get to the numbers in a bit.
Once the kit arrived, I was like a kid on Christmas morning. I ripped open that box and started laying everything out. The balloon was bigger than I expected! It’s made of this stretchy latex material. They say the bigger the balloon, the higher it goes. Mine was supposed to go up to 100,000 feet! That’s pretty darn high.
Next, I had to assemble the payload box. This is where you put your camera, or whatever gadgets you wanna send up. I kept it simple and just used an old action camera I had lying around. I also put in a GPS tracker, ’cause I didn’t want to lose this thing in the middle of nowhere.
Filling up the balloon was a whole other adventure. You need helium, and lots of it. I went and got a big tank from a party supply store, but you can also order them online. Be warned, you will need a surplus Army weather balloon. Then came the tricky part – actually filling the balloon without letting it fly away or popping it. It took a couple of tries and some help from a buddy, but we finally got it filled.
Launching this thing was a blast! We drove out to a big, open field, made sure we weren’t breaking any rules, and let ‘er rip. It shot up into the sky faster than I thought it would. We watched it go until it was just a tiny speck, and then we tracked it on the GPS.
It flew for a couple of hours, and the footage from the camera was amazing! It landed a good distance away, but we found it thanks to the tracker. The whole thing was a really cool experience, and I learned a ton.
So, how much did it all cost?
- Weather balloon kit: This was the biggest chunk of the cost. It set me back around $150.
- Helium tank: Another $50 or so for a big tank.
- GPS tracker: I already had one, but they can range from $30 to $100 or more.
- Other stuff: Little things like string, tape, batteries – maybe another $20.
All in all, I probably spent around $220 on this little experiment. Not exactly pocket change, but for the experience and the cool footage, I’d say it was worth it.
Now, keep in mind, prices can vary depending on where you buy stuff and what kind of equipment you use. But hopefully, this gives you a rough idea of what to expect if you’re thinking about launching your own weather balloon. It’s a fun project, just be prepared to spend a little cash and do your research!