Cell Antenna on a balloon November 20, 2020, 09:20:04 am Another one of my cockeyed ideas. Has anyone ever tried putting a cell antenna on a helium-filled balloon?I know ham operators do it. I am thinking maybe 50 feet up. Would the signal loss due to the length of the antenna wire counter any gain from being up higher?Follow me for more insane ideas
Re: Cell Antenna on a balloon Reply #1 – November 20, 2020, 09:42:35 am I've seen the idea before:Helikite Hotspot Takes Cellular Reception To New Heights - Mobile Internet...I've also heard about people who find themselves without cell service, strap their cell phone to a drone, fly up to get reception (send and receive email) and then fly the phone back to the ground. It's not totally nuts, but I'm sure there would be some logistical issues. Rich
Re: Cell Antenna on a balloon Reply #2 – November 20, 2020, 10:54:11 am Interesting idea. Greater height would help if local terrain is blocking a signal, but otherwise, I think height would not help. Where I am at the moment, to get line-of-sight to a cell tower, I would need to get an antenna more than 100 feet up. My booster, with my antenna on the roof, gets a weak signal where I am. My friend has property about 40 miles west of me. He had no signal at ground level with no booster. He bought a booster, a directional antenna and a 25 foot mast. He now has a signal. Would he get a signal with the antenna on the roof of his rig rather than 25 feet up? I tend to think yes, but I am guessing. It was not tried.As to signal loss, the length of cable and the quality of cable are a significant factor. If you go up 50 feet, to manage the ground stuff you probably need a 75' run. With a cheap cable, you would probably lose more than you gain from the height. But, 75 feet of quality low loss cable weighs a lot. Would you be able to lift the cable plus the antenna? How would you manage winds which would push the ballon away from vertical, thus down?My sense, without evidence, is that a good antenna on the roof or on a mast, coupled with a good booster, is the best bet for getting service.Ken F in NM
Re: Cell Antenna on a balloon Reply #3 – November 20, 2020, 02:59:27 pm "75 feet of quality low loss cable weighs a lot. Would you be able to lift the cable plus the antenna?"Good point, Ken. It can be done, of course, but it might tale a 3'-6' balloon, and that's a lot of helium... helium that will be lost when you bring the setup down to earth, since you're obviously not going to carry that balloon around inflated. Wind is another factor. The higher you go, the stronger it's likely to be. For short-term use, a drone and a Jetpack or MiFi type cellular/Wi-Fi hotspot may be the best way to get an antenna really far up in the air, but you won't be watching streaming movies that way, since most drones have flight times in the 15-30 minute range.The antenna plus mast plus booster scheme has worked for many RVers (including me), and is probably the most practical overall idea. 1 Likes
Re: Cell Antenna on a balloon Reply #4 – November 20, 2020, 07:55:42 pm We actually were going to do this on my daughter's property where there is zero cell reception on the ground. We were going to use helium balloons to put a Jetpack up high enough that it would have line-of-sight to a tower. We went to a store to buy the helium balloons and attached the Jetpack to them in the store before the actual purchase. It would have taken a LOT of balloons, so we gave up on the idea. I should note that all of this was just going to be an exercise and that if it had worked, we would have implemented a different solution than the balloons. There is a tall pole on the property that was installed by another utility and that has a radio unit in it. We were going to seek permission to use that pole and would have run the cable up it to an antenna.
Re: Cell Antenna on a balloon Reply #5 – November 20, 2020, 08:16:56 pm Quote from: Jan Forseth - November 20, 2020, 07:55:42 pmIt would have taken a LOT of balloons, so we gave up on the idea. You may have given up too soon! Amazon.com: Professional Quality 8' Diameter Latex Weather Balloon. Burst...First line of the product description (misspelling in the original) :QuoteGiant Whether Balloon If the question is whether to tie a bunch of these giant weather balloons to a lawn chair, the answer is no. (They burst at about 82,000 feet anyway.) Besides, this is a true weather balloon, with plenty of fun, nonfatal uses.That's at least good for an afternoon of entertainment!Rich 1 Likes As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Re: Cell Antenna on a balloon Reply #6 – November 21, 2020, 07:05:02 am Thanks for the feedback. I will stay with my roof antenna and booster. 1 Likes
Re: Cell Antenna on a balloon Reply #7 – November 21, 2020, 10:34:37 am Don, bear in mind that you can get a telescoping mast that you could attach to Coco's ladder, that would get your antenna up to 25 feet. Would it help? Beats me.Ken F in NM
Re: Cell Antenna on a balloon Reply #8 – November 21, 2020, 11:39:30 am ..... and here is the real issue. We as users generally have no idea what cell tower our cell phone is using. Just because you see the cell tower means nothing. Yes it's possible you cell phone is using that cell tower but it is also possible it's using one you don't see. It's up to the cell company's software what and where you cell phone is using. <smile> I'll stay out of the weeds of cell tech but all you 'normal' person can think is it just a black box that makes magic happen. If you are really interested check out this app Network Cell Infro Lite. The paid version have a few more bells. I have no idea if there is a Apple version of this program.glen
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