It was too windy Sunday evening to deploy the balloon vert., but as
a cold front approached Wichita I hoped to catch a few minutes
of calm before the wind shifted. Balloon up at 0445z but VP8/G4VFU
nowhere. Spot on cluster said "back at 0500z." The minutes ticked
by slowly...then Carl showed at 0502 on 1.850 working NR0X.
Heinz kindly let me call Carl, who was 59+ on SSB! We exchanged
reports and I could hear the wind picking back up, now from the north.
Signed off and ran outside to reel the balloon vertical in. Too late, it had
already blown into some trees and popped. A few minutes earlier it
had sent my voice to the Falkland Islands and now it is nothing but
tangled wire and shreds of rubber...and my memories of this QSO.
"Every dog has his day" and this balloon had it's night.
73,
Jon N0JK
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