NVIS equipment

[Lightspeed]

(11 July 2012, 21:27)Juice Wrote: Hi Lightspeed,
Yes you can use a car alternator; if you can spin it fast enough! - so best used on a combustion engine generator, unless you modify the alternator with permanent rare earth magnets - expensive!
How about making a generator from scratch and bespoke to your needs? Enter...

http://www.energy-creator.com/the-coil.php

I bought this guys video and highly commend it.
It explains how to make a powerful generator that creates power even from a low rpm - unlike the car alternator.
Using plain and simple tools, the generator is very easy to make and is quite novel!
See his videos!!

For more info on different electric generators, see link below

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_win...ators.html

Hopefully something like this (see earlier post) could help with our comms or power needs; now, in the field or post 'doo-doo hits the turbine'.

Cheers Juice.

Makes sense Juice,

I do not have a human powered generator yet. My thinking was to rig up an alternator on my bike training rig somehow, or even modding a rear wheel to act as a drive pulley ( with the bike in the stand.) Of course a low tech replaceable drive belt would also be needed.

I've also noticed on e-bay that you can pick up ex army hand generators designed for the Clansman radio kit. These are built combat and squaddie-proof, so should be extremely durable. Snag is that they are 24 volt, but they could be used to charge up a pait of 12v batteries wired in series of course.

Primarily I'm going down the Photo Voltaic Solar cell route so as to collect energu for free.

I see human powered generation as either an emergency solution or as a way both exercising and capturing the energy expended in that exercise during the extended lay-low period that I am planning for.

Do you really thing home made generators are a viable project for non-mechanical-toolshop savy folk like me?

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(12 July 2012, 04:17)Paul Wrote: Propogation is not always what it seems and the books don't account for "magic". You know the effect LS, it shouldn't work but it does.
i.e. The DV27 on the biscuit tin set up talking to Italy, etc.

For instance. Dorset CB'ers were moaning about Scottish signals swamping them at S5 this week. They in turn are chatting back at 4 watts FM.

Yesterday, our group was working a day net with the hub based in Hitchin, Herts. Huge amounts of atmospheric noise.
All 12 watt stuff, FM, most of us with 1/2 or 5/8 vertical dipoles, all mobile.



Mileage and signal strength [S1-5]
Hitchin
To Poole, Dorset. 134 miles [Variable S2-4]
To Norwich 90 miles [S3]
To Manchester 168 miles [Variable S2-4]
To Worcester 116 miles [S4]
To Woodhall Spa (Lincs) 111 miles [S2]
To Bedford 17 miles [S1]

As I said above, magic. Now I'll admit we've all got damn good rigs, receivers tuned WAY above factory spec but for 7 out of 9 of us holding decent conversations on such a bad noise day, it must have been magic.
The other two? Couldn't hear each other some 23 miles apart let alone us.

Paul,

You're right it is magic. This is precisely why I am fascinated in radio... there's still lots of stuff that is unexplainable, not least how flea power 1/2 watt signals can be detected on the other side ofthe planet.

The Dorset Scotland contact is explainable. its single skip again. probably off what is called the E layer. This is a sporadic summer phenomenum. Its fairly reliable and predictable. We can plan for it in our CB based coms prepping.

Yesterday's consitions are more exciting. What you were getting very closely corresponds with NVIS. If it was, it was a very rare phenomenum. Fascinating. Its exactly what we need for longer range UK coms. But we need to select frequencies where it will be fairly reliable for the task, not just possible on rare and exceptional occasions.