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G4IJL > EMC 08.06.07 09:42l 195 Lines 6991 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 63432-GB7LGS
Read: GUEST DG1VV
Subj: 10Mhz to be wiped out?
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Sent: 070608/0640Z @:GB7LGS.#46.GBR.EU #:63432 [Cheltenham] XFBB7.04j
From: G4IJL@GB7LGS.#46.GBR.EU
To : EMC@WW
Hi everyone, have you seen this article on the BBC? This will make the HF
bands useless. The 10Mhz band will be wiped out! You may as well throw
your Amateur Radio in the trash.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6725955.stm
For those without the Internet, here is a copy. BBC copywrite
acknowledged.
Wireless energy promise powers up
By Jonathan Fildes
Science and technology reporter, BBC News
60W light bulb being lit through a wall from 2m away (Science)
A light bulb glows whilst receiving power from 2m away
A clean-cut vision of a future freed from the rat's nest of cables needed
to power today's electronic gadgets has come one step closer to reality.
US researchers have successfully tested an experimental system to deliver
power to devices without the need for wires.
The setup, reported in the journal Science, made a 60W light bulb glow
from a distance of 2m (7ft).
WiTricity, as it is called, exploits simple physics and could be adapted
to charge other devices such as laptops.
"There is nothing in this that would have prevented them inventing this 10
or even 20 years ago," commented Professor Sir John Pendry of Imperial
College London who has seen the experiments.
"But I think there is an issue of time. In the last few years we have seen
an exponential growth of mobile devices that need power. The power cable
is the last wire to be cut in a wireless connection."
Professor Moti Segev of the Israel Institute of Technology described the
work as "truly pioneering".
Energy gap
The researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who
carried out the work outlined a similar theoretical setup in 2006, but
this is the first time that it has been shown to work.
"We had a strong faith in our theory but experiments are the ultimate
test," said team member Assistant Professor Marin Soljacic.
"So we went ahead and sure enough we were successful, the experiments
behave very much like the theory."
Plug
Wireless energy transfer has been thought about for centuries
Wireless power promise
The experimental setup consisted of two 60cm (2ft) diameter copper coils,
a transmitter attached to a power source and a receiver placed 2m (7ft)
away and attached to a light bulb.
With the power switched on at the transmitter, the bulb would light up
despite there being no physical connection between the two.
Measurements showed that the setup could transfer energy with 40%
efficiently across the gap.
The bulb was even made to glow when obstructions such as wood metal,
electronic devices were placed between the two coils.
"These results are encouraging. The numbers are not far from where you
would want for this to be useful," said Professor Soljacic.
Power cycle
The system exploits "resonance", a phenomenon that causes an object to
vibrate when energy of a certain frequency is applied.
When two objects have the same resonance they exchange energy strongly
without having an effect on other surrounding objects. There are many
examples of resonance.
How wireless energy could work
"If you fill a room with hundreds of identical glasses and you fill each
one with a different level of wine each one will have a different acoustic
resonance," explained Professor Soljacic.
MIT Assistant Professor of Physics Marin Soljacic (credit: Donna
Coveney/MIT)
This was a rudimentary system that proves energy transfer is possible.
Marin Soljacic
Each glass would ring with a different tone if knocked with a spoon, for
example.
"Then if I enter the room and start singing really loudly one of the
glasses may explode if I hit exactly the right tone."
Instead of using acoustic resonance, WiTricity exploits the resonance of
very low frequency electromagnetic waves.
In the experiment both coils were made to resonate at 10Mhz, allowing them
to couple and for "tails" of energy to flow between them.
"With each cycle arriving, more pressure, or voltage in electrical terms,
builds up in this coil," explained Professor Pendry.
Over a number of cycles the voltage gathered until there was enough
pressure, or energy, at the surface to flow into the light bulb.
This accumulation of energy is why a wine glass does not smash immediately
when a singer hits the right tone.
"The wine glass is gathering energy until it has enough power to break
that glass," said Professor Pendry.
Human interference
Using low frequency electromagnetic waves, which are about 30m (100ft)
long, also has a safety advantage according to Professor Pendry.
"Ordinarily if you have a transmitter operating like a mobile phone at
2GHz - a much shorter wavelength - then it radiates a mixture of magnetic
and electric fields," he said.
Plugs and cables
Socket shortage solutions
This is a characteristic of what is known as the "far field", the field
seen more than one wavelength from the device. At a distance of less than
one wavelength the field is almost entirely magnetic.
"The body really responds strongly to electric fields, which is why you
can cook a chicken in a microwave," said Sir John.
"But it doesn't respond to magnetic fields. As far as we know the body has
almost zero response to magnetic fields in terms of the amount of power it
absorbs."
As a result, the system should not present any significant health risk to
humans, said Professor Soljacic.
Future promise
The team from MIT is not the first group to suggest wireless energy
transfer.
Nineteenth-century physicist and engineer Nikola Tesla experimented with
long-range wireless energy transfer, but his most ambitious attempt - the
29m high aerial known as Wardenclyffe Tower, in New York - failed when he
ran out of money.
Others have worked on highly directional mechanisms of energy transfer
such as lasers.
However, unlike the MIT work, these require an uninterrupted line of
sight, and are therefore not good for powering objects around the home.
Professor Soljacic and his team are now looking at refining their setup.
"This was a rudimentary system that proves energy transfer is possible.
You wouldn't use it to power your laptop.
"The goal now is to shrink the size of these things, go over larger
distances and improve the efficiencies," said Professor Soljacic.
The work was done in collaboration with his colleagues Andre Kurs,
Aristeidis Karalis, Robert Moffatt, John Joannopoulos and Peter Fisher.
HOW WIRELESS POWER COULD WORK
Wireless power
1) Power from mains to antenna, which is made of copper
2) Antenna resonates at a frequency of about 10MHz, producing
electromagnetic waves
3) 'Tails' of energy from antenna 'tunnel' up to 2m (6.5ft)
4) Electricity picked up by laptop's antenna, which must also be
resonating at 10MHz. Energy used to re-charge device
5) Energy not transferred to laptop re-absorbed by source antenna.
People/other objects not affected as not resonating at 10MHz
73 - Paul, G4IJL @ GB7LGS
Message timed: 07:39 on 2007-Jun-08
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