Topic: E field Kit just arrived...

[JonathanW]

I do, in fact, still have my lab coat from my research days.  I should do this.

[corwyyn]

Those copper spheres are just the ticket.

I can see you hovering around during a lightning storm yelling, "It's alive! It's alive!" as St. Elmo's fire glows about your house and van de Graff like sparks jump off them.

Do you have a long white lab coat and dark goggles to wear?

Actually I'm wondering if he might be able to generate the 1.2 Gigawatts needed to power the flux capacitor...

Or maybe he'll just throw in an Oscillation Overthruster and blast thru to the 8th Dimension

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

As a follow-up, I assume from Mike's work that the preamp will fit in standard 1" PVC pipe?

Yes. Mount the 2 big 'lytics with just enough lead above the board so you could tilt them slightly, in case the board twists slightly. You need the board with components dead centered in a 1"i.d. pipe cap, in order for a 1"i.d. pipe to screw into the cap.

[SlowModem]

I'm going to try one of these (3-1/2" hollow copper ball)

Sorry to interrupt, but this post reminded me of this classic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjquGpmgwOo

I just couldn't help myself.  I had to post it.   

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.........

[Weather Spares]

I've been running an originally system green kit for 14 months, but had had the urge to build something again. So have ordered a complete new red kit with the additional E-Field kit too.

Egon should post it out to the UK Monday, so there will be much waiting for the delivery from then on.

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

I've been running an originally system green kit for 14 months, but had had the urge to build something again. So have ordered a complete new red kit with the additional E-Field kit too.

Egon should post it out to the UK Monday, so there will be much waiting for the delivery from then on.

Oh, you'll love it...

[Dr Obbins]

Cutty,
We had our share of storms today. Did anything stand out or get your attention with the E field that you might not have experienced with out it? 

[W3DRM]

I'm going to try one of these (3-1/2" hollow copper ball):



Richio indicated it should work; as I calculate it, the capacitance should be on the order of what one would get from a 15-18" AWG 12 length of wire.

Copper spheres are regularly used for E-field sensing, including at ELF frequencies.

I'll report the results, once I get my station built and running.

Are you sure these aren't the missing copper clappers that were kept in the closet?   

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

Cutty,
We had our share of storms today. Did anything stand out or get your attention with the E field that you might not have experienced with out it? 

Hey, Dr.... yeah, the last week I've some initial experiences I'm trying post, that may help with the "get acquainted" stage... http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=22710.0

[JonathanW]

I've been doing some additional work on this, plus corresponding with Richio.  The 3-1/2" spheres are probably too big; 2 to 2-1/2" would be better for the capacitance to free space needed (~3 pF).  But I'll see how it does.

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

I'll tell you this... a 15" inch 12ga wire is more  than enough! I suspect it'll detect Jupiter if you crank it up enough.

[dfroula]

I just ordered my kit from Egon. In the mail.....

I'm putting up the mast and running the cable today.

Don
WD9DMP

[dfroula]

I noticed that a few have put a "capacity hat" on the top of their wire probes. Is this really needed?

Richo just put a small spiral on the end of his. I planned on a simple 12-inch length of copper wire inside the PVC housing The spiral might stabilize the probe in the housing if its diameter matched the ID of the PVC.

Don
WD9DMP

[JonathanW]

Richio said it was to protect his eyes when working on the antenna.  A short length of wire has more than enough capacitance for this system.

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

I noticed that a few have put a "capacity hat" on the top of their wire probes. Is this really needed?

Richo just put a small spiral on the end of his. I planned on a simple 12-inch length of copper wire inside the PVC housing The spiral might stabilize the probe in the housing if its diameter matched the ID of the PVC.

Don
WD9DMP

Richio said it was to protect his eyes when working on the antenna.  A short length of wire has more than enough capacitance for this system.

Yes, it does help stabilize. The other end is in a connector, remember, you don't want much flopping... I used a couple wedges of some Styrofoam also.
The REAL reason for the spiral is to identify the probe polarity. If you install it the wrong way the signals will flip 180° randomly.

[JonathanW]

I noticed that a few have put a "capacity hat" on the top of their wire probes. Is this really needed?

Richo just put a small spiral on the end of his. I planned on a simple 12-inch length of copper wire inside the PVC housing The spiral might stabilize the probe in the housing if its diameter matched the ID of the PVC.

Don
WD9DMP

Richio said it was to protect his eyes when working on the antenna.  A short length of wire has more than enough capacitance for this system.

Yes, it does help stabilize. The other end is in a connector, remember, you don't want much flopping... I used a couple wedges of some Styrofoam also.
The REAL reason for the spiral is to identify the probe polarity. If you install it the wrong way the signals will flip 180° randomly.

I must have missed that comment from Richio.  Are you saying that, without the spiral at the top, you won't be able to identify polarity?  That seems counter-intuitive to me.

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

If you put the spiral on the wrong end the random signals will be received as they cut the probe. If you put the spiral on the other end of the probe, the random signals cut the probe and will be received. Always attach the unspiraled end to the preamp. Then the received random signals will display shortly after they cut the probe and are received. Also, it's hard to fit a corkscrew in the terminal block.

[W3DRM]

If you put the spiral on the wrong end the random signals will be received as they cut the probe. If you put the spiral on the other end of the probe, the random signals cut the probe and will be received. Always attach the unspiraled end to the preamp. Then the received random signals will display shortly after they cut the probe and are received. Also, it's hard to fit a corkscrew in the terminal block.

If I remember my electronic radiation capture theory correctly, the main purpose of the spiral on the top of the wire is to more completely attract the incoming spiraling radio emissions wave onto the end of the spiraled wire tip and thus, allow it to unspiral onto the straight section of the antenna which then directs the signals unimpeded towards the terminal block below. And, of course, as the signal is falling down the vertical wire, it is gathering speed due to gravity and thus, provides a much larger signal to be captured by the lightning detection circuitry...

[DaleReid]

Don, as 'screwy' as that sounds, I think it is right!

I was beginning to wonder.

Are we going to have to 'asterisk' our board, just like major league baseball?  * means take with some caution?

Has anyone else noticed that when the gain is turned up that your antenna sort of leans into the oncoming wave a bit?

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

  
Sorry folks... I saw some weird opening, and that just fell out of my fingers on the forum...

BTW... Grid Leak Bias on sale at Amazon: 12 hour Gold Box deal.

Rule 62: Don't take yourself too damn seriously.

Mike

[dfroula]

Huh....didn't know lightning was circularly polarized. 

I think an advantage of the E-field amp is that the servers can tell polarity and right or left hand polarization, but only if the spiral is properly wound! 

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

oh Lord... I've created a monster thread hijack

[DaleReid]

Grin,
Ain't it fun once in awhile.

No damage done.  A lot of fun had, and I'm sure there will be a few more clever additions to the thread before it dies down like an evening thunderstorm that is all rained out and the sparks finally stop.

[W3DRM]

And interestingly, I don't see any posts complaining about our little diversion either. So, as is often said, no harm done, no foul...

[Cutty Sark Sailor]

Huh....didn't know lightning was circularly polarized. 

Ball Lightning, did you forget??? That's why Jonathan is using spheres.