Mr Lester J Hendershot's magnetic generator.

[thx1138]

Transformer VA rating

Hi thx,
The vertical sweep circuit of a TV in the US is very close to 60 hz. So a power transformer should work very well as far as the frequency part is concerned. I don't remember the VA rating on them but they were not very big so I think somewhere between 200 to 500 VA should be about right.

I far as I remember the circuit only lights a 60 Watt bulb. Using a 0.8 power factor that would be 75 VA so I'm thinking 100VA would be sufficient but that's not necessarily what the original used nor the correct power factor for this circuit. I guess there's no way to tell what the power factor was for the working circuit so maybe your suggestion of 200 to 500 VA would be more appropriate. I'm just trying to keep expense down and as the VA goes up, the cost goes up.

Graham said

...they tended to be clamped E-I types with a paper strip between the E and I laminations to obviate core saturation effects.

I note two things here: 1) the Hendershot notes make a point of specifying the "Vertical Oscillator Type" and 2) it seems to me that eliminating core saturation would be very important in this circuit and especially so since it is essentially a magnetic circuit. It seems to me that was why he specified the "Vertical Oscillator Type" and this could be one of the problems that cause replications to fail. Everyone, even Lester, has a devil of a time getting this circuit to work and, as they say, the devil's in the details.

[GSM]

Hi Paul,

Yes that's a good find.
! See the photograph on the right and 3/8 down this page, and especially the bolder text beneath that group of photographs !

Copyright Joel O

""Radium fertilizer provided a profitable use for the ore tailings. The Standard Chemical Company claimed the fertilizer was beneficial - compare the plants between the men, both unidentified, with the controls on the left.""
""The photographs in this group are courtesy Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). They are from a photo album apparently compiled by the company. Not surprisingly, it is slightly contaminated with radium.""

Radium was the brand, not the beneficial content; ie. the crushed *mineral tailings* from mining, where the Standard Chemical mill required 500 tons of ore, 500tons of various chemicals, the power from 1,000 tons of coal, and 10,000 tons of purified water to produce just one gram of radium.

Crushed minerals are always good for plant growth, whereas real radium would cause mutagenesis, and serious animal/human illness.

It is most important that the Epilogue on that page is read !

I own a geiger counter, for I will not tolerate anything radioactive close to living organisms, whether from natural substances or resulting from any energy processing circuit arrangements. (And yes I do realise I consume minute fractions of radioactive substance by eating bananas daily.)

Cheers ............ Graham.

[soundiceuk]

Hi Graham, have you ever seen radium fertilizer before?

1915 AD CORTEZ CIGARS RADIUM FERTILIZER CALOX OXYGEN TOOTHPASTE EMERY SHIRTS | eBay

Is it really that dangerous?

Best regards,

Paul

[GSM]

Good points have recently been raised here about electrolytics; they are polarised and have different surface charactristics relating to the '+' or '-' connection.

Lester was very careful about using dry paper for his core overwind, as indeed we would all need to be for capacitors connected to pulse circuitry, and thereafter I cannot see that the choice of either etched or shiny foil would make any difference in a dry situation.

Regarding the frame (vertical scan) output transformers - I threw many of these out about 40 years ago because they could not be used for other purposes; yet as it turns out now - they suit Hendershot Generators !

Frame output transformers tended to be driven by lower anode impedance tetrode/ pentode tubes at 50/60Hz, and not only did these transformers have better core quality than standard 50/60Hz mains supply types in order to output a good triangular vertical scan waveform, they tended to be clamped E-I types with a paper strip between the E and I laminations to obviate core saturation effects.

(Please - everyone here should feel free to correct me if I am am seen to be making any erroneous statements.)

So, the frame output transformers tended to operate from a typical TV high tension line much lower in voltage than for audio power amplifier supply rails (even for similar type valves), say circa 175 volts, and I'm guessing with a requitement for 1.5 kilo-ohm of anode loading impedance.

The transformers used by Hendershot typically had ratios of 5:1, and thus impedances of say 1.5k primary to 60 ohm deflection coil matching (guesses), these values being quite unlike all other ready made transformer types.
The nearest of readily available transformer types would need a primary voltage circa 110Vac with a secondary of say 20Vac.

So my first action would be to source 110V to 20V (in UK dual 115V primary to dual 20V UK) transformers circa 12 to 25VA rating.

However, before we could use a standard AC transformer at the higher frequencies present within a Hendershot circuit we might need to perform a little *hands-on* modification to it.
I have found that most recent AC mains transformers are clamp assembled with a fine line of weld along the edge of the 'E' to 'I' lamination joins.

The generator circuit itself is symmetrical and thus it would be zero potential neutral throught cycles. So whether such welded core shorting will affect the operation of this type of transformer when used within Hendershot type circuitry I simply cannot know.

http://www.rapidonline.com/Electrica...-0-20V-88-3859

In other (audio frequency) applications I have carefully hacksawed down through the fine 'E'-'I' weld line in order to insert a flux saturation limiting strip of paper exactly as is the case with typical tube output transformers, but that might not be necessary here.
It is even possible that a 12VA component would do, but I prefer transformers to have lower core and winding resistance losses.


Wow Mikec_ut. Just look at that, you are leading the way.
However, I need to admit here that I have not seen enough clarity within original drawings for me to be able to figure out any modus-operandii.

Have you been able to manually vibrate components in any way that leads to voltage generation anywhere ?
__________________________________________________ _____

Folks, I am a bit saddened to see that Lester's son Mike has found his father's design being deemed fake, with him feeling need to speak out against the con-men who are selling plans
This is not a design to sell, and if it is the one I saw earlier without core-caps then it is completely phoney as well.
Those con-men are showing a photograph of Lester's son as if Lester himself.
And they wrongly link the twin core generator with the aeroplane flight.

The Hendershot Generator is "Fake" - YouTube

From YouTube -
mike hendershot
This Device Is Not Fake... You Can Find Pictures Of Him In His Early Years In New York Newspapers When He Was Young Around 1928 ... I Was Born In 1948 I'm His 2nd Son Michael James Hendershot From His Second Marriage... I Grew Watching His Device Being Built With the Smell Of Paraffin Wax Melting In Our Kitchen Used To Fix His Coils Together... He Once Blew The Tops Off Capacitors In Our Dining Room And Spoiled The Ceiling Over Our Dinner table... Finding Doubters Is Nothing New For Me.


TheHendershotGenerator (Zaxaa)

It would be good to have Lester's son come on board here to share old information and any interesting stories - though he might of course have worries about becoming involved.

Cheers for now ................. Graham.

[citfta]

Vertical osc. transformer

Hi thx,

The vertical sweep circuit of a TV in the US is very close to 60 hz. So a power transformer should work very well as far as the frequency part is concerned. I don't remember the VA rating on them but they were not very big so I think somewhere between 200 to 500 VA should be about right. Maybe Graham can give you a better idea of what is needed.

Carroll

[thx1138]

5:1 transformers

I'm still working on the materials list. There are a lot of 5:1 power transformers available. The documentation, however, says "Vertical Oscillator Type". I'm wondering if and what the difference would be between a "vertical oscillator type" and a power transformer. I'm guessing the docs are talking about either a TV or radar vertical hold or vertical sweep circuit and I have no experience with such circuits. I'm trying to determine the needed VA rating for the transformers. Any guidance will be appreciated.

[mikec_ut]

My Version of the MkI

@pjotterkjen
Sorry for the delay, time is not always kind for those that wait. I have got a PDF doc on my project and will attach it here.

There are lots of small experiments that I need to work on, association with this build. Hopefully I will be able to get a better Wild Ass Guess (WAG) as to wire size and coil size and placement as these experiments are completed. With my limited time experiment are slow but I am still working on this project.

[thx1138]

Capacitor forming

Hi, citfta. That explains it. I won't be using these materials from the Pyramid capacitor because they are the wrong size but I did want to get the thicknesses and generally satistfy my curiosity. Thanks.

[citfta]

Capacitor forming

Hi thx,

After an electrolytic cap is assembled it is connected to a low current low voltage source and left like that for a while. Time depends on the size of the cap. The low voltage forms the cap into an electrolytic by causing one of the plates (foils) to form a coating on it. I think it is aluminum oxide but don't remember for sure. This adds capacitance to the cap and prevents current flow through the cap after it is charged. If you reverse the polarity the cap will have the coating damaged and allow current to flow through the cap. That is why electrolytic caps are all marked with a + and - symbol. If you exceed the voltage rating of the cap you will also damage the coating and create a short in the cap. I don't remember if it is the positive or negative foil that gets the coating. I think for what you are using it for it doesn't really matter about the coating as you are not using the dielectric material that was originally in the cap. Hope this helps some.

Respectfully, Carroll

[thx1138]

Historical context

This evening is the first I've managed to think more about our work, though I'm far from recovered from illness.

Easy does it. Glad to hear you're doing better.

There have been so many different 'documentations' that genuine originality is near imposible to find.

Boy, that's the truth. My recent conundrum is the use of the word "buzzer". My research on old telephones led me to the fact that there were telephone ringers and telephone buzzers back in the day. From the pictures I've been able to locate they had very different actuating coils. Judging by the size of the coils in the pictures it appears the coils in the ringers is what was used. The buzzer coils appear to be about half as long as the ringer coils. I'm guessing it was called a "buzzer" because they made a buzzing sound in the Henershot device.

Radium ? I did wonder similarly myself about this aspect after studying the Hendershot Generator. Heck, I even stopped considering that a Mk3 could run as stated, especially as Lester likely had access to radium paint as used on AirForce aeroplane instrumentation.
However, Lester's children are said to have run his early generators when he was not there, and I don't think any father would have allowed their children near radioactive substances unattended.
Besides, Lester's original model plane was a fully operational child toy, and Mark Hendershot himself would have been most aware of any radiation risks relating to a radium powered device, yet he has never mentioned such warning.

There were no government controls on radioactive materials until the 1950's after they had been used in atomic bombs. And it turns out that the exposure guidelines that were developed at the time were extrapolated from the exposures seen at the Japanese bomb sites. Those guidelines are a subtle form of suppression. They set guidelines linearly while disregarding a known fact that there aren't any detrimental effects until a threshold is reached. Below the threshold level of exposure there is very little risk of detrimental effects but that known fact was quietly ignored and that is one of the reasons that radioactive substances are such a bugaboo today. Just mention radioactive materials and people shy away yet they are used in many, many products today like smoke detectors and those "powerless" light fixtures used in building stairways for emergency lighting.
Toxicologist says NAS panel 'misled the world' when adopting radiation exposure guidelines

BTW, radioactive materials can be purchased over the internet but they aren't highly refined or, for that matter, refined at all. You can safely hold them in your hand.

What turned my attention around with regard to Hendershot was my observation of Schmitt Trigger like reversals of magnetic field within a keeper oscillating about the 'neutral line' of a horseshoe magnet as per the Wesley Gary free electricity generator of 1879.
Wesley constructed and Patented his *free* electricity generator a full 50 years before Lester attempted likewise, however that granting was within a technological 'steam age' before electricity really started to flow, and Wesley's Patent would not have been deemed a financial threat as seen by the 'big money' men of Hubbard's and Hendershot's times.

So whilst Gary got his Patent, from the 1900s onwards there appears to have been authoritative controls of Grant and information release, this extending so far into present times that schools are deliberately providing our children with a flawed education.

Also note that the patents were in Canada and in that day one had to physically examine the patents - no internet, no photocopiers, and not even a fax machine and it wasn't until even the 1920's that telephone service could have been used to dictate a patent. I found some interesting Tesla patents in Canada as well and suppose that was a form of patenting where the location provided a little obscurity. RE education - since the government takeover of education it has become nothing more than propagandized indoctrination, imo. The real problem I see in today's education is that they are teaching what to think rather than how to think for one's self.

I have never been able to find mention of the physical gaps which must have existed between Hendershot's 'buzzer' armature and both the magnet and coil assemblies, and yet, these must have been highly critical alignments relating not only to physical armature oscillation, but also to the cyclical and Schmitt Trigger like induced armature field reversals (as per Wesley Gary equipment), with corresponding armature to ringer coils transduction, and induced tuned (harmonic?) twin core-cap oscillation.
ie. almost square wave electrical output from the ringer cores via which the core-caps are induced to oscillate.

That's got to be a crtical adjustment but it must also be variable based on the strength of the magnet, the area of the poles exposed to the armature, the armature size and material, etc., i.e. different magnet/armature/coil/coil core changes that gap.

I received the Pyramid caps I ordered and have taken the 40uF one apart but don't have anything to get an accurate measurement of the thickness. I'm going to pick up a Vernier caliper today. I did notice one interesting thing that someone may be able to explain: the two foils are somewhat different. One is shiny on both sides and the other is a dull gray matt finish on both sides. Different materials or maybe just a function of them being used?

Still working on the parts list but need the above measurements to complete it.

[GSM]

This evening is the first I've managed to think more about our work, though I'm far from recovered from illness.

Hi thx1138 -
good to see your meticulous analysis and approach.
There have been so many different 'documentations' that genuine originality is near imposible to find.
Thanks; will check out your vortex oscillator reference shortly.

Hi Paul,
Radium ? I did wonder similarly myself about this aspect after studying the Hendershot Generator. Heck, I even stopped considering that a Mk3 could run as stated, especially as Lester likely had access to radium paint as used on AirForce aeroplane instrumentation.
However, Lester's children are said to have run his early generators when he was not there, and I don't think any father would have allowed their children near radioactive substances unattended.
Besides, Lester's original model plane was a fully operational child toy, and Mark Hendershot himself would have been most aware of any radiation risks relating to a radium powered device, yet he has never mentioned such warning.

What turned my attention around with regard to Hendershot was my observation of Schmitt Trigger like reversals of magnetic field within a keeper oscillating about the 'neutral line' of a horseshoe magnet as per the Wesley Gary free electricity generator of 1879.
Wesley constructed and Patented his *free* electricity generator a full 50 years before Lester attempted likewise, however that granting was within a technological 'steam age' before electricity really started to flow, and Wesley's Patent would not have been deemed a financial threat as seen by the 'big money' men of Hubbard's and Hendershot's times.

So whilst Gary got his Patent, from the 1900s onwards there appears to have been authoritative controls of Grant and information release, this extending so far into present times that schools are deliberately providing our children with a flawed education.

Thanks for the good wishes Bob and Beamgate; at least I am getting stronger, and my brain is thinking again.

Earlier last month I had been doing some 'hands-on' testing of coil/armature assemblies in the presence of permanent horseshoe magnet fields.
An entirely radial physical movement of a horseshoe magnet closer to and away from an overwound keeper (as per Wesley Gary generator) can produce similar output as would be generated were the magnet to be rotating with respect to the overwound keeper !!!

This effect is common to both Wesley Gary's and Lester Hendershot's designs, and yet it is NOT something we taught about in school physics or even University ?

Magnetism is a *three dimensional*, electron orbit related phenomenon, with an unavoidable (and gyroscope translation like) field reaction at 90 degrees to the induced cause, also with a speed/frequency relationship related to the resistance/inductance of any coil overwinds involved.

I have never been able to find mention of the physical gaps which must have existed between Hendershot's 'buzzer' armature and both the magnet and coil assemblies, and yet, these must have been highly critical alignments relating not only to physical armature oscillation, but also to the cyclical and Schmitt Trigger like induced armature field reversals (as per Wesley Gary equipment), with corresponding armature to ringer coils transduction, and induced tuned (harmonic?) twin core-cap oscillation.
ie. almost square wave electrical output from the ringer cores via which the core-caps are induced to oscillate.

Cheers ............... Graham,

[Tishatang]

hi tech approach to hendershot

Hi All,

I just found this video re engineering a modern approach to hendershot. He discusses his ideas and how he is going to go about it. First in a new series of videos about hendershot.

Beyond Lester Hendershot / Part 1 - YouTube

He is not attempting to replicate orig, but his theories might give a clue about how the orig one worked?

Hope this helps?

tishatang

[thx1138]

winmagnet.com

Hi, this company that sends me marketing media from time to time looks to be selling horseshoe neodymium magnets.

Win Magnetics Co.,Ltd

I looked at their web site but didn't see any neo horseshoe magnets although they did show some in AlNiCo. They appear to be a manufacturer. I didn't see any way to buy their products on their web site nor any links to retailers or wholesalers. I'm not able to afford custom manufactured magnets for a prototype.

It has been suggested to me that Hendershot was using Radium. How true this is I don't know, but it sounds likely to me.

I haven't seen anything about Hendershot and radium but I haven't yet seen all the documents out there. That is very doubtful to me.

[Beamgate]

I ended up as an unconcious hospital emergency with kidney infection
( atmosphere or water supply bourne ? our skies here have been filthy ! ).

Just home, and I look forwards to catching up, but I'm very shaky-weak-shattered.

So life's kinda on hold at the moment, but I do hope to be back kicking ball with everyone shortly.

Stay safe folks;

Cheers ............... Graham.

Resonance to you Graham! Drink some 'distilled-water' for a well-deserved flush!

[Bob Smith]

Great to see the thread has moved on without me. Will catch up soon.
I ended up as an unconcious hospital emergency with kidney infection
( atmosphere or water supply bourne ? our skies here have been filthy ! ).

Just home, and I look forwards to catching up, but I'm very shaky-weak-shattered.

So life's kinda on hold at the moment, but I do hope to be back kicking ball with everyone shortly.

Stay safe folks;

Cheers ............... Graham.

Take care Graham. Thoughts and prayers are with you.
Bob