einfachnurRoland#PatrickSauter erklärt den #SparkGap und bringt damit den Unterschied zwischen #Habeck und #Reiche auf den Punkt:
YouTube
Dueark privatSehenswert!
https://youtu.be/PGF7LaseXJY
#energiepreise #energiepreis #sparkgap #strompreis #strompreise
Spark Gap: Der wahre Grund, warum die Energiewende scheitert!
Raglan Niall 
Explanation of energy policy and the difference in cost between a unit of energy from gas vs electricity. UK-focussed but definitely worth a watch for energy wonks globally
#Electricity #Renewables #StopBurningStuff #SparkGap #SimonClark
The biggest barrier to net zero
Ángela Stella MatutinaBuenas tardes, miserables.
Un toot que mandé la otra noche me hizo recordar: de chica, no llegaba a los diez años, inventé sin saber lo que hacía un transmisor de chispa. Bah, hubiera sido un transmisor si lo hubiera modulado siquiera con una tecla; más bien un generador de ruido: lo captaban las radios AM y nuestro televisor valvular. Sí, así de mugriento era su espectro, llegaba hasta VHF.
Consistía de un motorcito a pila con las escobillas en muy mal estado (esa es la parte de la chispa), seguro rescatado de algún juguete roto, en serie con una bobina que lamentablemente no recuerdo de qué dimensiones ni cuántas vueltas era ni si tenía núcleo, que actuaría de antena y con su modesta inductancia y también escasa capacitancia parásita le daría alguna forma a la emisión del cachivache.
A distancia de dos o tres metros creaba "nieve" en la pantalla de la pobre caja boba y en un mal día (tenía muchos, estaba al fin de su vida útil) lograba que se desenganchara el sincronismo vertical.
De más está decir que tuve que dejar de usarlo: interferir con la radio y la televisión en una casa donde vivía una señora jubilada, una ama de casa y un hincha fanático de Estudiantes era pecado mortal.
Seguro que se puede lograr por lo menos una fracción del efecto con el famoso oscilador que aprovecha el contacto "normal cerrado" de un relay, y si nos ponemos exquisitas, hasta sintonizarlo un poco. Pero en serio, no lo hagan salvo que tengan inclinación por el sabotaje electromagnético.
Ángela Stella Matutina (@[email protected])
> **There was a time when radio *was* electronics**, to all intents and purposes, and radio amateurs were at the vanguard of technology. And though electronics has moved on from those days of purely analogue communications and now stretches far beyond anything you’d need a licence and a callsign to investigate for yourself, there are still plenty of places in which an amateur can place themselves at the cutting edge. [This gives me hope](https://hackaday.com/2017/12/07/radio-amateuring-like-its-1975/). But we need a place for the lowest of low tech too. I mean, even crystal radios are a skill we should keep and perfect. Spark transmitters on the other hand probably we should forget about except in case of dire necessity. #HamRadio
Modern Spark Gap Transmitter Uses a Rotary Gap https://hackaday.com/2023/12/11/modern-spark-gap-transmitter-uses-a-rotary-gap/ #RadioHacks #sparkgap
Diane Bruce VA3DBOh more spark gap this time from a VE7
https://phasordesign.com/VE7CNFamateurRadio/SparkGap/VE7CNF_SparkGapTransmitter.htm
SmittyHalibut
hackaday unofficialSpark Plug and Plumbing Parts Bring Nitrogen Laser Under Control
When it comes to high-speed, high-voltage switching, there are a wealth of components to choose from -- MOSFETS, thyristors, IGBTs, and even vacuum tubes like thyratrons. But who needs all that expensive silicon (or glass) when all you need to build a high-voltage switch is some plumbing fixtures and a lathe?
At least that's the approach that budget-minded laser experimenter [Les Wright] took with his latest triggered spark gap build. We've been watching his work for a while now, especially his transversely excited atmospheric (TEA) lasers. These are conceptually simple lasers that seem easy to build, at least compared to other lasers. But they do require a rapid pulse of high voltage across their long parallel electrodes to lase, and controlling the pulse is where this triggered spark gap shines.
The spark gap is made from brass plumbing fittings on either end of a short PVC coupler. [Les] used his lathe to put a thread into one of the caps to accept a spark plug, the center electrode of which pokes through a small hole in the metal cathode. To trigger the spark gap, [Les] built a trigger generator that outputs about 15,000 volts, which arcs from the spark plug electrode to the spark gap cathode in the low-pressure nitrogen environment. Little spark leads to big spark, big spark discharges a capacitor across the laser electrodes, and you've got a controlled single-shot laser. Check it out in the video below.
Honestly, the more we see of [Les]' videos, the more we want to play with lasers and high voltage. From DIY doorknob caps to blasting Bayer arrays off cheap CCD cameras, there's always something fun -- and slightly dangerous -- going on in [Les]'s lab.
#laserhacks #highvoltage #laser #sparkgap #tea #thyristor #transverselyexcitedatmospheric
This Modular Differential Probe Shows Great Attention To Detail
[Petteri Aimonen] presents for us a modular differential probe, as his entry into the 2021 Hackaday Prize.
This project shows a simple and well polished implementation of a differential-to-single-ended preamplifier, which allows a differential signal to be probed and fed to an oscilloscope via a BNC cable.
PCB Spark gap for primary ESD protection
It implements a classic instrumentation amplifier, where we have two amplifier stages. The first gives us the options for a gain of either 1 or 10, if we need it, with the second stage having a gain of 2.
The remaining circuit is a power supply to generate the necessary dual-rail supplies to feed the opamps. There is a lot of filtering on those output rails as well as on the USB power input side to try keep all that switched-mode power supply noise out of the signal path.
There are a couple of interesting design choices including the use of PCB material for the long removable probe arms, that integrate PCB spark gaps to offer a first defence against ESD reaching the more delicate parts of the system.
Why This Is Useful
There are two main classes of signals we electronics engineers care about: single-ended and differential-mode.
With the first kind, the signal is carried on a single wire, which is defined as being referenced to the common system ground. Current flows along the wire and returns to its source along the path of least resistance, at least at low frequencies. At higher frequencies, the path of least inductance is more relevant. This is all well and good, so long as you design the PCB correctly.
Coupling from adjacent wires due to mutual capacitance and inductance, as well as noise in the reference ground all conspire to mangle the signal we want to pass down the wire.
As the frequencies increase, and especially if you're dealing with sharp edges, with all that extra odd-harmonic power, things start to get bad real fast. The way we deal with this is by utilising differential-mode signalling. This is where instead of a single wire, referenced to some notion of ground, we send the signal down a pair of wires, where the voltage difference between the wires forms the signal. Any external noise that leaks into the pair, will (hopefully!) affect both wires equally, forming what we call a common-mode component. When you look at the difference, this common mode noise disappears. (Our own [Bil Herd] covered this some time ago.)
When probing a circuit, it pays to have the right kind of probe as well as an understanding of the effect the probe will have on the circuit in operation. If you have a single-ended signal and you want to view it on your scope, your choice is either a passive or active probe. Usually some kind of passive probe will be most available. These commonly come in 50 Ω and 1 MΩ versions, and you need to be careful to use the correct probe type for your application.
For probing differential signals, it is possible to use a pair of probes, one for each signal wire, and then utilise the scope's math difference function to show the signal. This is quite often a desperate measure, and what you really want is a differential front-end in hardware. You need a differential active probe.
The circuit may be simple, but don't underestimate how much tweaking it needs to have good performance - a little slip with the PCB layout, as the author describes, caused some annoying resonances which can be hard to track down.
The project is still under active development, with the author showing the process as the project progresses, but its looking pretty good already, if you ask us.
Sources can found on his GitHib, which uses all Open Source tools, so its pretty accessible too.
The HackadayPrize2021 is Sponsored by:
#hardware #thehackadayprize #differentialprobe #pcb #sparkgap
Is that an EMP Generator in Your Pocket or Is My Calculator Just Broken?
Ah, what fond memories we have of our misspent youth, walking around with a 9,000-volt electromagnetic pulse generator in our Levi's 501s and zapping all the electronic devices nobody yet carried with them everywhere they went. Crazy days indeed.
We're sure that's not at all what [Rostislav Persion] had in mind when designing his portable EMP generator; given the different topologies and the careful measurement of results, we suspect his interest is strictly academic. There are three different designs presented, all centering around a battery-powered high-voltage power module, the Amazon listing of which optimistically lists as capable of a 400,000- to 700,000-volt output. Sadly, [Rostislav]'s unit was capable of a mere 9,000 volts, which luckily was enough to get some results.
Coupled to a spark gap, one of seven different coils -- from one to 40 turns -- and plus or minus some high-voltage capacitors in series or parallel, he tested each configuration's ability to interfere with a simple pocket calculator. The best range for a reset and scramble of the calculator was only about 3″ (7.6 cm), although an LED hooked to a second coil could detect the EMP up to 16″ (41 cm) away. [Rostislav]'s finished EMP generators were housed in a number of different enclosures, one of which totally doesn't resemble a pipe bomb and whose "RF Hazard" labels are sure not to arouse suspicions when brandished in public.
We suppose these experiments lay to rest the Hollywood hype about EMP generators, but then again, their range is pretty limited. You might want to rethink your bank heist plans if they center around one of these designs.
<https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/EMP-TEST-002.mp4>
#mischacks #electromagneticpulse #emp #highvoltage #hv #rf #scrambler #sparkgap
