Search found 1871 matches

by Tom Ligon
Sat Nov 17, 2007 5:24 am
Forum: Design
Topic: Pressure Control
Replies: 5
Views: 5898

MSimon, forgive me if I'm dropping into the conversation late and am missing something. I know you have calculated the amount of fusion won't produce enough helium to sneeze at, at least for the present. That's not why the UHV level is not the real problem. The big chamber in the old EMC2 lab had tu...
by Tom Ligon
Wed Aug 29, 2007 9:50 pm
Forum: History
Topic: Farnsworth experiments
Replies: 6
Views: 17572

Re: Farnsworth experiments

Does anybody have any good resource regarding Farnsworth's experiments? The expert on Farnsworth fusor history is Richard Hull over at fusor.net. He has interviewed the surviving researchers for all the down-and-dirty details. He recently posted info from a previously ignored source. Among other th...
by Tom Ligon
Tue Aug 28, 2007 3:15 pm
Forum: Theory
Topic: Need for superconducting magnets?
Replies: 16
Views: 15832

[ yes,i understand what you are saying. thanks. but what i am saying is to have plate electrodes just outside the device and charge those plates to a -ve potential and thus they will repel the electrons inside the device from hitting the sides. the separate electodes outside the device would be in ...
by Tom Ligon
Tue Aug 28, 2007 3:03 pm
Forum: Design
Topic: Experiments with solid-state magnets
Replies: 51
Views: 38427

Howdy Tom, Thanks for that NOAA link, I love the "total electron content" map. My kids will like the solar image - they mapped the sun during a summer camp - no sun spots at all during the two weeks they looked! Speaking of field maps, I'm working on some algorithms to map an arbitrary number of co...
by Tom Ligon
Tue Aug 28, 2007 12:56 am
Forum: Theory
Topic: Need for superconducting magnets?
Replies: 16
Views: 15832

Hello MSimon, I welcome criticism, advice, and anything else you care to throw my way. Can you please,please explain why we never use electrostatic feilds to confine charged particles and always stick with magnetic fields with their heat generation and large currents to maintain the feild... electr...
by Tom Ligon
Mon Aug 27, 2007 7:39 pm
Forum: Design
Topic: Experiments with solid-state magnets
Replies: 51
Views: 38427

Star magnetic fields

Dr. Mike, A year or two back, some articles came out on magnetars, which are neutron stars with mind-bogglingly intense magnetic fields, ten to the double-digits Teslas. Some fool pointed out that if a magnetar passed a hundred thousand miles away from you (less than half the distance to the Moon!) ...
by Tom Ligon
Fri Aug 24, 2007 9:50 pm
Forum: Design
Topic: Experiments with solid-state magnets
Replies: 51
Views: 38427

Solid state magnets definitely are seductive ...

How seductive are solid state magnets? Well, there is a well-shielded steel potato-chip can over in one corner of my garage, containing 6 really bitchin' ceramic donut magnets, sufficient to build a WB-1 machine (the little toy with the solid state magnets) but the size of WB-3. My intent was to pos...
by Tom Ligon
Fri Aug 24, 2007 9:36 pm
Forum: Design
Topic: Small scale experiments?
Replies: 17
Views: 21366

Experiments with no vacuum chamber ...

There probably are a few experiments that can be done without a vacuum chamber, but meaningful electron capture won't be one of them. Any plasma phenomena would be under the definition of Paschen Arc or similar discharges, and those are the bane of these machines. They are essentially caused by exce...
by Tom Ligon
Thu Aug 23, 2007 2:10 am
Forum: Fund-Raising
Topic: Navy Funds Dr. B
Replies: 47
Views: 68474

Hopefully there will be a press release soon.

I have not been specifically told to tell the world yet, or I would post the contents of the e-mail. Evidently the contract was signed on the 21st to supply the funds remaining on the old contract (so evidently the "no cost extension" of a few months ago that set off the refunding rumor was not so s...
by Tom Ligon
Thu Aug 23, 2007 1:05 am
Forum: Fund-Raising
Topic: Navy Funds Dr. B
Replies: 47
Views: 68474

This time it is for real.

I couldn't say anything, but looking at the long list of people on the e-mail list of the communication he sent me, I'd say the word is out. No more sitting on pins and needles wishing I could tell you. And all the publicity from folks like you, and websites like this, evidently were key to making i...
by Tom Ligon
Wed Aug 22, 2007 2:43 am
Forum: History
Topic: The work of Dr.Bussard in general
Replies: 11
Views: 18700

Ramjet

The idea of using pure H-H reaction somehow seems ridiculous to me, for starters, it takes more energy that what is given. Surely, the Doc didn't though of doing that. Some time in the last year or less I corresponded with Dr. Bussard regarding the interstellar ramjet. I wish I could find the refer...