Source of energy, Testatika

[TinselKoala]

Actually there is another explanation, that of a hoax or fraud. I wish that it wasn't so; the Testatika is the most intriguing of many devices I've thought about over the years, by far.

All of the phenomena of the Testatika can be duplicated, I believe, by a simple, if rather large, inductive power transmission/reception system. The Testatika machine itself includes the bare minimum components of an inductive power receiver: coils of wire, capacitors, mineral crystal diodes, resistive/inductive loads, as well as perhaps some superfluous or spurious components. The transmission loops and other components of the wireless inductive transmission system could have been concealed in the walls or tables or otherwise nearby the operating machines.

I can't immediately see how the disks are made to turn by the received power, but certainly an external load can be energised quite well by the visible components of a Testatika, driven by a concealed inductive wireless power transmission system, which itself is getting its power in the normal manner.

I didn't know about the sparking that had been observed, thanks for telling me that. But what started me thinking more heavily about the inductive system was the fact, mentioned above, that I also didn't know: the Testatika doesn't work in a Faraday cage. Wow.

Static machines like Wimshurst or Bonetti, which the Testatika resembles, work just fine inside a Faraday cage, in fact maybe even better than outside.
But inductive wireless power transfer systems do not work "through" a Faraday cage screen.

A Bonetti machine operating inside a large complete Faraday screen room:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYGFqkXjwZc

An inductive wireless power transfer system that does NOT work thru a Faraday screen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hoq5C7ecRdU

In a different video, off topic, I show that that same system can't transmit through a Faraday screen. So you could imagine, in the latter video, that the transmitting loop was all around the demonstration room in the walls, and the coils and caps and diodes of the Testatika machine are receiving, detecting and rectifying the power, and allowing some to be used to power the usual bank of lights or other external loads, and some of it is used in a clever motor arrangement to drive the disks and commutate the DC into.... AC at the mains frequency, 50 or 60 Hz depending on the segments. It actually all could fit.

[Shanti]

But the air ion theory as the energy source for the testatika does not stand up to scrutiny. The fine weather earth atmosphere conduction current is 2 x 10^-16 amps/sq cm. or 2 X 10^-12 amps/sq metre,  see B.F Schonland "Atmospheric Electricity" page 41 and Chapter 2  Electric Fields and Atmospheric Electric Currents.

Yes, this is exactly why I said, that IMHO the machine ionizes the air, and doesn't collect the air ions. For then it is not limited by the natural atmospheric ion flow, but only by the local saturation of the e-field.
There could even be no natural ions, and it would still work like that. The only thing you need, is the earth e-field and an open connection to the atmosphere.

It seems to me that the only other possibilities are some sort of free energy discovery or radioactivity such as Moray and Hubbard and others used used 90 years ago.

As already mentioned: IMHO way too many points speak against the radioactive power theory. And I could even name a lot more points, which speak against this theory.
Sure there remains the possibility, that the machine worked on a completely unknown discovery.
But then we would still have the explanations from Methernitha that:
* it worked with air ions
* the machine stopped after a while in a closed room.
* the machine didn't work in a faraday cage
* the machine did output more power during a thunderstorm
* the basic idea of the machine was inspired by observing lightning flashes
* they couldn't size the machines up.

And all these points would IMHO be consistent with the air ionization theory, whereas I see no reason, how they could match the radioactive power theory. And i personally didn't yet find any other theory matching these statements. This is why I personally currently hold this theory as the most likely.

BTW: I personally really think that e.g. Moray's device didn't get its power due to radioactive sources. Then why should he have needed such a big antenna (which was even oriented according to the earths magnetic field) ? Just as a priming signal ? Come on...
A hint to me is that during a long run test of the device, they reported an unusual good sunny weather for the time of the year...
But that's another story, and surely offtopic here.

Actually there is another explanation, that of a hoax or fraud.

Sure there is always the possibility of a hoax. But IMHO too many points speak against a hoax. First. To transmit that amount of power inductively, is almost impossible if you don't have a coupling of very short distance. E.g. Tesla still needed quite big receiving inductors to get that, not to mention the size of the sending inductor. Also if you look at the Intel transmitting system, they also needed quite big inductances. Simply because you need that enough field lines go through your inductor surface. Also it was possible to hold the machines oriented anyway you liked, when they were running, which would be a disaster for an inductive coupling.
Or said otherwise. If you manage to transmit that amount of power with such a bad coupling, then this would be a real feat, and then your neighbors wouldn't be very happy, for obvious reasons...

Also in one of the reports it is stated, that the visitor was for a time alone in the room, and he looked everywhere if there's some inductive coupling circuit in the room, under the table, etc., but didn't find anything.

It would also be completely illogical, that they themselves point out, that they tested it, and the machine doesn't work in a Faraday-cage. Why should they tell that if it was a fake? No visitor ever saw this test.

When S&S tested the machine under load with measuring instruments, they could even take the machine apart before the test. So there are IMHO not many remaining possibilities to fake here.

Also the history of the machines point into the direction that this was no fake. Why should they have made these huge machines?  Just the used perspex alone was already extremely costly. And they certainly wouldn't have been needed just to pull off a fraud.


But I personally think it is quite likely, that the machine didn't had the power output as declared. So in this relation they maybe bent the truth a little... On the other hand, AFAIK they never explicitly said, that the machine would deliver 3kW continuously.

[Shanti]

@Mike:
Actually it would be interesting, when your friend's friend heard from Bosshard about the problems with the big machines. Do you know in which year this was?


@Stefan:
IMHO it would be very interesting to know in which context Mr Bosshard said to you that "the secret lies in the crystals".
Were you talking about the power source of the Testatika, or the Testatika in general, or just some random talk about this and that?


I'm still asking myself what Mr Bosshard actually knows. E.g. in the Net-Journal from Jan/Feb 2004 is an interview with a visitor from 1999. He reports that he asked Mr Bosshard, if radioactive materials are used. Then Mr Bosshard asked this question to Mr Baumann, and he said no.
But why did he have to ask Mr Baumann this question. This seems to me, as if Mr Bosshard, at least at that time (which was quite late, related to the machines history) didn't really knew details of the machine.


Also in the Net-Journal Sept/Okt 2011, there is a passage, where Mr Bosshard tells, what Mr Baumann told him, and this is only a very slight hint, on how the machine does work. Why should he have hinted Mr Bosshard such a thing, if Mr Bosshard actually knew the secret. Would seem strange to me.

[Magluvin]

 

[mikewatson]

Marinov visited Methernita in the late 1980's-early 1990's. See "Thorny Way of Truth Part V, there is the account of his visit (In German). Marinoy told me he handled the little single disk machine. He had to spin the disk to start it and he could easily stop it by putting a finger on the rim, there was a small resistance to the disk stalling and then the disk motion would suddenly stop with no further activity unless the disk was manually spun again. Marinov thought that the Testatika was based on the rotating ampere bridge, which Marinov thought was reaction-less. Later Marinov's friend Prof. Pappas proved that the ampere bridge was not reaction-less (did not violate the laws of energy conservation).
Another story roughly like this:- when Baumann was in prison (for some years) he made a simple device in the prison workshop to give him light to read at night after the prison lights were off. It consisted of a horizontal plastic strip or paddle with wire gauze or mesh at each end. This was moved back and forth horizontally over similar fixed gauze mesh pads mounted on a base. Electricity generated was stored in something (capacitor ?)to give him light at night. It was said that "Baumann was never without light at night" presumably to read by. So it is based something simple, which a Swiss watchmaker could easily get in prison.
Stefan Hartmann, moderator of this site (?) visited Methernita and produced a report,which I have somewhere so (if it is him) he may be able to cast more light (excuse the pun) on this subject.


Mike