Joule Thief 101

[MileHigh]

Well, how about that?  I didn't even know that there was a whole series of chips for energy harvesting.  I stopped reading Electronic Engineering Times "magazine" and EDN about 1991.  Just from a quick glance it looks to me like you could use one of those chips at the heart of a design to suck the juice out of an AA battery that will suck juice beyond any possible Joule-Thief-style circuit you could ever imagine or design on your bench.  Those chips make the Joule Thief look like it is something right out of the Stone Age.

But we can't forget that the bench research done around here is bleeding and weeping edge, and conventional EE'rs are stuck in the past and only know what is in books.

http://www.eetimes.com/
http://www.edn.com/

[SeaMonkey]

I must have missed the point in time when they let us exchange our 22 cents for $4.40

Sorry, INFLATION doesn't work that way.

my money is still the same,
only difference is gas costs more...

That is precisely the desired illusory effect of the
process of INFLATION.  Your money is worth a tiny
fraction of what it once was but you're content
because you believe you're making more.

If "today's" money is 20x more, why aren't we all making $50-60 an hour as min wage?

Again, because that is the desired illusion of
INFLATION - more inflated dollars with an actual
purchasing power much less than before.

Your question is a good one.  You need to ask it of
your congressional representatives.  I bet you'll
get a spiffy answer from them.

Waking Up to the deceptions which have become
SOP for our World is a big step.

Minimum Wage in 1960 was $1.00/Hr.  To achieve
the equivalent purchasing power today's minimum
should be $20.00/Hr.  Is it?

[picowatt]

Well, how about that?  I didn't even know that there was a whole series of chips for energy harvesting.  I stopped reading Electronic Engineering Times "magazine" and EDN about 1991.  Just from a quick glance it looks to me like you could use one of those chips at the heart of a design to suck the juice out of an AA battery that will suck juice beyond any possible Joule-Thief-style circuit you could ever imagine or design on your bench.  Those chips make the Joule Thief look like it is something right out of the Stone Age.

But we can't forget that the bench research done around here is bleeding and weeping edge, and conventional EE'rs are stuck in the past and only know what is in books.

http://www.eetimes.com/
http://www.edn.com/

Energy harvesting smart tags running off a store's fluorescent lighting offering a nearby customer's smartphone a deal on the item he/she is standing in front of... "Hey buddy, down here, I'm on sale, you should buy me" ( how did we ever live without that?).

Sarcasm aside, there are some more "useful" applications...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7G7TyNL01Q

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=energy+harvester

PW

[tinman]

Well, how about that?  I didn't even know that there was a whole series of chips for energy harvesting.  I stopped reading Electronic Engineering Times "magazine" and EDN about 1991.  Just from a quick glance it looks to me like you could use one of those chips at the heart of a design to suck the juice out of an AA battery that will suck juice beyond any possible Joule-Thief-style circuit you could ever imagine or design on your bench.  Those chips make the Joule Thief look like it is something right out of the Stone Age.

But we can't forget that the bench research done around here is bleeding and weeping edge, and conventional EE'rs are stuck in the past and only know what is in books.

http://www.eetimes.com/
http://www.edn.com/

Yes,and my idea using a J/FET never came from any book.
Common sense say's that if there is not enough voltage to switch on a transistor or mosfet,then you use one that is already in an on state,and boost the voltage via a step up transformer to switch the fet off.
Just the same as having a large engine with lot's of torque,but not enough RPM to do the job that needs doing--you simply gear it up until the desired RPM is obtained.

New things are never found in book's first. They are discovered,and then go into books.


Lol-self charging flash light anybody? 

Brad

[MileHigh]

Common sense say's that if there is not enough voltage to switch on a transistor or mosfet,then you use one that is already in an on state,and boost the voltage via a step up transformer to switch the fet off.

Yeah well I would have to say that that doesn't make any sense at all.  But don't let that stop you since this whole thread is filled with nonsensical statements by you and just about nobody says anything about it.