|
|
LASER
730
All that was need now to get the station on air was an aerial system. A
helium filled balloon had been agreed by the backers as the means to hold
the antenna about three hundred feet above sea level. In storm force eight
winds on 8th January, the stations engineer battled out to the
Communicator to assess the feasibility of erecting a tee aerial between
the two forty foot masts on the deck. The next day, Roy Lindau and
attorney Glenn Kolk went out to the Communicator in a large stable vessel.
Shortly before midnight on 18th January, the long-winded saga began to
launch the helium balloon. At 09:35 on the 19th, the 25kw transmitter was
switched on and full power was applied to the three-hundred and fifty-four
feet of tinsel flex - a special mixture of copper and aluminium available
in the USA, and not for export, at a frequency of 729kHz (411 metres). The aerial system seemed OK; power was
lowered so that tests could be carried out to make sure that interference
would not be caused to BBC Radio 4 on 720 kHz. A
few minutes latter a loud crack was heard, and the transmitter was turned
off at 09:40. The cables to the balloon were sagging into the sea, and the
balloon was nowhere in sight. At 04:00 on 21st January, a sheet of
galvanised sheet metal was being made into a corona shield for the aerial.
A short time later after a near fatal error, the second balloon was
airborne. A test broadcast was made on 729 kHz,
with part of Led Zeppelin's Communication Breakdown being the first record
played. This was quickly replaced by non-stop Beatles music. At 11:00 the
transmitter was put back on air and the official start of Radio Laser
commenced, the first record being Baby you're a rich man. The next day,
22nd, the balloon cable broke at 02:15, and another balloon broke loose
and drifted away. It was reportedly found at Colchester in Essex, wrapped
around a traffic bollard. With the loss of the second balloon, which each
cost about £6000, the backers agreed to put up another $200,000 but this
would be their limit.
 
|
Tests on 729 kHz...
...using a balloon
|
