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Nobody has anything new to report this morning? My, this is the quietest it's been around here in days. I got the shunt regulator circuit partially built yesterday, I should have it finished today. Then I will be able to make genuine apples-to-apples power measurement comparisons when running in either open loop or closed loop mode. No more of this "how bright is that lamp?" guesswork. If the device shows a power gain, it will read on the meters, period. If it does not, then we will know. What I am expecting at this point is that even running at 24V input on the ZVS, giving about 26KV on the antenna, I doubt this is enough to show a net gain yet. I have a slate of parts on order to make two multiplier stacks, one for each polarity so the HVM drive circuitry can be close to neutral potential. I also ordered a replacement transformer for my PVM12 so I can either fix it or use the transformer as an AC flyback with the ZVS if more power is needed. Running at 24V+ of input that ZVS should be able to deliver some serious grunt, but as I said previously I don't think that will be necessary if the output is being truly powered by the environment and not by the HVM itself.
More parts, always more parts. I also need to get some high value, HV rated resistors to use as safety drain resistors for the caps. They don't store a large amount of energy but safety is never a bad idea. The mirror circuit is particularly difficult to drain with a shorting jumper, because if you dump the cap on one side, it transfers most of the energy right into the cap on the other side. You have to jumper both at the same time, and if the flyback has an internal cap too this complicates matters as well. The kilovoltmeter with 1G resistor serves as an effective drain on the flyback, but I need some more resistors to put on the two doorknob caps. The trick is to find an available resistance value that is high enough not to dissipate more than a trivial amount of power in operation and yet still drain the caps quickly after the power is off.
Also, the multiplier stacks will need to be potted in order to reach higher potentials. I'd really like to do this in an acrylic tube with acrylic casting resin, so the whole thing will be crystal clear and look nice. However, to get good results will do doubt require putting it under vacuum. I have a vacuum pump and I can use a canning jar as a small bell jar, but I have no prior experience working with casting resin, so no doubt some trial and error will be involved. Since this is the coolest technology on the planet, my inner geek really wants it to look the part as well. Of course, it doesn't HAVE to look like a prop from a science fiction movie in order to do what it does, I just WANT it to....
I am thinking of reorganizing the arrangement so that instead of the baseplate being basically 15x29 inches, it will be more like 12x28 inches. The main coils will be horizontal axis in the center, with the HV section on one side and the LV section on the other side. I can build up the boards in vertical stacks, so basically the HVM would be the bottom board on the HV side, then on top of it the multipliers, then on top of that the PPV's and input circuit. On the LV side the bottom board would be the rectifiers, then on top of that the caps or batteries, then at the top (where it can dissipate heat effectively) the shunt regulator. The boards can be 12 inches wide, to match the length of the coil forms, so the whole device should be a box basically about 12x28x12. I just got some more funds so I'm planning on ordering some green fluorescent acrylic sheet to build out of. The fluorescent acrylic is UV-reactive and glows very strongly. It's possible the HV/HF coming from the coils themselves will be strong enough to drive a fluorescent tube when in operation, so I'll put blacklight tubes next to the coils and the whole thing will light up and glow. Perhaps also some electroluminescent wire strategically placed, I haven't figured that out yet. If I can pull it off, it will indeed look like a prop from some sci-fi movie when I'm done. Then a decal that says "21st Century Motor Company"-- a few might get that reference....
More parts, always more parts. I also need to get some high value, HV rated resistors to use as safety drain resistors for the caps. They don't store a large amount of energy but safety is never a bad idea. The mirror circuit is particularly difficult to drain with a shorting jumper, because if you dump the cap on one side, it transfers most of the energy right into the cap on the other side. You have to jumper both at the same time, and if the flyback has an internal cap too this complicates matters as well. The kilovoltmeter with 1G resistor serves as an effective drain on the flyback, but I need some more resistors to put on the two doorknob caps. The trick is to find an available resistance value that is high enough not to dissipate more than a trivial amount of power in operation and yet still drain the caps quickly after the power is off.
Also, the multiplier stacks will need to be potted in order to reach higher potentials. I'd really like to do this in an acrylic tube with acrylic casting resin, so the whole thing will be crystal clear and look nice. However, to get good results will do doubt require putting it under vacuum. I have a vacuum pump and I can use a canning jar as a small bell jar, but I have no prior experience working with casting resin, so no doubt some trial and error will be involved. Since this is the coolest technology on the planet, my inner geek really wants it to look the part as well. Of course, it doesn't HAVE to look like a prop from a science fiction movie in order to do what it does, I just WANT it to....
I am thinking of reorganizing the arrangement so that instead of the baseplate being basically 15x29 inches, it will be more like 12x28 inches. The main coils will be horizontal axis in the center, with the HV section on one side and the LV section on the other side. I can build up the boards in vertical stacks, so basically the HVM would be the bottom board on the HV side, then on top of it the multipliers, then on top of that the PPV's and input circuit. On the LV side the bottom board would be the rectifiers, then on top of that the caps or batteries, then at the top (where it can dissipate heat effectively) the shunt regulator. The boards can be 12 inches wide, to match the length of the coil forms, so the whole device should be a box basically about 12x28x12. I just got some more funds so I'm planning on ordering some green fluorescent acrylic sheet to build out of. The fluorescent acrylic is UV-reactive and glows very strongly. It's possible the HV/HF coming from the coils themselves will be strong enough to drive a fluorescent tube when in operation, so I'll put blacklight tubes next to the coils and the whole thing will light up and glow. Perhaps also some electroluminescent wire strategically placed, I haven't figured that out yet. If I can pull it off, it will indeed look like a prop from some sci-fi movie when I'm done. Then a decal that says "21st Century Motor Company"-- a few might get that reference....
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