I'm an amateur radio operator (K7AAY) specializing in emergency services work, seeking a way to loft a repeater for fire fighting support and other emergency services work. We get wildfires and the state rado net has big gaps in canyons and the boonies.Any design would compete with current state of the art, i.e., a weather balloon, a tank of helium and the tether with a wire carrying 500ma at DC voltage adequate to deliver 8.4VDC to the transceiver (an HT or Handheld Transceiver and a controller board) on the weather balloon.How much mass can I squeeze into a UAV?What's the optimum design?1) Solar cells on fabric to also run an electric motor for sterage on a lighter-than-air craft2) a larger LTA burning hydrogen from the envelope to run a motor with a small generator set as well as an engine for steerage, or3) a multi-engine heavier-than-air craft with larger than ususal fuel capacity?
Keeping an amateur repeater under 400' AGL would be dandy for our needs, so AFAIK from what I read here, no need for autonomous operation as there must be a ham in the field logging the radio traffic anyway, but the $30 autopilot DIY kits I read here allow that ham to be distracted, handle relay traffic, go on bio-breaks, etc.
We have had a member who was making a presentation for a fire rescue proposal last year, but the concensuos was that the greatest hurdle was with FAA approval.
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