The makings of a very bad idea...

[Phil]

Perfect if you live under a permanent storm.

Phil M1GWZ



On 10 Nov 2012, at 17:31, Bob Bruhns wrote:

> I think a windmill would be a better way to get energy from wind. But skyborne plasma current might be a source of power.
> 
> One station engineer decided to experiment with a tower having the dandelion-looking lightning brushes that are sometimes mounted on such radio towers, and he said he saw a current of 2 amps for ten minutes during a storm.
> 
> If so, how much current might be delivered to a storage cell, or a load, at 100,000 volts?  The effective voltage of a storm cloud should be much greater than 100,000 volts, so maybe the current would be essentially unaffected.  But if so, that would be 200,000 watts from a little brush.
> 
> That 2A was only for ten minutes.  Those brushes are supposed to reduce lightning strike probability, but still...  If it wasn't so darn dangerous, I would try this, and see what kind of current is delivered into various loads during storms and at other times.
> 
>   Bob, WA3WDR
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