"mr.b" <mist@b.com> hath wroth:

>On Sun, 18 Feb 2007 11:54:07 -0800, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>
>> I keep suggesting an inflatable dish...
>
>oh yeah, what do you call her?

I'll let the marketing department pick the name. They have the
appropriate mindset.

Actually, I'm serious and have been working on inflatable towers and
masts for ham radio field day. I don't have a prototype of an
inflatable dish antenna, but do have a fair idea of how it might be
done. Basically, it's a torus (donut) around a flexible membrane that
gets pulled into a parabolic shape. Support for the feed can be stiff
wires or an inflatable tripod structure. The design is quite common
for spaceborne antennas:
<http://www.ilcdover.com/products/aerospace_defense/inflatableantenna.htm>
<http://www.jhuapl.edu/ott/technologies/technology/articles/P01488.asp>
<http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/I/Inflatable_Antenna_Experiment.html>
<http://www.toyon.com/downloads/quickfeasibility.pdf>

Probable vendor:
<http://www.china-inflatable.com>

The two RAFT video clips are worth watching:
<http://www.boschaero.com/tower.htm>

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558