How long until a net power attempt

[Roger]

Again, I was asking what has to be answered BEFORE a net power device would be attempted.

Who is paying the bill? 50 million should cover it.

[KitemanSA]

I see at least 2 experimental devices before a net power attempt:
- a 'continuous' WB-7 scale device.
- a larger version of the above to validate scaling.

I think at least one more should be resolved before net power, that of sphericity. To dodec or not.

Seriously?

I may be misunderstanding something, but it seems to me that winding coils of one size is not much more difficult than winding them of another. All other problems being equal, what is the point in building a machine that can only tell you more about the scaling equations, as opposed to a machine that could give you some idea of how to build a power generating system.

I guess what i'm trying to say, whether it be dodec or whatever, the guts are relatively cheap. Build a test chamber and power supply system big enough to handle whatever you want to put into it.

David

You get no argument from me on your last point. Build the chamber big enough for all needs.
I just think that the plan regarding what to put into that chamber etc. should include a targeted dodec with intermediate steps of 6 (cube) and then 8 coils (octahedron) being installed in the chamber. That will give a good set of data for BOTH scaling (the core size will increase with each addition of coils) AND the sphericity will improve (at least between the cube and the dodec). Most bang for the buck.

Yes, I do hope that the new coils are designed for continuous operation. Superconductive would be nice. Improved feed would be nice (especially if needed for ContOp).

[MSimon]

You get no argument from me on your last point. Build the chamber big enough for all needs.

That really is not a good idea. Wasted space. Extra fuel inventory. More pumping power. Extra pump down time. etc.

I'd like to see the cube experiments continue so apples can be compared to apples. A dodec if cooled requires a lot more connections to the outside world.

If the factor of 3X to 5X improvement is critical for success we are in trouble to begin with. It may help with production reactors (operating economics), but I don't see much gain for experiments.

Of course I could be wrong.