Mike Smith Cosmos

Well if you want engineering rigour, I am not expert enough on aero dynamics to give you spectacular science in aero dynamics. I can do a scientific experiment with a flying model when I next see those Helium party balloons for sale . By building a small scale airship/pod with scaled down passenger and small electric motor with fan blade. Also I will build a low power long wave transmitter . Send a partially focused beam of long wave in direction of model . Receive with a ferrite rod antenna . Drive the motor , which drives the blade. The helium balloon and supported pontoon pod combination , should move off in a horizontal direction . Thus the prototype can be seen ,as proof of concept Is that rigorous enough science at the model level , to prove that it is worth scaling up to a larger version . ( Possibly carrying my Jack Russell . though I cannot be held to this last idea ) If you want me to do lots of sums ( I am not sure if I know where my slide rule is ? ) Mike

. -- Designers and Engineers Fix things . -- If it's too heavy they use lighter materials . If it's not strong enough they use modern materials. What with Carbon fibres , plastics and a host of new materials I am sure we will make this work . I can't even get my loaf out of a plastic mag without crushing the bread , because the plastic bag is so,so strong you can't even tear it apart. And if I pick up a polystyrene packing , it's so light , and crumbly it sticks to my fingers . Engineers fix things Mike

Well we can make the balloon as large as you like to provide the lift. This is what happened in the days around the beginning of the 20 th century . Unfortunately they used Hydrogen without adequate safety standards , the hindenberge disaster where it caught fire brought balloon public transport to a halt. Prior to that people were cruising all over the world Link :- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airship . . Mike

No, but we are living in an electrical society . I only picked personal transport as an example . My wife has the car , I either go by motor scooter or more recently I bought a Smart Car , so me and the Jack Russel can go easily places to paint or whatever. You could walk everywhere I suppose . Horses are gone or impractical . The peak oil , will arrive one of these days , or some other related hic-up with supply. We had one a few years ago ( can't remember why ) but everything nearly ground to a halt. So I am trying to think ahead . Remember it is 100 watts per square meter, so every 5.square meters approx , we get a 1 horse power motor. Let's for a moment think of some public transport flying bus with a 100 sq M footprint 5m x 20 m . Will give us a 20 horse power motor . Quite adequate to push a bus load of sightseer's to the next stopping tower . Then I could think about the , lawn mower , the portable live band, the outside camping , food stall , pond fountain, I pad , pizza oven , stadium lights , TV, radio , motor boat, the list is endless when you think of outside use of electrical devices. Also portable ones inside the home . Mike Flying bus :-

. It does not matter , surely ? Because I can use a lifting system that has nothing to do with the 300 watts , namely a helium balloon . Now I am risen the 300 watts can be used, (should it be needed) for propulsion through the atmosphere, namely against air resistance that will be a , definable, calculable quantity . Which I must admit , I do not know the aerodynamic formulae for . However , it will be , what it will be . Very similar to current automotive equations ( without the tyre resistance) as there will be no contact with the ground. I can remember from high school being told by our physics teacher to my utter amazement , that all the petrol was doing , going down the road , was overcoming air and tyre resistance and other internal resistances ! I never got over that shock! I imagine , we will have to put up with a rather ' sedate ' pace . But that I imagine will be good for our demeanour ? Here is someone else's design , I was hoping for something with less contraption being hauled aloft . The (lift is free) , the ' watts ' can be used for forward horizontal propulsion , whatever is available ! Mike

No , I have a lot of experience of communications at the science end . FUNCTION But I am deliberately starting with the FORM as this is a user project , at least this low power aspect, where the user is king and his requirements are uppermost . . All too often the science leads ( as with the growth of computers ) it is only now after 40 years is the user king . For those 40 years , software writers and hardware designers, cloaked the systems in scientific mystery . ( perhaps not deliberately ) If we can start this time with what the user would ideally wish for , we can then see if science ( by Function ) is able to provide what the FORM USER would Like by ideal . I count myself fortunate that I have a "boot in both camps " , if I have that quotation correct( sounds a bit odd ) MIKE

Yes but it's FUNCTION and FORM . Not FUNCTION without Form nor FORM without Function , So surely we. Need both FUNCTION and FORM namely PHYSICS and ART . Not PHYSICS or ART . but FUNCTION and FORM Mike

Swansont said Quote " Humour as an addendum to technical discussion is good. As a replacement for it, not so much." Reply :- See this small antenna . Long wave . Few inches long Swansont said Quote " More "analysis-free" commentary. "free" wi-fi isn't free. It's just rolled into the cost of the other things you are buying at the establishment that offers it. If it gets you into Starbucks to buy one of their drinks, it's a money-maker, like advertising. But ultimately the customer pays for it. Reply : true . But this is the sensible way to operate the system . Mike Smith Cosmos, on 30 Jul 2015 - 2:28 PM, said: Personal carriers could similarly take on a new industrial development from simple beginnings. Swansont said These ( personal fliers ) don't suddenly become possible with low power being available. If we don't have them already, they aren't going to sprout up like mushrooms with this system. Mike said " It's the chicken and egg syndrome " put them there both together! " I would just love nothing better , than in my dotage 'to develop a personal flying machine ' , that could work off continuous 300 watts . Let me at it .! I rescued a hang 30 ft glider from from a skip once . Never did get to fly it . Probably the bungee jump put me off. Until then the personal vehicles will have to remain earth bound ! But let's just step up a few 10's of feet , and enjoy cruising gently ,the third dimension . The staff in our cafe made an input as to which way they would prefer to be ' orientated ' Me ( leaning forward ) , another leaning backwards, another in the superman position. I have just designed the shape of the helium tank . Just the drive and we are ready ! Drive in principle . ( brown ) Antenna in principle ( red ) A whole concept design In place for a prototype / model to be built and tested . That's what you said was needed. This together with a long wave transmission of energy , and the system in principle can be built as a model prototype system , for testing . Mike

.Antennas can be very creative , nowadays. The big coil was just a bit of humour ! The 'free issue ' is a bit like wi fi is going , with data , so with energy . Consumers ( Home owners and Industry ) subsidise the common utilities. Personal carriers could similarly take on a new industrial development from simple beginnings. Mike

. A 1) Quote " I have that energy access now. It's called a battery. Retort Always running out when it's inconvenient. Expensive . A 2) Quote " How is this free? That's whole new mythology for you to explain. Retort Subsidised by charged for Main Heavy ( Home and Industrial and Civil usage ) that are hard wired from receiving sites . These installations are protected areas where large levels of energy are beamed down from the Satellite stations. Fail safe devices protect the public from accidental misalignment and any possible accidental exposure . ( this is more for phycological reasons than actual danger ) B) Jetsons-like flying cars? They will not work on "medium power" if at all. Another unicorn. Retort This power is still at continuous 100 watts / square meter which can be increased to much higher wattage for acceleration bursts ( using less intense loading periods , as energy saving , as explained previously, and light weight aluminium capacitors. Short term storage only ) Flying craft can be well designed helium or hydrogen pods with gentle horizontal propulsion by efficient electric motors . C) Paid for by whom? As explained by A2 above . Quote " Thus far, this is a science fiction utopia. " Well maybe a little that way but a good 50 % of science fiction has ultimately become Science Fact . I can remember ' Dan Dare ' in the Eagle Comic much has since become science Fact . Arthur C Clarke , much of what he wrote of in his Science Fiction became Science Fact. D) " surmise " danger . does not take the place of scientific analysis. Retort Graph of Electro magnetic spectrum Mike

.Yes , but .. (A) Think of anybody , anywhere , anytime , having access to small amounts of usable clean electrical energy Free! ............ Just by sticking a quartz crystal attached to a USB connector. .............Quartz connector. .. Link if you want to see what it could look like :- http://www.scienceforums.net/uploads/monthly_07_2015/post-33514-0-96649600-1437890302.jpg (B) Think of medium power , electrical devices together with electric personalised vehicles swarming the sky's, Free! © Think of no more pylons, yet safe area substation style serious long wave receiving sites for real power, Paid for! Surely SCIENTIFIC UTOPIA Mike Ps . The satellite discs here illustrated are out of all proportion for illustration purposes. Possibly being 2 kilometers diameter and taking out only 10 % of sunlight in their immediate path , would be occasionally and non perceptibly noticed from earth . Being only like a passing minute cloud if line of sight to an individual. They would not be noticed . ( unlike illustrative diagram ) PPs Although, the diagram may ' look like ' people are being cooked alive, this is purely illustrative . One would surmise that the energy waves being 1/10 th the power of sunlight and the bottom of the electromagnetic spectrum in frequency ( energy is a function of frequency by planks constant ) , that they would be substantially less dangerous than ordinary sunlight. If anything slightly protective ( like putting on ' sun blocking cream ' .)

According to the USA Centre for Climate and Energy solutions " all is not without problems Quote " Obstacles to Further Development and Deployment of Solar Power Cost Electricity generated from solar power remains more expensive than other forms of electricity in many places. Moreover, in recent years, the supply of rare earth minerals commonly used for PV manufacturing has become constrained. China supplies 97 percent of the worlds rare earth minerals and has enacted production and export quotas,[41] driving higher the price of rare earth minerals. The uncertain future of the supply of rare earths is a risk to the U.S. PV manufacturing industry,[42] but efforts are underway to develop a domestic supply of rare earth minerals as well as the use of solar technologies that do not use supply-constrained materials.[43] For the time being, rare earth supply has met the growth of solar in demand, and has not been a limiting factor in the price declines of solar power. Intermittency Solar power, especially solar PV, is constrained by intermittency issues because of weather factors and the fact that daylight hours are limited. CSP storage technologies are being developed to alleviate intermittency problems, although integrated storage remains costly. Solar power is also constrained by the uneven geographic distribution of solar resources, which ultimately encumbers integration with the larger electric grid. To achieve its full potential, solar power will rely on a variety of advanced enabling technologies such as demand response and improvements in energy storage. Energy storage technologies would allow electricity generated during peak production hours (i.e., on bright, sunny days) to be stored for use during periods of lower or no generation. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has published a series of studies examining whether intermittent renewable including solar are capable of providing up to 80 percent of electricity demand.[44] Transmission Solar power, specifically utility-scale PV and CSP, is also held back by a lack of transmission infrastructure (necessary to access solar resources in remote areas, such as deserts, and transport the electricity to end users). These areas often have the highest potential for solar generation. However, solar technologies offer a number of opportunities for on-site or distributed generation applications in which energy is produced at the point of consumption, including rooftop PV arrays and building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems. Such systems, known as local PV, can make solar power more cost competitive by avoiding costs associated with transmission and distribution. However, technical problems in regulating the local grid must be solved before local PV reaches its full potential. " unquote So other systems are worth investigating along side a well established Solar Panel Industry and supply . Maybe an alternative is good to have in reserve ? Maybe then "Long wave Satellite collection , conversion , and distribution , systems " , may still have something to offer? In fact I think I have already addressed many of the problems spoken above. Mike

It is not the area , that I refer to , in our resources being used up . It is the current usage of Coal and Oil being used up at an alarming rate . Ok. That got us to where we are now . But we need to put ourselves in gear for a sustainable supply of energy, for the future. I think that your comment , quoted above , is a little sweeping. For :- 1. The idea of energy everywhere . ( all be it a modest amount ) Is not to be dismissed, easily . 2 Also the constancy of supply with non interference from cloud and night cover. 3. Similarly , when it comes to the larger receiving fixed stations ,the advantage of having the easy ability to direct much higher power supplies at will ( overnight , if necessary ) , in order to distribute the supply of power , practically wirelessly , ANYWHERE rather than pylons and cables ( apart from that which comes from a local receiving station to homes and factories. NO great stretches of pylons spanning the countryside . To mention but a few advantages. Mike

I presume you mean the submarine use of long waves as a means of communication at sea, or under the sea. I imagine that was the major use . Below is A) yesterday's ( 75 years ago ) ships wireless ' set up. ' for the radio operator. B) Also in contrast , 'no doubt' , today's radio operators controls . A) B) Mike

.Yes but, in reality , although only 300 watts is available , this is continuous 300 watts . On level roads, at speed ,very little wattage is required as one is only overcoming gentle air resistance and friction . If we go far more slowly than we currently travel ( which is an absolute must if we are to live within our world energy budget ) , then we can store up unused wattage in some form of stored electrical energy system. Also overnight and when not in use .This can then be utilised on hill portions of the journey where ( MxGxH ) potential energy needs to be tackled by the vehicle . Similarly during non activity during the day, and pausing, and down hill ( regaining a proportion of the MGH ) , the energy is accrued for those parts of the journey , where it requires much more than 300 watts. Mike Ps. As I mentioned somewhere recently ( Ray Bradbury's si fi story " Silver Locusts" posited . The Martians had already gone through all this and depleted Mars of its resources . They now drift energy-less, practically , about the skies in ethereal balloons !

.Yes but think of the fun you can have ! ! 200-300 watts of continuous energy , diving a motor on your personal transport. Of course if you simplified the reception device , you could even take a passenger on a gentle outing along country lanes. .... Mk 2 Mike

I think this is an example of a condensed. Long Wave antenna . Here is how they used to play with long waves .. A long wave loading coil. In ( 1910 ) Mike

I appreciate what you mean " like you can't have it both ways" . If it will not cause harm , how are you going to collect the energy ? Well ! In the regional collecting stations there is no reason why , larger structure antennas should not be constructed . Half wave or quarter wave conventional antenna would be 375 metres long or 750 metres , respectively . Even if the conductors were 5 cm diameter copper or aluminium . For the distributed personal collection , that might be more difficult and in need of innovative design. The quartz crystal antenna idea has promise * , As could some form of ( ,frequency conversion ** , or Time slicing circuit wizardry!***) In other words by crafted design rather than by nature. * *** . * Link to quartz antenna :- http://www.scienceforums.net/topic/88557-symmetry-breaking-could-enable-antennas-on-a-chip/ ** Link to frequency converters at mains voltages :- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_changer ** *** Design a time base circuit that is synchronised to the incoming signal . This time base running at the required frequency that you require. Then sample and gate the incoming signal . Thus producing a signal the amplitude and frequency you require , carrying the energy collected from the incoming signal . (frequency conversion ) incoming 200khz outgoing 50 hz or whatever eg DC

.No don't shut up , because you sound like the only one who agrees with me, to do with ' long wave being reasonably harmless' . At least for the moment . I will cling on to it , while it lasts. My point is that the energy contained in the radio wave I am using ( proposing using ) , is at a comparatively low frequency 200khz. ( 1500 meter wavelength. ) . Yes with energy at a density of 100 watts per sq meter. ( 100 watts available to be useful at a personal level. ) I am saying , suggesting , that , that energy , will not be felt by a human body even though it is passing through or by it , Because there is nothing in the human body that will resonate at 200khz or 1500 meters, because the waves are far too long. * Thus the energy will NOT be absorbed , but pass on, through ,or by ,without interaction. Without heating and giving rise to a raging fever . Or at least , that's what I surmise , because I can not see how it communicates with flesh , brains and bones at that frequency . I am saying , suggesting , the dangers come up at high frequencies , where the wavelength is in the same order of magnitude and smaller . Say microwaves, infrared waves, ultra violet waves, x rays , gamma rays . Mike Ps 1 or 2 meters is a radio amateur frequency band , and I , and many others have transmitted continuously on that frequency to no harm . ( mind you my brain is a bit addled , now you come to mention it! ) ...da...h * hitting you with . 200 kHz long wave . Is like hitting you with a duck feather filled pillow that is 1500 meters long , 200,000 times a second . There is a fair bit of energy in there , that pillow , 100 watts , but it's ( the energy in the duck feathers ) are all spread out over this 1500 meter long pillow . Quite a harmless experience !

Yes I accept my statement about skipping ropes was deliberately ' tongue in cheek' . And I slipped when referring to ultra sound is of course mechanical Ultra sonics . l.( slip there) . But what I can not understand how low frequency electro magnetic waves can be harmful , when there is nothing going on at that frequency in the body or brain. Is there? The mere presence of electro and magneto is there anyway within and about atoms. Surely it could only be harmful if something in the human body absorbed it . And for that to happen the said vulnerable body part would have to resonate or there abouts. And for resonance to occur the wavelength needs to be of a reasonable order of magnitude , near to a bodily part in length . We are talking 1500 meters ( the length of 15 football pitches end on end ) , to get down to even whole body size ( say 1.5 meters) that is 3 orders of magnitude removed ( a tenth 1/10 of a tenth 1/10 of a tenth 1/10 ) . Energy is only contained in the oscillation or wave, so how can something 3 orders of magnitude in frequency different have any possible response like absorption. However I am quite willing to be hopelessly wrong , but I just can't see any part of our body ' seeing' these LF waves whatever their amplitude. From my knowledge of energy transfer , this occurs when there is a match ( match of impedance say 75 ohms or 50 ohms and this is a wave or AC impedance not DC ) and for that sort of AC it needs to be frequency sensitive or near to tuned ,or near to resonant not near to DC or UHF. Maybe very large long Dinosaurs as a whole could resonate, but even then not their body parts . Or Canadian redwood trees . Mike

Unfortunately we have harvested a lot of natures store already . I am suggesting we harvest a small portion of the suns energy while in orbit , and send it down to earth in long wave form . This then is an indefinitely sustainable supply . 1. To distribute it generally everywhere at 100 watts per sq meter for personal use ( personal transport, communications, computing ) etc 2 To send to set sites spread throughout the world . But directed to these stations at 10 megawatts per site ( 100meters x 100meters) ( 1 kilowatt per sq meter. ) for living and industrial use . Mike Ps I like the sound of these quartz crystal antennas . Saves on lengthy Aerials.

I have spent my entire life , trying to get clear in my mind ,what quite goes on around an antenna . From the first wide eyed shock of learning that something happened around an aerial that 'allowed, or made ' the radio wave to speed out across the void to some distant land at a ' phenomenal speed ' and arrive intact , to be heard in that distant land . To this present day , and I must say , I do not feel , terribly advanced in my mental picture of what ,quite , is going on . A 'shed full ' of maths from two universities , has filled my head with a lot of three dimensional complex numbers, Div, Grad, and Curl , and maxwells equations . But still I can not picture what is going on. I asked the relevant lecturing professor ,in each university , to describe pictorially ( so I who thinks in pictures , can ,could, understand . And the reply from each professor , different, but interesting , I think .... The more recent one said " we all have to go through this , we all have to learn and repeat the maths , we had to do it so you do. You have to manipulate Maxwells equations , know the formulae, do the maths , all the complex variables in three dimensions , and all " But "what is actually going on ? " I being then in my 50's and ' brazen enough ' to dare to ask. " He said " Mike , let's go and have a cup of coffee , and I'll tell you how I see it. We don't teach this , because this is just the way I have reconciled it in my own mind . Nobody really knows, but this is how I see it ... "( this was all back at the turn of the century 2000 ' ish , things may have moved on a bit ) . " Well it is all to do with frequency and the electro- Magnetic fields developed around the driving circuit and antenna .. This is what I believe is happening .. " remember this is his personal visualisation , not the university curriculum ( that stops with the maths ) . Well..the AC signal created by the driving circuit at a certain frequency sine wave , sets off down the transmission line and arrives and is absorbed ( due to impedance matching ) into the antenna and it's surrounding. 'Electro magnetic field ' . This field spreads out around the antenna to a certain distance before the falling level of the sine wave starts to decrease and head for the zero point and negative . direction. During this process the collapsing magnetic field induces , back into the antenna. And life goes on with no transmission, just an oscillating near field . This works ,up to a certain low frequency ( as in below long waves ) . Above a critical frequency , the time of the half cycle , is too quick to self induce back into the antenna. So it somehow pinches off on itself , and heads off as a photon of energy into the .. Great beyond .. Like a bubble ... Now it is true this was his personal visualisation by the professor , which helps me, but of course is not necessarily how it is! Sounds plausible though . This does make sense when , if , you have blown bubbles through a ring , a continuous stream of bubbles heads out . As each one pinches off ,the next follows, and on and on. Below a certain wind, puff speed , the stretched film , returns taught to the ring ,and does not transmit out as a stream of bubbles. Above that critical puff speed , whoosh the steam of bubbles starts until you run out of puff or soap film supply. There is a machine now that will send out continuous streams of bubbles for parties or dances. Mike

As far as I see it with magnetic fields . there is nothing anywhere " there " as regards a magnetic field . It is just a value , which other magnetic material respond to, and orientates themselves , so as to have a steady state . So the filings do that ,where you see them , but in the centre where there is no net field an iron filing has no way to orientate ,or anywhere to go . So there can be seen no filings . If I have it right ? I might be horribly wrong ! , but Michael faraday tried to fathom out if fields rotated if a magnet was rotated about its long axis . He never quite completed this before he died. Mike Ps This I think it is like being on a hill side , with contour lines of equal height. " there is nothing there, only if you measure a hight above sea level can you tell yourself I am at 1000 ft say " You , if you want a quiet life , orientate yourself to walk along the hillside , where you are neither running off down hill going less than 1000ft, or huffing and puffing , climbing upward ,higher than 1000ft . If you feel neither of these demands , you are feeling yourself gliding along the contour lines at 1000ft. So I believe the iron filings , in their own way , ( all be it ) there are a lot of others lined up along the field lines ( equiv . Of the hillside contour lines) . Hope this does not complicate things !

I have tried composing some wire art , in the last few weeks . Here are the attempts to produce satisfying shapes out of short lengths of copper wire. Each individual piece was exploring shapes that gave a satisfying feeling. The curious spin off . Which I would seek an explanation for , is :- I felt the most immense feeling of peace and tranquility , almost therapeutic , during the bending and at the completion of each shape. What was happening to me during this time ? Mike

.Well we will leave the power levels of long waves for now . We agree on micro waves . " Well just because people have not died from long waves ( not yet of sufficient power ? ) does not prove they might not yet" . Well we will have to wait and see on that one . I, am pretty confident that will not be the case , .but I take your point of not dying from falling from exactly 12,000 ft . 12,500 yes , 11,900 yes , but not exactly 12,000 feet . I guess you must be keeping that height for throwing me out of an aircraft? Attached by my ankles , to long waves ( like bungee jumping ) . Mike