Mr Lester J Hendershot's magnetic generator.

[GSM]

Lester J Hendershot had something which no one else did, an empirically based intuitive understanding of cored inductor characteristics; an understanding not clouded by supposed the 'scientific theories' of Physics.

Sadly Lester passed from this world in 1961; officially stated to be a suicide, though in circumstances unknown, and his design, though published, has not run since.

There were many circuit drawings of the Hendershot generator; nobody knew how they worked, and some were shown with wax pressed into the inductors. Lester was also the only person who could make them run, and so I off-handed the design as one empowered by radium salts embedded within the wax, whereby the alternating magnetic field would align the emanations with the coil windings and generate output.

Question. What else was happening during the late 50s ?
Answer. The 'Top Secret' development of military Masers.

This is where a Maser could more correctly be defined as the Molecular Amplification of Stimulated Electromagnetic Radiation, and hence any non-military citizens working on this same secret technology without formal authorisation would have been deemed an individual of notable concern.
Masers went up on satellites and are still up there today, ostensibly for peaceful purposess, but they really are extremely powerful beam weaponry devices and thus capable of intentional military destructive use !

Almost two years ago I designed the high Q resonant Ferrite Sleeve Loop Antenna. This was based upon an understanding of EM radiation (photons) and magnetism (electron orbit alignment), whereby the transducing coil overwind electromagnetically precesses electron orbit alignments within the ferrite molecular structure (domains) of the sleeve.
7" Longwave Ferrite Sleeve Loop Antenna Demonstration - YouTube

Which brings me to Lester's generator that I'm sure many subscribers here have already studied.

Lester also had also used 'ferrite sleeves' (steel) inside his tandem inductors, and he too induced electron orbit precession within the sleeves via L1 tuned overwinds.
However he also had L3 and L4 windings having capacitor coupled phase shifted currents wrt L2. The fields from L3 and L4, being at one end of the steel sleeve, would have set up a longitudinal (phonic) wave through the core.

In the correct type of steel an L3/ L4 field wave would affect the magnetic domains longitudinally, and if suitably tuned could set up an axial standing wave of molecular energisation along the length but having amplitude reaction normal to the core axis; possibly in the form of a single standing full wave.
This physically resonant longitudinal domain (electron orbit alignment) energisation would combine with the axial energisation of L1/ C1 tuning, whereby the electron spin precession induced by L1 in the portion of the core overwound by L2, would become toroidally rotational and thus statically generate considerable voltage within L2. The L2 potential thereby feeding both the load and regeneratively energising the phase shifted L3/ L4 wave.

Also the tandem pairing of identical coil assemblies would be essential to maintaining RF oscillation, due to the likelyhood of external loading overcoming the possibility of continuous oscillation due to capacitor damping via L3/ L4. Also the coupling would not just be longitudinal but via synchronously rotating fields.

No wonder Lester was the only person who could tune these devices, for clearly he understood the physical (phonic) resonance characteristics of his steel pipe resonator cores as well as their ferric inductance properties: And this in a way not comprehendable to men of 'science' in the 1930s, though sadly only too well understood by the military during the late 50s.

When I first designed and tested ferrite sleeve inductors I already expected them to have 'energy' uses. Further thoughts had me wondering about mechanically resonant phonic excitation from one end to generate tuned electron orbit spin induction at the other (full domain rotation within the body of the ferrite material), and then whist reading through the Hendershot notes again only last week I came to realise that Lester had already done this; decades ago !!!!!
Obviously he would not have subjected his children to the then well know risks of radium.

I had before asked myself the question of whether AC phonic end excitation coupled with other end tuned excitation on a single ferrite rod or sleeve core using transistorised oscillators could 'generate' electricity, and now I firmly believe that it could, but the molecular nature of the core would be of prime importance.

( This also makes me think of the observed incidence of OU in a TV tube deflection yoke earlier this year, with different windings on the two coupled halves ! )

Cheers ........... Graham.

[boguslaw]

Well...he was not alone. First was Alfred Hubbard in 1919. Frankly period between 1900 and 1930 was full of strange free energy inventions.

[GSM]

Well...he was not alone. First was Alfred Hubbard in 1919. Frankly period between 1900 and 1930 was full of strange free energy inventions.

Hubbard used plain longitudinal coils with composite wire core and radium, all inside the sealed generator container.

[ChrisW]

At last...

Greetings Graham,

At last you've brought up my favorite subject -- Lester Hendershot. As there seems to be some "synchronicity"here, I guess it's time I divulged my thoughts on his device.

From the available schematics published by Aho, Hilton, et. al., it appears that the circuit "sloshes" a sine wave between the two L2s (bottom-most coils). The L1/C1 "simply"" assist in this process, assuming that L1/C1 are resonant with L2; it would also appear that C1 is charged by L2 electrostatically (damned interesting if that's true!) with the possibility of L3 and L4 contributing as well.

The portion of the circuitry involving L3, L4, the 1:5 transformer and the load are reminiscent of the Daniel McFarland Cook circuit, with secondaries wired phase-reversed to the primaries and vice-versa.

The heart of the circuit is the magnetic "vibrator." I'd be willing to bet that this little mechanical marvel induces a "kick" at the top and bottom of the waveform, thus adding a small amount of energy TWICE per cycle, caused by making and breaking its magnetic circuit, much akin to Flynn's parallel path, Leedskalnin's perpetual motion holder, etc.

The tuning of the L2s, as with the rest of the system, must be incredibly sharp, given the use of basket weave windings.This would go far in explaining why it was difficult to get it started, and Aho's mention that Hendershot often had to "squeeze" the basket weave coils before it would run. (i.e., slightly modifying the inductance and/or capacitance).

It's certainly possible that the two coil assemblies each produced a standing wave, and it has not escaped me that some interaction between the two might be occurring. As for a motional or rotating wave? Mmm... I'm not so sure about that.

As a mechanical analogue, I would say the device is like two people sitting in a bathtub, using their hands to push a wave of water back and forth, between each other. Timed just right (i.e., resonance) the wave would continue to get larger and more powerful with each push.

It seems to me the real secret of Hendershot's device is in his magnetic "vibrator" (for lack of a better term), being right on the raggedy edge of making and breaking the magnetic circuit -- hysteresis, if you will, the make and break caused by the slightest change in magnetization of the two "doorbell" coils, resulting from a current passing through them. This, in combination with a very touchy oscillator, would yield power galore, up to the current-carrying capability of the coils themselves. (And perhaps beyond, as Hendershot stated that sometimes the coils would burn up.)

One final point of interest is the use of the 80uF and 40uF capacitors, wired in series, with the negative leads connected together, thus functioning as a non-polarized capacitor overall. It seems to me this arrangement would always cause a flow, where the two caps are trying to balance out. (?) Also, the centerpoints of these two capacitor pairs are connected together, apparently creating a virtual ground. (?) A good understanding of this aspect has thus far eluded me, and I'm hoping some bright engineering-type here will shed some light on this for me.

I think I've explained it as best I can at the moment, so I'm looking forward to some discussion on it.

Graham, thanks for starting this thread! Perfect timing

Chris

[GSM]

Hi Chris,

Glad of your discussion, I regard the Hendershot principle as being the way forwards -
not with hydrogen, engines, sparks, ions, or radioactivity; though the latter COULD be safe as well as simple.

Yes there are so many Mk3 generator drawings, also no clear photographs of the wiring on any of these MagnaTronic (his son Mark's name for the generator) devices reported to have worked.
The circuit I would regard as being the most likely candidate would have commoned L2's and twin capacitor connections, thus as you say - with a *virtual common ground* between the oscillating halves - as per Ed Skilling's drawings, the Arthur Aho versions drawn by Edward O'Brian, and Mark's 1995 updates, though not Mk3c versions where the C1/2 capacitor was not connected to L1 windings.

Like you I have considered hysteresis and a second harmonic, for timed second harmonic addition on a synchronously triggered '90 to 180' and '270 to 360' degree per cycle basis can indeed augment field induction.
However, there are also reasons why I discount such consideration;-
a) Lester's principle added E-W to N-S for cyclic 'rotary' addition;
b) core saturation would 'magneticly' limit transducible output;
c) harmonic field addition within the core would be wholly passive.

My original post is to suggest electron *spin axis (domain) rotation* within the core (spin within a spin having mutual 90 degree axes), this being quite different to the normal passive electron *spin axis precessions* effected within cores by alternating magnetic field inductions (including mutual between adjacent inductor coils) upon fixed domains.

One thing is for sure Chris - it is already 2012, and we have not even started yet !

Cheers ........ Graham.

PS. There is more here than I can test out, but there are aspects which can be tested.

[ChrisW]

Moving ahead

Greetings Graham,

I would not discount the possibilites of such phenomena occurring in the device, though I can hardly imagine that Lester could have known or even imagined such concepts in his time.

I would concur that time is short and that we MUST develop a workable device quickly, even if it only exists as a proof of concept.

I suspect that with our combined intuitive and cognitive abilities, we can achieve this goal. Are you up for this?

The most tenuous part of the circuit is the magnetic section, thus I would suggest we design a temporary, battery-powered substite that would emit a properly timed pulse of the appropriate polarity. I envision this as a small transistor circuit powered by a pair of AA batteries. From there, we can explore the oscillator.

I happen to have two basket weave coils, constructed of 18AWG, with nearly identical inductance readings. As well, I have two 24V/3A tranformers which should serve adequately as Lester's 1:5 transformers. Further, I have several 80uF and 40uF capacitors rated at 450 volts, and they fairly well matched. So, as you see, I have come rather well prepared.

I look forward to your reply....

Chris

[boguslaw]

Are you sure that Hendershot and Hubbard devices were different ?

[GSM]

Hi Chris,

Good to hear of your motivation, been so involved with other everyday home/family matters here.

I think Lester had a very deep but highly individual understanding of his circuit. He tuned by intuition, ear and feeling, as described when squeezing the coil assembly to peak output. Likely he sensed coil assembly vibration, and this is what makes me think he understood the phonic aspects of magnetic cores.
Surface phonon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Okay - Transistor oscillator ?
Lester's magnetic buzzer was also a series inductance part of the circuit, and we do not know the induced current/voltage phase relationship, so to preserve circuit action any SS generator output might need to be applied to an equivalent series inductance.
If the buzzer ran at an audio frequency then there would not be any problem mechanically driving a core within a solenoid and close to a magnet by using a sine generator and audio amplifier with separate driving solenoid.
However, since the 1927 version Lester had been using cores as electromechanical resonators, and I feel it likely that his L1/ C1 had been tuned to the longitudinal resonance of the buzzer cores. I also feel that the longitudinal resonance of the steel L1 cores had been directly related to the buzzer core, with clamp tuning being significant here too; maybe even L1 core resonant half frequency so that the buzzer cores were second harmonic resonant to L1 ?
If this had been the case then a second oscillator would be necessary to set up all necessary vibration modes related to the composite magnetic buzzer/ coil assembly, for clearly there was so much more going on here than is simplistically observable from the sum of the parts !

Regarding the L1 coils, it is the steel pipe core that has me puzzled; ie, the type of steel and where to obtain same.

Regarding the thought of L1-4/ C1 'winding-to-capacitor' coupling: There were different voltages between windings and opposite voltages at winding ends. Also C1 is a curious rolled design having an unconnected intermediate layer, the action of which I do not understand other than its potential for introducing a reactive delay.

Cheers ............... Graham.

[ChrisW]

food for thought...

Greetings Graham,

Well, you've certainly provided plenty of food for thought...

I find that I must take a slightly different approach. It is doubtful at best that any of us could exactly duplicate the device the way Lester created it. Lester himself commented that sometimes he'd get on too many turns, and at other times, too few, and that the device would occasionally "burn up." His son, Mark, apparently tried to duplicate his father's work and never achieved success -- at least not that he's admitted to publically.

Therefore, I would suggest we use our intuition, creativity and modern day knowledge to surmise, quite logically, how the device likely works.

First, would you concur that adding a bit of fresh energy, via the "magnetic buzzer," as you call it, at each half of the sine wave passing through it, would, over many cycles (especially in a resonant circuit) build to a substantial voltage and current being "sloshed" between the two L2s?

If so, then the idea of a small, battery powered transistor circuit to inject such energy into the circuit would suffice to prove the concept.

As for the steel pipe, I think it's safe to say that we'll never know, unless Mark can shed some insight on it. Recall that Lester had also tried a tin can (a coffee can, if memory serves me) which turned out to be inadequate. While it's possible that he was trying for a central magnetic core, it's equally possible, if not likely, that it served only to support the hand-wound capacitor. Why would he go to all the trouble of winding an air core, basket weave inductor, only to change it's resonant frequency with a bit of steel pipe or other ferrous material?

The way C1 was built is indeed intriguing. As I recall, the middle layer (plate) was split in half lengthwise, with a gap between them. That makes me think that he was getting a voltage increase (polarity?) by the charge moving from the larger plate to the smaller one. The schematics indicate a typical, two wire connection to L1, but my intuition tells me otherwise. Presently however, I haven't a clue how he might have wired it.

Again, I believe that if we can enumerate certain likely characteristics, and test them in practice, we'll gain a much better understanding of this little beast.

Chris

[GSM]

sleeve cores

Hi Chris,

That 'steel pipe' is so much more than a former for the capacitor.

I need to say this very clearly to everyone who reads this in order to share experience and understanding.

HF magnetic fields in inductor cores are little different to HF electricity in wires: There is an electron based 'skin effect', due to the 'domain' aligning electrons being intimately related with their parent atoms/ molecules through the body of the material.

At HF a solid high permeability core appears to lose permeability; the effective permeability becomes much less than that specified by the material manufacturer.
This is because a delayed electron spin-wave develops towards the core centre, thus creating an axial field incoherence with respect to the core perimeter.
However, if only a thin sleeve of the material is used near to the energising winding then the HF permeability remains high and the field developed by the thinner core becomes many times greater without need for increased coil energisation !!!!!

Factors which puzzle me about Lester's pipe core are - was it a shorted turn and thus posses characteristics essential to the resonant mode - was it a longitudinally welded pipe - did Lester make a longitudinal cut along it - did its crystalline nature particularly suit this application. ???

Were these coil assemblies something like a 'crossed-field' antenna arrangement ?

And yes - as you say - the third layer within the capacitor could have had a hidden connection not to L1.

Sorry Chris, I appear to be posing more questions than answers.

Yes the buzzer did provide energy, but as I suggested maybe via two modes of physical vibration, and which could not be simulated by a single oscillator, also which could not be imitated unless by full replication of the Hendershot Generator in order to first understand what was really happening, and thus how we might progress.

Morpher on YouTube has already completed many investigations, eg.
Hendershot Fuelless Generator Coil Study - YouTube

Cheers ........... Graham.

[GSM]

the magnet

Yet another 'unknown' of the Hendershot generator would relate to the magnets Lester used, for these too have their own internal molecular impedances in series with their electron-spin encapsulated fields, and hence the magnet field would also have been oscillating in tune with the coil assemblies !

What kinds of magnets did Lester use - did he use the magnetron magnet because he knew about its internal mode of balanced oscillation about a central pole ??

Was there ever any indication of whether the output of a Mk3 Hendershot generator was AC or DC ?

So Chris, whilst you might be able to energise Hendershot type coils with a transistor oscillator, I remain convinced that the buzzer generated two frequencies in the form of a modulated carrier, and it is possible that a radio testing bench oscillator offering modulated RF output, with both modulation and RF frequencies being independently tunable, might represent a route for progress by eliminating many unknown buzzer related variables.

Cheers .......... Graham.

[ChrisW]

getting deeper!

Well, Graham, the well of questions is clearly getting deeper! You've made some interesting points in the prior two posts.

The thin sleeve core is a fascinating idea, since Joseph Cater's device has many such thin cores in its construction. This apparently affects the magnetization curve and so getting the right amount of current flowing through L2 appears critical. Cater used a shorted turn approach, according to the description in his book. If constructed properly, it should be possible to try both methods, shorted and thin gap in the material. I was thinking that something like .002" steel shim material might be a solution. Your thoughts?

The crossed field antenna -- hmm -- this reminds me of Larry Rayburn's TREC device. Your mention of this presents some intriguing thoughts, in light of the L2/L3/L4 arrangement. More food for thought.

As I recall, Lester didn't get around to using the magnetron magnet until quite late in the game, a refinement, if you will. Prior to that, he was using ordinary horseshoe magnets with a keeper across the poles. (Why on earth did he leave the keeper in place, I wonder? Any thoughts on this?)

The modulated carrier idea is a damn good bit of thinking, Graham. Could it be that the buzzer provided the carrier wave, whilst atop it was all the "noise" of the obviously much higher frequency signal of the L2 coils? Was the buzzer operating near 60Hz? It would seem viable, since a mechanical device is limited in frequency. The question now becomes, how would a modulated signal be translated to the load? Is some part of the circuit demodulating and combining the HF energy with the carrier? Would that even be necessary? You're the radio man, so I defer to you on this point.

It would appear some progress is being made -- exciting!

Chris

[boguslaw]

Here is related question which bothers me for a long time but since I don't have much experience with electronics I haven't built any device to proof it yet.

If we have very high frequency AC or DC pulsed current and modulate it to 50Hz would it behave exactly like 50Hz current ? I mean about power transfered to load like resistive electric kettle.

[boguslaw]

It may be crazy idea but Thomas Edison found etheric force working on with vibrator, and his statements were incredible.

Hendershot used something very close, very interesting resemblance...

[ChrisW]

modulated 50Hz

Hi boguslaw,

This is exactly the question I brought up to GSM. It's a good question. I don't think the typical power supply (especially one connected to sensitive electronics) would appreciate it. Light bulbs (incandescent, that is), on the other hand, don't give a crap what kind of power you feed them. There are plenty of examples of bulbs glowing on RF power, spikey stuff (Bedini energizers), Tesla coils, and so on.

Could you please post what you have found on the Edison stuff you mentioned. Sounds quite interesting.

Thanks!
Chris