Ultra wideband RF detector design challenge

[Inquorate]

I'd like to make a wideband RF detector. I'm thinking of using a range of resonant LC tanks, 5 to 10 mhz apart, (except / or 1 mhz apart from 9 to 12mhz) with LED's inbetween the inductor and the capacitor to show activity. Brightness would determine the intensity of radiations.

Could be a cheap way to aid tuning of Dr Stiffler's SEC.

Anyone having any ideas are welcome to share them

[DrStiffler]

Not around much

Entered in wrong thread......

[blackchisel97]

I wonder if bug and covert transmitters detectors wouldn't do the job? They cover wide range, way up to GHz. It should be possible to make band pass filters at the input to determine particular range


Vtech

[morpher44]

mhz detector...

I'd like to make a wideband RF detector. I'm thinking of using a range of resonant LC tanks, 5 to 10 mhz apart, (except / or 1 mhz apart from 9 to 12mhz) with LED's inbetween the inductor and the capacitor to show activity. Brightness would determine the intensity of radiations.
Could be a cheap way to aid tuning of Dr Stiffler's SEC.
Anyone having any ideas are welcome to share them

This week-end I did a partial replication of the "Utility Engines"
circuit mentioned in an appendix of the
Barry Hilton book.

See post #53:
http://www.energeticforum.com/renewa...cations-2.html

This circuit features a 365pF tuning capacitor
with a 1-inch diameter coil with 3 windings.
The center winding has 43 turns of AWG 30 and is
connected to antenna and tuning capacitor.
The coils on either side of this center coil pick up the
magnetic field as it goes up and down.
These two have 137 turns.
The combination of variable cap and this 43-turn coil
work out to tune between 1Mhz and 5Mhz ... the
very part of the spectrum were interference from
space arrives.

Next we see two germanium diodes to bridge rectify both
halves ... to essentially full-wave rectify.

I hooked my oscilloscope up to the output of these diodes
and I can watch the energy dance around on the scope
as I tune the variable capacitor.

This article, which came out in the 50s or 60s (or so)
claims that you can hook this output up to a very
specially made motor (or a speaker) and actually
make the motor spin with the power.
The motor has a delicate coil in a LARGE magnet structure.

Its possible that once the motor gets going ...
that it feeds back to the receiver ... producing more
energy for the motor ... etc.

Anyway, this might be a good little circuit to look
at for the front-end of your 1mhz to 5mhz tuner.
The trick would then be to light an LED for various
frequency ranges.
So instead of a variable cap, you could have perhaps several
of these coil and "fixed" cap circuits ... and then
take the received energy to run a little circuit
that charges a cap up .. and then blasts into an LED.

It would be cool to see an array of LEDs showing the
energy from each part of this 1Mhz to 5Mhz spectrum --
which includes man-made signals and signals from space.

As various conditions change in the weather ... solar flares,
magnetic storms, more ideal reception conditions, etc.
these LEDs would dance around differently.

This would be a sort of crude spectrum analyzer in that range.
The eye is instantly able to notice the amplitude on an LED.

[sucahyo]

Please read thread:
http://www.energeticforum.com/renewa...t-current.html

There are two kind of antenna: conventional EM radiation and Vladimir's KOR radiation (magnetic without E field). KOR radiation can penetrate water or classical barrier. They can't speak to each other even if they use the same frequency. E-H antenna can speak to them both though.

Since you have oscilloscope, tuning E-H antenna should be possible. E-H antenna require a precision 90 degree phase shift between wave going to two copper. E-H antenna has very wide receiving spectrum. Still has no data on KOR antenna.

[Inquorate]

Update

Thanks morpher and Sucahyo and blackchisel for your comments.

Here's what I'm thinking for now;

Using these online calculators;

Pronine Electronics Design - Single-Layer Air Coil Calculator

Pronine Electronics Design - LC Resonance Calculator

And this variable cap;

60 - 160pF Miniature Tuning Capacitor - Jaycar Electronics

I calculated that an air coil with a diameter of 12.5mm made of size 20 or 0.8mm wire 58.3 of turns or 46.6mm long (10uh) would have a range of 3 - 6.5 mhz.

Tapped at 25 turns or 20mm length (3.7uh) would give a range of 6.5 to 10.5 mhz

Tapped at 12 turns or 9.5mm (1.4uh) would give a range of 10.5 to 17mhz

So one could by turning the capacitor's dial, and selecting the aircoil tap, sweep from 3 to 17mhz

An optional amplifier transistor could(2n2222 etc) be used to detect more faint signals, and capacitors could be added in parallel to the variable cap to lower the detected frequency.

A 2nf cap would make the lowest frequency 1.1mhz. I'd love to find a variable capacitor in the nf range.

Or by using a smaller variable cap

Jaycar Electronics - Search results Capacitor pf

Extend the range to above 60mhz

Time to play now, will post my trials and tribulations.

The finished unit may look something like this;

Bizarre: Crystal radio

Love and light

[Inquorate]

Like this maybe

21/10/2009 - Vox

[Tishatang]

Self-powering crystal radios

Maybe you can get some ideas here:

Crystal Radio Plans, Schematics, and Circuits

Scroll down to plan #153 "Free Power Radios. Avail in three pages. Here is one page.

Circuit number three design collects energy from high and low radiation bands to power transistor.

Tishatang

[Inquorate]

Theory progresses..

Maybe you can get some ideas here:

Crystal Radio Plans, Schematics, and Circuits

Scroll down to plan #153 "Free Power Radios. Avail in three pages. Here is one page.

Circuit number three design collects energy from high and low radiation bands to power transistor.

Tishatang

Thanks tishatang

So, here we go..

YouTube - poor man's spectrum analyser for the sec

perhaps the 5nf cap and the 1n60 Germanium diodes should be replaced by 1n4148 diodes..

Notice the right of the schematic; the diodes are basically an avramenko plug, and could be attached to a mass repeater for the sec use. Might as well use it to power the poor man's spectrum analyser.

No doubt it'll change a bit when built.

Love and light

[Inquorate]

Ok, fine tuned plan for tuning the sec

21/10/2009 - Vox

[Inquorate]

Because the brightness of an led is quite subjective

I've been looking into another method of displaying the intensity of the received signal, because of the subjective nature of brightness of a light. Also because an led needs a minimum voltage to start functioning.

The ultra-lowtech Voltmeter

This will be great, because I can adjust the range of intensity using a potentiometer

Potentiometer as a voltage divider : DC CIRCUITS

Love and light

[Inquorate]

Analog circuit schematic

signal strength meter for sec - Vox

I promise i'll start building it tomorrow

[morpher44]

iPhone spectrum analyzer

This is a great idea to use an iPhone
as a spectrum analyzer:

YouTube - Pocket RTA Spectrum Analyser for the iPhone

These little hand-held PDAs have the display you need ...
you just need the RF electronics and antenna
if tuning for special wavelengths.

[Inquorate]

Version 1 works somewhat

But this one should work better. I'm trying to increase the broadband RF that powers the transistor that drives the gauge. If this doesn't work, I'll have to invent or research another gauge or add a battery.

RF amplitude at frequency detector - Vox

Ppl with a scope could attach a scope or voltmeter at the transistor's emitter, but I'm trying to build a spectrum analyser anyone can use, that's self powering.

Ps, add a high Impedence earphone instead of a gauge, and this is an AM radio that never needs batteries.

Love and light

[Inquorate]

Poor man's spectrum analyser becomes reality

If you want to scan a larger range, you'll need to use a much larger inductor oh higher value variable capacitor, but the theory was sound

YouTube - poor man's spectrum analyser becomes reality

The peak frequency (or several of them) can be detected, and an LC circuit of that frequency can be added to almost any circuit, like in Jeannacav's Joule thief. This would re-energize the output and one can add more load (LED's etc)

Love and light