Eric Dollard

[Aaron]

Eric Dollard

Hello Aaron.

Wow this is great news Aaron!

Yes, some time ago you asked the forum for ideas or presenters who we would like to see at a technology / science conference. I said I’d love to see Eric Dollard. – This lead to some slightly heated discussion that arose from all of that. - Although little did I know of the complex difficulties involved with it all.

Indeed this upcoming conference would be well worth traveling to from overseas and it would be a dream of mine to attend and see the living legend Eric Dollard giving a national presentation, not seen in 15 years as you say. I'm sure he will receive a standing ovation upon entry.

I wish you all (and Eric) every success for the conference, I’m not sure how you (they) managed to do it but with Lindemann, Bedini & Dollard all under one roof, WOW what an amazing event it will be!

If I can find some way of attending the conference, I will.

Regards.

That's great - I hope you can come!

I hope the reference to a national presentation in 15 years is accurate.

There is one more person that may be presenting at the conference

I can't say anything until I know for sure, but already, it will be historic!

[leds]

would even be more historic if you could stream it online, for us on the other side of the world that cant afford travelling.

[Ras]

Ham radio

Sorry, an off topic question: Which "ham" radio would you advise to get with a reasonable price (500-1000$). It would be nice if it were one of the older ones, even if it is cheaper I read somewhere that Eric Dollard wanted to have a very particular radio station - being a copy cat I would also like some older version but a good value for money.
I would like to be able to maintain the radio myself, to learn how to do it. I have very little knowledge about ham radios apart from reading some manuals and a book a while ago.
I would like to be able to establish overseas connections, so I am not looking for just local use.

Again, I apologize if this is off topic, just don't know where else to ask this question.

Thanks a lot for any tips!

[David G Dawson]

Ham Radio

Hello Ras,
Don't think your question is off topic as it applies to reality and what is best today to use as a learning tool.

I purchased a rather derelict Yaesu FT-901D from EBay that had been messed with by others in Western Australia and bounced its way over to me on the other side to Eastern Australia by road transport.
Weighing 18 kgs/40 pounds it was probably at the bottom of the pack and looked sad on arrival.
After two weeks we had a perfect machine and now works well.
Reason for buying this unit was that its Driver and Finals were Vacuum Tubes (12BY7A/6146B pair) and was considered the best on the market due to its solid-state slot-in units and was copied in the US by Kenwood in particular.

Important:
The other factor was that it covered down to 1.8Mhz where the later models all began at about 3.5Mhz and did not cover the 160 meter band (1.8 to 2.0Mhz) where we are attempting to build with Eric's designs and using the Experimental Band.

This unit cost me $A250 and is called an 'All Mode' as it covers all of AM,CW,USB,LSB,FSK and FM.
There is an excellent support Group for Yaesu in the US at FoxTango:

The Yaesu FT-901 and FT-902 Present by Fox Tango International

Manual here for any early Yaesu:

http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/yaesu/

Spare parts are still available if you know where to go.

This is just a suggestion as there are others where you can have an all Vacuum Tube arrangement and see some that are of WWII vintage on Ebay which look to be acceptable but they are getting expensive as the oldies buy these up for restoration.
I have two others here which are all Tubes and Oz designed for HF Land Mobile use but not a patch on the Yaesu.
Hope this helps.
Let me know if you need any help to repair or whatever as am keen to see the younger ones coming back into Tubes as Eric would also agree.
Simply know where to go to gather the required information.

Smokey

[Ras]

I probably do not belong into 'younger ones' but I have not less energy and good will

Thanks for the tips, David, this is a very good start. I want to get something sooner than later so I will look around on eBay and wherever I can find information.

[David G Dawson]

Ham Radio

Hello Ras,
"I probably do not belong into 'younger ones' but I have not less energy and good will."

My apologies, it's the 'Junior Member' tag that gets me into trouble all the time.
Other good reference materials are the ARRL handbooks and I now have 7 which cover all of the Vacuum Tube years from the first in 1922 to 1978 but about 1956 to 1964 is a good start.

Lots of information here from Pete Millett and his cat:

Technical books online by dxzone.com

Smokey

[David G Dawson]

Power Chokes

Hello All,
Hoping that someone here may be able to tell me what is going on with some power chokes.
Have a mystery here with twin pair power chokes (four bobbins and four base pins) that were used in the old Cathode ray tube style televisions.
Using 5 of these in a PFN (Pulse Forming Network) for use with the 'Tesla Magnifying Transmitter' that is firing the 2050 thyratron.
The Choke which I assume to be a 'common' type, consists of 4 windings on the bobbin, two windings for each side.
The other type are called 'differential' where each side is wound oppositely BUT not connected to the other side.



If I measure one pair and then the other I get 40mH each and as I wanted to use about 80mH, thought by connecting together I would get 80mH but I don't and get x4 instead at 160mH.

Haven't been able to find out too much about these and how they are wound but deduce that the reason for the two coils per side is probably that half is wound in one direction and comes back on the second in the opposite direction - 'bucking' coils and the same with the second side but this should read close to a zero inductance and not what I am seeing.
That winding style would be for the 'differential' type.
So then both bobbin pairs must be wound in the same direction but why x4 when connected together?

Common mode choke theory, common mode choke design theory, common mode inductor theory

If somebody could enlighten me as to why x4, I would be most appreciative.
Always interested in accidents that give me more than expected.
Of course, under load conditions this may not be the case and now most interested to set this up and monitor on an Oscilloscope under an impulse to see what the true case is.

Put all 5 in the series line and came out with 625mH which is 156.25mH each pair and comes back close to the 160mH figure.

Waiting on Ceramic Capacitors for this NET (0.022uF 1kV with 4 in parallel to give me 0.09uF) coming from China, where else?
200 in the order for $A10 and freight free.

Hi volt caps in this area are very expensive in polyprop and polyester and have had good experience with the much cheaper ceramics in bulk using low values in series and parallel arrangements to meet a particular need.

Smokey

[David G Dawson]

Power Chokes

Should also mention that I have connected each unit diagonally, rear left to front right.
The reason for the sliding arrangement on the plastic bar is to adjust for mutual inductance between units under operating conditions and expect to see a manual adjustment on the oscilloscope curve.
Why did I use the Power Chokes? Because they fitted the bill for the required inductance value but now the question above.

Did not like the idea of winding wire flat on a conduit and the reason is that you have a flat plane of mutual inductance and wanted something broader like in the Power Chokes with stacked wires.
The Ferrite in the Chokes is an unknown quantity but will experiment and advise results.
Wire on these is awg 24.

Smokey

[Raphael37]

Eric Dollard is currently promoting a MEME contest on his own website.
Eric Dollard Meme Contest Prize

sorry for the off-topic remark.
or is it?


Personally I feel we are all taking part in an Electro-Magnetic experience
i.e. an EM MEME drEaM thEME pARK that Noah helped build....


Nothing new under the sun. Only new ways of looking at age old problems.

namaste

[Farmhand]

Hello All,
Hoping that someone here may be able to tell me what is going on with some power chokes.
Have a mystery here with twin pair power chokes (four bobbins and four base pins) that were used in the old Cathode ray tube style televisions.
Using 5 of these in a PFN (Pulse Forming Network) for use with the 'Tesla Magnifying Transmitter' that is firing the 2050 thyratron.
The Choke which I assume to be a 'common' type, consists of 4 windings on the bobbin, two windings for each side.
The other type are called 'differential' where each side is wound oppositely BUT not connected to the other side.



If I measure one pair and then the other I get 40mH each and as I wanted to use about 80mH, thought by connecting together I would get 80mH but I don't and get x4 instead at 160mH.

Haven't been able to find out too much about these and how they are wound but deduce that the reason for the two coils per side is probably that half is wound in one direction and comes back on the second in the opposite direction - 'bucking' coils and the same with the second side but this should read close to a zero inductance and not what I am seeing.
That winding style would be for the 'differential' type.
So then both bobbin pairs must be wound in the same direction but why x4 when connected together?

Common mode choke theory, common mode choke design theory, common mode inductor theory

If somebody could enlighten me as to why x4, I would be most appreciative.
Always interested in accidents that give me more than expected.
Of course, under load conditions this may not be the case and now most interested to set this up and monitor on an Oscilloscope under an impulse to see what the true case is.

Put all 5 in the series line and came out with 625mH which is 156.25mH each pair and comes back close to the 160mH figure.

Waiting on Ceramic Capacitors for this NET (0.022uF 1kV with 4 in parallel to give me 0.09uF) coming from China, where else?
200 in the order for $A10 and freight free.

Hi volt caps in this area are very expensive in polyprop and polyester and have had good experience with the much cheaper ceramics in bulk using low values in series and parallel arrangements to meet a particular need.

Smokey

I think you're seeing four times the inductance by doubling the wire on the
same core piece, for a coil on a single core the inductance increases non-linearly
for the number of turns, as more turns are added the inductance increase
with each extra turn is more and more, I think. Then when adding separate
coils on separate core's together you get a simple addition of inductances,
I think.

Cheers

[garrettm4]

PFN Networks

Smokey,

You won't be able to control the mutual inductance of the CM chokes by sliding them along the rod... These chokes have a CLOSED magnetic path, with negligible amount of external field leakage. Basically, you won't see much in terms of tuning when you move them. Generally you wind a couple of different coils onto a ferrite rod (which forms an open magnetic circuit) and then slide the coils around to achieve the desired mutual coupling between each other. This configuration is typical of type E networks and is considered as the "realizable" form of the Guillemin type D PFN, which requires negative inductance - a nebulous entity... and therefore replaced with mutual coupling of the type E.

Also, don't worry about the chirality ("handedness") of the coils on the CM cokes, just use a sinusoidal signal generator and an oscilloscope to find the phasing. Then mark each side with a phasing dot to denote the positive anti-node of the sinusoid as seen on the oscilloscope. Now you can easily distinguish the coil configuration.

When connecting the CM chokes up, you have quite a few ways to configure them; i.e. 1:1 transformer action, CM choke action in aiding or opposing configuration, or as a normal two terminal inductor (with both windings in series or parallel aiding configuration). Depending upon the Rayleigh/Guillemin PFN that you are building, which I assume is a type E from your comments, you will use them differently to suite your needs.

If I measure one pair and then the other I get 40mH each and as I wanted to use about 80mH, thought by connecting together I would get 80mH but I don't and get x4 instead at 160mH.

That's normal, mutual coupling is where the extra inductance comes from, alternatively you can say that the number of turns SQUARED is where the extra inductance is coming from as well. Just depends on how you look at it; i.e. a single winding with extra turns or two coils coupled together and connected together. I'll post some more on this later, as it could get lengthy. In the mean time look up "Inductance Factor" and "Mutual Inductance", these will set you straight in regards to your problem with the 4x inductance.

but deduce that the reason for the two coils per side is probably that half is wound in one direction and comes back on the second in the opposite direction - 'bucking' coils and the same with the second side but this should read close to a zero inductance and not what I am seeing.
That winding style would be for the 'differential' type.

If you are talking about the small separator between a single coil and half of its turns, its for increased breakdown rating, NOT because each single coil is wound in two different directions. The larger separator is to increase galvanic isolation between the two sides. Now as for each separate coil on the choke, these are indeed phased oppositely or in a "bucking" configuration like you've said. Due to leakage inductance, you will never see near zero inductance, best I've seen is a few hundred micro henries when in opposition configuration.

The Ferrite in the Chokes is an unknown quantity but will experiment and advise results.

A_L (inductance factor) is how you would check the characteristics of the ferrite (measure the inductance then divide by the square of the turns), beware that temperature and as bizarre as it may seem mechanical stress can alter this figure greatly (I can post details if wanted). Also past magnetization and drive levels (during measurement) greatly affect this measurement as well. Saturation measurements, for peek flux capacity, are a bit tricky so I won't get into those, but would be required to determine appropriate ampere-turns to be used with the ferrite. Concluding, magnetic measurements are some of the hardest to perform accurately / with consistency.

Regards,
Garrett


The best "On-Line" resources for this topic would be:


-Clifton Laboratories-

Audio Transformer Data and Modeling

Non-Linear Transformer Behavior

Ferrite Core Sample-to-Sample Variation


-Bob’s Electron Bunker-

Numerical Methods for Inductance Calculation

Numerical Methods for Inductance Calculation (references)


-Electronics Tutorials.ws-

The Inductor and the Effects of Inductance


-Surrey.ac.uk/Workshop-

Magnetic properties of materials

[Sputins]

The Theory if Anti-Relativity

Well as some of you are aware, part of Dollard’s lecture "The Theory if Anti-Relativity" has been recovered. (See ericdollard.com etc.) Part 1 of 5. - I don't know, when, where, or how the rest will surface. (It ends just as Eric really starts to get into it). Maybe TechZ can tell us more? The SFTS says on their website they will be released.. (?)

It was only 24 hours old and already had 600+ views!
The quality is good, audio pretty good and Eric looks good, speaks brilliantly and clear. (A good teacher as I've said before).

There are many interesting quotes.

"The earth inside, is a massive reservoir of electricity and it's in constant motion, usually in some type of impulse form of waves ringing, echoing & bouncing there are literal seas of electrical current, rivers of it, flowing from one point to the other and that what gives the earth it's magnetic field, this incredible current flow".

This one makes me laugh, Eric says it so well and with a smile..

"Electrical study really is the Tale of Prometheus..
You will be rewarded.. The Eagle will peck your liver, until you die.
So.. that's the way it works in the world of electrical discovery".

I really hope the rest can surface soon.

[David G Dawson]

Pulse Techniques

Pulse Techniques:
Still waiting for ceramics to arrive and thought I should pass on some further information on Pulsing which were initially designed for Radar use during the 1930/40s.

http://www.cdvandt.org/Fug200-paper-Hans-Jucker.pdf

This document was instrumental in what I decided to purchase in the area of pulsing.
I spent over two years building various pulse devices but did not venture into Pulse Forming Networks (PFN or NET) until I had a Thyratron requirement and Eric also came along.

This URL gives a comparison of both US and German designs developed during WWII and in particular have selected the German schematic on Page 7 - (the Hohentwiel modulator) as being most interesting - 'was of almost "genius" simplicity'.
What must be considered with pulsing is that the reason for the forming network is to develop the pulse over more than 1 period and in this case 10 cycles were required.

Have calculated out the component values here as follows:
R1 R2 3,300 ohms
C2 4,700 pF
R3 1,000 ohm
C1 1,000 pF
50 Hz at 20 mS over 10 cycles = 500 Hz
Voltage is 800 volts and close to Eric's 600 for the 'Tesla Transformer Pulse Generator' and will use this as an optional generator and will probably build for my other FE pulsed devices.

Thyratrons I will be using here are National Electronics NL-5684/C3J/A and good for 1 Kv and uses Xenon as the gas.



This document goes into the use of Eimac 15E Triodes (also Eric's favourite) (thoriated Tungsten filaments) which was the basis for purchasing several and also 954 Acorns as used in the Receiver.
Have just purchased 6 x NOS TD03/10 CV 354 'Disc Seal Triodes' on Ebay and you will see these mentioned as well.
Nobody is into pulsing and also picked up 15 x NOS 2D21 (5727) Thyratrons for Relay use - both buys were a steal - have included both these in pic above as a comparison - glass envelope is about 1.5" excluding pinch.

In the old 'Eric P Dollard' Forum, he gave an ARRL extract (ARRL 1949 Page 422) on Page 22 of a 'Distributed Line Vacuum Tubes' using 2C22s and still not real sure what this represents but could be an introduction into transmission line energy as developed in the TMT and this could be used as an experimental platform.

also:

Thyratron various

Thanks.

Smokey

[David G Dawson]

Thanks All

garrettM4,
Thankyou for that and I had over the day, pretty much summed it all up as you so excellently did.
When I write information down it somehow is recalled frequently during the day and comes back with the answers attached.

techzombie,
Excellent work on the new Eric video:

Theory of Anti-Relativity 2/4

Good we now know where we stand with the square root of minus 1.
Hope the others surface as well.
Excellent videos compared to the early Borderlands.
Great Teacher!

Arto,
Just Brilliant!!
Keep it up.

1920′s News Article Meme by Arto

Smokey

[garrettm4]

Eric Dollard Website Concerns

TechZombie,

I think you've done a great job on the website for Eric but I have some concerns regarding the "Items Needed For Eric’s Lab" page.

As most should know, having proper equipment is important to perform accurate and professional work in radio/electronics. Further, investing in this equipment, vintage or not, is quite expensive, so as to conserve and extend the life of the Indegogo campaign money and also while people are still interested in helping out, the structure and content of this page is of immense importance.

As "Paul" (5th & 7th post down on the "Items Needed For Eric’s Lab" page) has astutely pointed out, a very clear and specific list of parts and equipment is much desired. Currently the list is quite vague and the whole page should be restructured.

For example, make two lists, one for equipment needed and another for equipment already donated. And have a weekly update reflecting whats been donated and what else Eric needs.

Specific details are needed to help those who want to donate find the correct gear Eric needs. Just saying analog Tektronix oscilloscope isn't enough details; bandwidth, input connector style (GR-874/BNC) and number of input channels (2/4). Model numbers would help out greatly with this. Another example is with the frequency counter/timer as bandwidth, input sensitivity, input connectors (N/BNC/SMA) and number of inputs (A/B & C) are very important to know.

Also, consider putting up a "Thank You" page in tribute to those who've helped out, in equipment, time and construction work in setting up the new lab. Just a thought, helps show that people on the receiving end care. Possibly have a page with "time lapse" pictures of everything coming together, helps people contributing see the work progressing and continue their support.

I just want to say that this is only positive criticism, in no way am I telling you what to do. Keep up the enthusiasm.

Regards,
Garrett