Kid invents 'death ray' out of a satellite dish and 580 mirror tiles

[Joanne98]

Run time: 04:41 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvjFIFGHiC4   Posted on YouTube: January 31, 2011 By YouTube Member: EXOMATRlXTV Views on YouTube: 2081   Posted on DU: February 01, 2011 By DU Member: Joanne98 Views on DU: 2210

 
"Archimedes BUSTED Mythbusters" TIP: http://FreeEnergyNews.org ~credits:

http://youtube.com/EricJacqmain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes
The R5800 is my latest and greatest solar creation. Made from an ordinary fiberglass satellite dish, it is covered in about 5800 3/8" (~1cm) mirror tiles. When properly aligned, it can generate a spot the size of a dime with an intensity of 5000 suns! This amount of power is more than enough to melt steel, vaporize aluminum, boil concrete, turn dirt into lava, and obliterate any organic material in an instant. It stands at 5'9" and is 42" across.

[meegbear]

1. ...

[jpak]

2. Ants - be afraid

be very afraid

[Pab Sungenis]

3. Neat demonstration of concept

The "directed energy" weapons of science fiction all work along similar lines. But he created one in real life that doesn't need power.

The big problem is that the dish is designed to focus the beams a relatively short distance away from the dish (about 3 feet, usually to an LNB designed to receive signals from a satellite) making it impractical as a weapon unless you're already on top of the enemy and its size makes it impractical as a tool.

Still, impressive example of what can be done with a little work. Who says we can't get sufficient power from the sun?

[Plucketeer]

10. This is impressive.

But imagine a dish with adjustability to the degree of it's concave shape. Say one about 10 feet in diameter and calibrated and computer-controlled so you could flex it to focus the hot spot quite some distance away! I'm kinda surprized a larger version of this fixed type wasn't devised in BC times.

[Jackpine Radical]

13. I think one was. Archimedes described such a device.

[MineralMan]

4. I have an even better one. I'ts a 2' x3' fresnel lens, designed as

a magnifier for television sets. It focuses much more sharply than this kid's thing and produced a hot spot only 6mm in diameter. Poof!

[paparush]

7. Those things are absofreakinglutely awesome.

There are some great vids on Youtube using frenel lenses.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fresnel+lens&aq=0

[thereismore]

11. Doubtful. What is the size of that lens, and did you make it? nt

[MineralMan]

15. No, I did not make it. I bought it as surplus. As for your doubts,

you should see it in action. The parabolic deal this kid made has mirrors glued to it. Alignment is not perfect, so it's somewhat inefficient. The fresnel lens I have is near optical quality and focuses very sharply, with little scatter loss. It's great fun. I use it with a small cast iron crucible to melt lead for casting fishing sinkers. Free heat from the sun. I'm also working on a small enameling furnace that will be heated with this lens. It will use a small cast iron circle as a target, and will be insulated to within an inch of its life to avoid loss. It might not work, but it should. I've also used the fresnel lens for light brazing and silver soldering of small assemblies. Works well for that, too.

So, you can stow your doubts.

[thereismore]

21. It does not matter that the boy's mirror is not perfect. He is using it to

focus energy, not to create images. And so, if his "focus" is 1 inch wide, it's OK. Your Fresnel lens can gather more energy than his mirror only if its size is larger than his parabola's. And that's why I have my doubts. I have seen a Fresnel lens that size in an Oregon lighthouse. I doubt yours is that size. So fess up, how large is your lens? Larger than his parabola? Can you turn rock into lava?

[Weird Liberal Head]

5. Smart Kid!

I need to remember to make one to fry the stupid wasps and yellow jackets during the summer...

[Roy Rolling]

6. Great potential

This has great potential if you can get your target to be still and stand 18 inches away. B-)

That qualifies it for a $1 billion defense contract introduced by Boehner.

[NorthCarolina]

8. MythBusters tried to do this once.

As I recall, I think they failed.

[tclambert]

18. They tried the Archimedes mirror/shield array 3 times.

They had terrible trouble focusing a large number of mirrors on a target. Adam finally came up with a focusing scheme that helped, but they still didn't get a boat to burst into flame.

The real problem for Archimedes was the Roman fleet could attack on a cloudy day.

[safeinOhio]

9. I'm thinking more of a solar power source.

boil water, make steam, drive a turbine, make electricity for free.

[kentauros]

12. And then power one of these:

:evilgrin:

[Mister Griswold]

14. Solar collection is the future.

How would you like to buy a $5000 stand-alone steam turbine for your home, and have virtually free electricity for life? The technology to make this happen is available NOW. Look at what's happening in Spain, China, Australia and the Middle East. Gigantic solar collection turbines are being built that will power hundreds of thousands of households apiece.

Our Great Sun, Sol, the Giver of All Life, pours unfathomable amounts of free energy onto the surface of our Mother Earth. All we have to do is collect it, store it, and put it to good use. If want of technology does not stand in the way, what does?

Solar collection is the future, and the future is NOW.

[tclambert]

20. It's not really unfathomable. It's about 1100 watts per square meter

maximum on a sunny day with the best angle. Multply by the number of square meters you have available and there you go.

I know someone working on solar cell concentrators. They use new generation solar cells, which reach peak efficiency at something like 50 times the sun's normal intensity. That means you can put a big cheap reflector around your solar cell, saving a lot of money over making big flat panels covered with expensive solar cells.

[SkyDaddy7]

22. Check this out

http://buildaroo.com/news/article/solarreserve-solar-thermal-plant-molten-salt/

[Charleston Chew]

16. Unrecommend

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

17. "Hey, sis, can I borrow one of your Barbie dolls for a minute?"

Just keep your hands away from the focal point, otherwise they'll be vaporized.

How much do 5,800 mirrors cost, anyway?

[Xenotime]

19. We should use this to power our cars.