ENERGY AMPLIFICATION

[Dave45]

There's more to it, coils are bidirectional because the electric field is bidirectional, watch this vid and notice the coil vibrates in two directions from the center out, this is the electric field that orbits outside the coil perpendicular to the magnetic field that causes this.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bZfwQAAMk0

This is one reason our transformers heat up and have loses

[Flux It]

There's a patent on a crystal radio that powered itself and the only prerequisite to make the device work  was that the coils be perpendicular to each other. I mapped the electric field around the solenoid coils this is what it looked like, in the radio he had only two coils but I carried it a little farther to get the point across and to help me visualize it.
I make these images to help me learn, and a picture is worth a thousand words.

Something else that is of interest is the way these magnetic forks in an alternator loop around and bring the magnetic field into the plane of the electric field, Im sure this would boost both fields.

I have not seen that patent but is my understanding the coils were placed that way so as not to affect each other. The fields are actually much smaller and do not extent that far out. Was the patent from Henry Ford?

[Dave45]

Walter Ford�s High-powered Crystal Set
In the 1961 edition of the Electronics Experimenter�s Handbook, there is an interesting circuit from Walter B. Ford for a high-power crystal set capable of powering a 2.5-inch loudspeaker:



He says: Here�s a pint-sized crystal radio with enough power to drive a 2.5� speaker. This little unit's selectivity is far better than you would expect to find in a crystal re�ceiver and volume is equal to that obtained with sets using a transistor. No external power source is required.

The unusual selectivity of this radio is due to its special double-tuned circuit. A pair of diodes connected as a voltage-doubler provides the extra power to operate the small speaker. An output jack is provided for headphone listening and for connecting the set to an amplifier.

Construction: The model was built on a 2.5� x 4.5" wooden chassis with a 3.5" x 4.5� metal front panel. However, size is not critical, and other materials can be substi�tuted if desired.

Two standard ferrite loopsticks, L2 and L3, are used. Both must be modified by the addition of a second winding. L1 and L4, respectively. Each of the added windings consists of 22 turns of No. 24 cotton-covered wire wound on a small cardboard tube as shown in the picture. (Actually, any wire size from No. 22 to No. 28 with cotton or enamel insulation will do the job).

The diameter of the cardboard tube should be slightly larger than L2 and L3 so that L1 and L4 will slip overL2 and L3 easily.

Resistor R1 is used only for feeding the set into an amplifier; it should be omitted for both earphone and loudspeaker opera�tion. Trimmer capacitor C2 should be sol�dered across the stator terminals of two-gang variable capacitor C1a/C1b as shown. The speaker and output transformer can be mounted wherever convenient.

If a metal chassis is used, then be sure to insulate the aerial and earth connection sockets from the chassis. When all of the parts have been mounted on the chassis, wire them together follow�ing the schematic and pictorial diagrams. Be sure that diodes D1 and D2 and capaci�tors C3 and C4 are connected correctly, paying attention to their polarity.

While this is interesting, what appears to be a key factor is contained in the drawings, where he states that the only important thing is that it is essential for the two sets of coils to be mounted perpendicular to each other:

Yes it was by Ford
I think the electric field from one coil is in the magnetic plane of the other and the same for the other coil, I would think this is where the energy is coming from to power the device.

[Dave45]

In the typical transformer pic, I think winding another winding on the other side of the primary would be a step in the right direction.
the added secondary would need to be wound opposite the secondary already there, the electric field has two sides one cw and the other ccw.
Winding the primary bifilar like the JT would be a good idea as well.

[Flux It]

Well at least I got the last name correct 

I read up on this a few weeks ago. My take is the perpendicular coils are such to reduce RF interference. The reason it powers itself is because it is a crystal radio receiver. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio

The only difference is the larger speaker that was used by adding a voltage doubler to match the impedance.