Testing the TK Tar Baby

[picowatt]

Maybe this will help:

Resistance (R) and reactance (X) are both measured in "ohms".

An ideal resistor has the same value in ohms at all frequencies.  This includes DC and AC.

Reactance is associated with changing DC or AC currents.  Reactance varies with the rate or frequency of the changing DC or AC current.

With "capacitive reactance", the value in ohms DECREASES as the rate of change or frequency is increased.

With "inductive reactance", the value in ohms INCREASES as the rate of change or frequency is increased.

"Impedance" (Z), also in "ohms", is the sum of both resistance and reactance, usually at a specified frequency.


Loosely stated otherwise, capacitors present a low impedance path for high frequencies while inductors present a high impedance path for high frequencies.


For example:

The "capacitances" intrinsic to the the MOSFET's are a low impedance path for AC current at the frequency of the oscillation in the NERD circuit.

The "inductances" of the wires connecting the batteries to the NERD circuit are a high impedance path for AC current at the frequency of the oscillation in the NERD curcuit.


Regarding the wiring inductance:

All conductors have an associated inductance.  This is why it has been stated several times that "a wire is not always just a wire".  In the March video, it looks like there is at least 200cm of wire between the positive most battery terminal and the positive connection at the NERD circuit.  There is also a similar length of wire connecting the negative most battery terminal to the NERD circuit.  There is a formula for determining the inductance in those lengths of wire, but using an online calculator may be wiser.

http://www.consultrsr.com/resources/eis/induct5.htm

Assuming 10-12 gauge wire, plugging 2.2mm diameter and 200cm length into the calculator gives us approximately 3uH of inductance in each of the long battery wires between the batteries and the NERD circuit.

This 3uH of inductance has an associated reactance that acts like a resistor that changes value with frequency.

At the frequencies involved in the NERD oscillation, 3uH represent a relatively large resistance between the batteries and the NERD circuit.

Another online calculator:

http://www.66pacific.com/calculators/xl_calc.aspx

At 2.5MHz, the reactance of 3uH is approximately 47 ohms.  This means that for AC at the oscillation frequency, each battery lead wire is acting like a 47 ohm resistor.  With the 'scope leads connected to the NERD circuit board, the battery trace is not measuring the AC voltage at the batteries, but is actually measuring the AC voltage drop across the two 47 ohm resistances in the battery lead wires due to the inductance of the lead wires.

Each of the four battery interconnect wires also have an associated inductance.  Again, using 2.2mm as the diameter, the inductance of 10cm of a straight wire is approximately 90 nanohenry.  The reactance of 90nHy at 2.5MHz is approximately 1.4 ohms.  Therefore, at the oscillation frequency, each of the four battery interconnect cables adds an additional 1.4 ohms of resistance to the battery string. (assumes 5 batteries in series)

Additionally, each battery has an associated inductance.  A quick measurement of a 12volt FLA battery from a vehicle yielded approximatey 360nHy of inductance.  At the frequency of oscillation, the reactance of 360nHy is 5.7 ohms.  This means that each battery will act as if an additional 5.7ohm resistor is in series with each battery at the frequency of the oscillation.     

So, the inductance of the wires connecting the batteries and the inductance of the batteries themselves represent a total of 47+47+(4X1.4)+(5X5.7)= 128.1 ohms of reactance at the oscllation frequency.  This is a total reactance (resistance) of 128 ohms in series with the batteries due to lead and battery inductance at the frequency of oscillation.


If anyone is wondering why I used 2.5MHz for the oscillation frequency as opposed to the  1.26MHz indicated on the 'scope, I provide the following:

Looking at the battery trace in FIG4, we see a series of positive peaks each representing one-half of a sine wave.  Measuring at the FWHM (Full Widh at Half Maximum), we see that this half-sine is approximately 200nanoseconds (200ns) wide at the FWHM.  Doubling this width to 400ns gives us the width of the full sine wave associated with the half-sine peaks.  Inverting the 400ns value gives us a frequency of 2.5MHz as the frequency associated with the half-sine peaks visible on the battery trace.  Yes, the 'scope is reading closer to 1.26MHz, but this is merely the repition rate of the indicated 2.5MHz half-sine peaks.  Switching the 'scope to FFT mode will show a predominant peak at close to 2.5MHz (and 1.26MHz) on the battery trace.


     

[TinselKoala]

@PW: Thanks for that clear explanation. You've described very clearly why my Philips counter often "doubles" the frequency when measuring this circuit. It's actually telling me real information, in conjunction with the waveforms measured on the scope itself.

I'm looking for the "FFT" switch on my HP180a......       

(Actually I've been trying for a long time to get hold of a 8558B Spectrum Analyser plug-in for the scope. This would be very handy for my work in many areas, but I just can't afford one at this point.)


Somehow I just don't think we are ever going to get to that point where the "scales fall from her eyes" and she sees the Light. I mean... you need _equations_ to understand "Team Classical's" interpretation of electronics. When Ainslie's thesis explains everything, with no equations and no math beyond taking some random numbers, adding and subtracting them until you get to "1836", then stopping.
Zipons are so much simpler and easier to understand.

When will the first Zipon Oscilloscope be invented, I wonder? I mean... all the scopes I know about only measure electrical tension and time.

[TinselKoala]

Capacitors are physical devices that make use of electric fields to store energy. But any storage of energy in electric fields is referred to as capacitance or capacity. Physical "plates" and "dielectrics" that you can hold in your hand are not necessary except to make components with.
But the Earth itself is one big "plate" of a capacitor, and _everything_ that has a charge difference with respect to this huge plate, will have some energy stored in the electric field _potential difference_ between that something and the Earth.
And anything carrying charge will have this electrical field "potential" between it and other charge carriers.

The Voltage Room analogy taught us, or should have, that charge accumulates on the outside of conductors, is self repelling, conserved, and fundamental. So for a given spacing and applied voltage, the more area of plate the larger the capacitance. For a given area and voltage, the closer the spacing the higher the capacitance... like compressing a spring.
The _dielectric_ material is there just to allow the "plates"... the charged surfaces... to come more closely together without sparking across and neutralizing the charge _difference_ between the plates.
Larger area, closer spacing, stronger dielectric: more capacity for charge and higher possible voltage before breakdown and self-neutralisation. Hence capacitors made of long strips of aluminised polythene rolled up into tight cylinders. Hence air-variable caps with adjustable plate overlap or spacing. Hence HV transmitting caps made of solid blocks of barium titanate with embedded studs for electrodes. Hence _capacitance_ values given to _single conductive surfaces_ like the top spheres or toroids of VDG or Tesla machines. Hence Tesla's emphasis on elevated capacities, on interturn capacitance in coils, and on the Schumann cavity resonance made possible by the Earth's capacity: the plates being the ionosphere and the surface of the ground, the dielectric being the space (and some atmosphere) between them.

Still nothing for Zipons to do.... the electrons and their inseparable unit negative charges are doing all the work in a fairly well-understood manner, describable and predictable by _equations_ containing in many cases universal mathematical and physical constants like pi or e or even i ........ while all the zipons can do is run around waving their arms shouting "1836! 1836!"

[TinselKoala]

Pi.
The Greek lower-case letter π.

What is pi, anyway? What does it represent as a physical constant?

Some people will tell you it's the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. C=πD or π=C/D or C=2πr where r is the half-diameter or radius.

But.... but.... pi is an _irrational_ number, that cannot be expressed as a ratio of integers. And the circle thing is only exactly valid in perfectly flat, Euclidian space... which is a non-existent abstraction.

[TinselKoala]

Ah.... she "gets it" now. But does she, or is she still playing .99 like a fish?


Let's see.
If she really GETS IT, then she definitely owes Mile High, Picowatt, and ME some very public and abject apologies. Will these be forthcoming?

Two images below: the first from yesterday, the second from today.