Thoughts on Earth Lines

[the_big_m_in_ok]

MileHigh said:

You have probably seen clips on YouTube where people use antennas, diodes and capacitors go get power from the air.

I have indeed.  One guy got 120V max @ .03 A max(he claimed).  The video is on one of the Tesla forums, I think.

  They are lucky if they can charge a 10 uF cap to 5 volts in 24 hours.  That's something like nanowatts of power.

That would be 3.6 watts on a good day, and maybe .5-.75 watt on a typical day.  But not *nanowatts.*

With some sort of large antenna array, the amount of power you could extract from the air would probably be something between mircowatts or nanowatts of power per square meter.

There are several patents that were suspended as tethers from balloons.  High altitude is also high voltage.  Now suppose the balloons were attached to a circular pole system as well as being high altitude balloons?  Their accumulation effects may add to each other?
I realize one needs a lot more wire to get the same amount of power away from municipal power lines.  I said as much on another post.
But, copper wire isn't really expensive unless it needs replacing.  Chemically treated poles are more expensive, but they should last, especially if they're made of something like a South Amercan wood used to build piers.  Galvanized steel as high as a radio transmission tower?

A 100 square mile antenna array would be the world's largest megaproject.  The amount of energy expended and the cost to build it would be astronomical.

A square, interconnecting grid may not be necessary.  Radiating wires coming to a central point should be enough, for a simpler alternative.  They do have to be long, though.

The number crunching on the return on investment doesn't look very good.   

There's a rumor it was done, either in Alaska or Canada.  National defense was the motivation.  For that reason, it didn't matter what it cost.  A way can be found for enough of a reason.

--Lee   

[MileHigh]

The Big:

That would be 3.6 watts on a good day, and maybe .5-.75 watt on a typical day.  But not *nanowatts.*

It's imperative that you understand the difference between power and energy.  I suggest that you research it.  Just for fun, I will pose a question:  If your antenna can charge a 10 uF cap to 5 volts in 24 hours, what is the average power level?  You don't have to answer, but the real question is are you capable of answering it.

Your treatise is interesting, but not practical.  I am not going to get into a big debate with you but the bottom line is that you simply can't get useful and reliable amounts of power from some sort of an antenna arrangement.  The EM energy density is simply too small to make anything at all practical.  You can generate millions and millions times more power per square meter using solar cells.

MileHigh

[jadaro2600]

I think I misunderstood my own thoughts, the parallel bars will conduct, however, the brush would be stationary, and the wire is not.

I'll have to look around some more for the book I read this in, but for now, the idea seems dead.

[the_big_m_in_ok]

MileHigh
said:

... I suggest that you research it.  Just for fun, I will pose a question:  If your antenna can charge a 10 uF cap to 5 volts in 24 hours, what is the average power level?  You don't have to answer, but the real question is are you capable of answering it. ...

http://www.mpoweruk.com/alternatives.htm

http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-ohm.htm

Well, okay, the way you ask the question, "No."  I'll have to try and remember that power is energy over time.  A watt is 3,600 joules/hr.  A joule is 1 amp acting on 1 ohm in one second.
Capacitors don't necessarily exhibit resistance like a resistor, though.  Correct me if I'm wrong.  And a farad is merely a voltage potential.

The capacitor you illustrate would have an energy level of =  .000001 X 5 X 5  X .5 = .0000125 joule

...assuming the capacitor was fully charged?

--Lee

[triffid]

I have to agree with mile high,Until those who have claimed 50 kilowatts from the sky with only a small box of contents and 200 feet of antenna wire tell the rest of us how they did it.I have to agree that the antenna systems I've seen on u-tube or here at overunity.com don't produce much power at all.22 joules is not much power at all.Which is what Tommey Reed said he got on his video clip.Still its wonderful that its there at all.Triffid