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Picture it Adam West in a delusion of grandeur convinced that he is Batman. That is the Batman movie I want. Is that so crazy? I mean we had a Batman suit with nipples and we had Cast Iron Man so why not Adam West again in a super hero comedy? Just imagine throughout the movie Adam West in the various Bat Suits walking around talking like Mayor West from Family Guy.
Most people are familiar with 3 states of matter being solid, liquid, and gas but a lot of people are not familiar with the 4th. The fourth state of matter is plasma defined as an ionized gaseous mixture consisting of highly charged positive ions and free electrons (negative charge) that result in little or no electric charge. The amount of energy in each state of matter increases as you progress. Plasma is typically created at low pressures or at very high temperatures. Believe it or not plasma is the most common form of matter in the universe. [taken from definition, wiki, and general knowledge]
Examples of plasma are neon signs, CFL bulbs, lightning strikes and probably what I’m most interested in Fusion (the sun). Uses of plasma can be found in the manufacturing of electronic components such as semiconductors, metal plating of glass/silicon/etc, mineral extraction, ion propulsion and one day a very clean and efficient energy source.
Plasma conducts electricity and can be manipulated with a magnetic field. These properties are at the core of what I want to accomplish with the plasma chamber.
Microwave Plasma Chamber Part 1 & Part 2
Click here to browse through posts written about my interests in Microwave Projects
Welcome to episode 4 of the Bronzeville FanCast covering episode 3 of the Bronzeville Series. You’re hosts this week are DW Witch Doctor and MrRedBeard. We will be covering every new release of Bronzeville.
Be sure to check out our Bronzeville FAQ.
RSS Feed for the Bronzeville FanCast – http://www.mickred.com/category/bronzeville/feed/
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Check back here for episodes, articles and hopefully interviews
Excerpt of Louis Armstrong’s cover of Old Man Mose which is Public Domain which was remixed
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Welcome to episode 3 of the Bronzeville FanCast covering episode 2 of the Bronzeville Series. You’re hosts are MickGinger, DW Witch Doctor and MrRedBeard. We will be covering every new release of Bronzeville.
Be sure to check out our Bronzeville FAQ.
RSS Feed for the Bronzeville FanCast – http://www.mickred.com/category/bronzeville/feed/
What did you hear? Tell us on twitter!
Check back here for episodes, articles and hopefully interviews
Excerpt of Louis Armstrong’s cover of Old Man Mose which is Public Domain which was remixed
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Welcome to episode 2 of the Bronzeville FanCast covering episode 1 of the Bronzeville Series. You’re hosts are MickGinger, DW Witch Doctor and MrRedBeard. We will be covering every new release of Bronzeville.
Be sure to check out our Bronzeville FAQ.
RSS Feed for the Bronzeville FanCast – http://www.mickred.com/category/bronzeville/feed/
Aunt Sally’s Policy Players’ Dream Book & Policy Pete’s Dream Book
Bronzeville: Black Chicago in Pictures, 1941 – 1943
What did you hear? Tell us on twitter!
Check back here for episodes, articles and hopefully interviews
Excerpt of Louis Armstrong’s cover of Old Man Mose which is Public Domain which was remixed
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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There’s a lot of in-depth overview random basic RF information. With that said I don’t mind getting into the details because this information will help keep me safe while I perform experiments in the future.
A magnetron generates large amounts of RF energy and emits that energy as an antenna pumped through a wave guide. Most microwaves transmit/operate at 2.45GHz. Unless something is wrong with your microwave or you have taken it apart like I will be doing the RF energy, 2.45GHz, transmission is contained within your microwave using a Faraday cage. On your right is an example of a crude Faraday cage. While crude this mesh size would probably be safe to use for 2.4GHz.
A microwave oven works by pumping a lot of RF energy into an enclosure where it bombards the molecules of food or whatever you have put in your microwave. This RF energy is not in a straight line but is guided through a wave guide then and then bounced off the metal walls of the inside of the microwave. The RF energy then vibrates the molecules which creates heat. This is like when you rub your hands together (friction) and they get warm but on a molecular level. What I don’t want is my molecules to get vibrated.
The Faraday cage is made up of the mesh in the window as well as the metal case which share a chassis ground. The mesh in the window blocks the the RF because the mesh size is smaller than the wavelength of 2.45GHz/2450MHz/2450000000Hz. If the mesh size is lower than the nominal wavelength the mesh should be effective. Look at the list below to see what the wavelengths in size is. For this project I plan on using the RF blocking glass that I obtained samples of from Viracon which is way different than a Faraday cage but same principle. You can see the article I linked to but I also included an image here.
You can calculate the wavelength using the formula ? = c/? or 0.1223640816326531 = 299792000/2450000000
? = frequency in hz, c = speed of light in mps 299792000, ? = Wavelength in meters
N5JLC is my math right?
So basically if my mesh is smaller than 30mm, if I’m right, I should be protected. I plan to use the glass but if needed I will use hardware cloth.
In order to protect myself and nearby electronics I want to monitor external and internal RF to ensure there is not leakage. RF Meters in general are not that difficult to build but ones that cover the 2.4GHz range require a bit more than a germanium diode and multimeter. In short you’ll probably see a 2.4GHz RF Meter project coming soon. Below are some RF Meter projects but if you know of any please let me know.
Microwave Plasma Chamber – Part 1 – The Plan
Normally I throw together a project with rough notes, research along the way, then after half attempts/failures I get around to cooking that down to a post on here. This time you will get everything. With this project I will be posting my ideas, planning, results of research and the project in stages. Here’s my initial idea written out and some really rough ideas thrown on paper. This has been a project I’ve been wanting to do for some time now and have been talking about it forever.
Roughed together a drawing of my ideas and what I think will work for this project. No measurements in mind while throwing ideas on paper.
What I want is a chamber with viewing windows to see the plasma when it’s created. In addition to the view windows and enclosure I will need a power supply to drive this thing.
Took my drawing and opened SketchUp with considerations for what measurements I do have. As I type this staring at my digital drawing already considering separating the power supply making it usable for other projects in the future. It would be cool to have a high voltage isolation transformer for things like a Jacobs Ladder or an arc furnace.
Regardless of the power supply what I have in mind here is the plasma chamber with viewing windows which are 12 inches square. I plan to have a microcontroller monitor and remotely turn on or more importantly off the chamber.
The main chamber will have the magnetron from a microwave mounted inside of it with a metal housing around it and it’s electronics to protect them. The antenna portion of the magnetron will rest inside a waveguide (horn) that points at the center of the chamber. This directed energy will excite particles creating plasma. I probably need to consider a way to draw a vacuum inside the chamber for later experiments.
I plan to use parts of the original microwave casing and sheet metal for the housing. If I need more material I might scrap old PC cases. To help minimize RF leakage I am considering using aluminum duct tape and angled aluminum.
Need to look at the manufacturer specifications and double check my work but I think this how the magnetron wiring is done minus the existing controls.
PreRelease Late Night Edit – Remember how I said I’d share everything? Well do you see where on the capacitor I have an element leading to an X? I think I already screwed up and that is supposed to be a diode going to chassis ground.
I also have this crazy idea in the back of my head thinking of using pulse width modulation to have greater control of the RF output. That may be total non-sense but the implications could maybe be cool.
RF meters will be needed to monitor interior and exterior RF levels. I plan to build at least 2 of them and will post that project soon. I will post more about the RF energy in my next post of this project.
Click here to browse through posts written about my interests in Microwave Projects
Welcome to episode 1 of the Bronzeville FanCast. You’re hosts are MickGinger, DW Witch Doctor and MrRedBeard. We will be covering every new release of Bronzeville. Forgive us for the audio quality due to technical issues. The audio was cleaned up quite a bit and we promise to strive for better every time.
Be sure to check out our Bronzeville FAQ.
Click here to listen to the Bronzeville Series Preview
What did you hear? Tell us on twitter!
Listen to our interview with Kc Wayland about Bronzeville
Check back here for episodes, articles and hopefully interviews
Excerpt of Louis Armstrong’s cover of Old Man Mose which is Public Domain which was remixed
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
This is a project in the works but what the hey here’s sort of a preview. The plan is to use 2x 400MHz transceivers via 2x arduinos to control the motors on this RC car. I’ve already taken the original controller board out of the car and made room for the new components.
So I was sitting here setting up a SainSmart L293D Motor Driver using specs and guidance from Adafruit and either I missed something or the information is wrong. At 3.5vdc it works but could be pushed so I grabbed an 18vdc drill battery thinking it would be fine because the circuit as quoted from Adafruit below states that it is rated to 25vdc.
25vdc my foot cause as soon as I set it up smoke popped and I smell burning on both the arduino and motor controller. It still seems to work but surely problems will rear their head.
Just ordered better motor controllers (same as the one used in my R2D2) and 18650 battery holders. Wouldn’t be so bad but I think the arduino board is fried.
Just so anyone else is aware this is the link I purchased my L293D from on Amazon. I already complained but I’m not the first to do so.
4 H-Bridges: L293D chipset provides 0.6A per bridge (1.2A peak) with thermal shutdown protection, 4.5V to 25V
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-motor-shield/overview
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