Recent content by DesmondD

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    Building an efficient coil gun for photography.

    I have been doing various experiments with my photography and recently built a coil gun. I simply pulled apart a starter-motor solenoid and wrapped the windings around an 8mm tube and fire a short piece of a bolt out of it using a charged 3300uf capacitor and an SCR. None of this is calculated...
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    How Can I Improve My Spark Gap Switch for High-Speed Photography?

    I eventually wired up an SCR to the hotshoe trigger circuit, the one I'm using is rated at 800volts and 3800 amps surge. It dumps the capacitor across a thin piece of wire and ignites the gunpowder quite nicely. However, I would still like to perfect the Trigatron just for fun:)
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    Can Different Same-Voltage Batteries Be Used in Parallel for Discharge Only?

    I've done an experiment with this before and even if two batteries are left connected for a week they only balance out slightly because the difference between them isn't great enough for a large charge to take place. A normal car battery charges at 14.2 volts. A fully charged battery sits at...
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    Can a high voltage across a chamber ionize a gas?

    Good luck with your experiments :)
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    Can a high voltage across a chamber ionize a gas?

    I would say - "only one way to find out" :cool: Otherwise, I have no idea. Perhaps a google search will tell you :)
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    Can a high voltage across a chamber ionize a gas?

    To be quite honest I don't know that much about the physics of it. All I know is that I can make something go "bang!" and photograph a fireball - or gunpowder blowing a stone off the ground. I don't really know what happens in there. What I do know is that you need a high enough pd when...
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    Can a high voltage across a chamber ionize a gas?

    A camera flash is basically a tube with gas in it that gets ionized by the trigger wire near the centre. It can switch very high currents but it wastes the energy as light. Putting something in series with it allows for some of that energy to be shared. It's very dangerous :) . I've been using...
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    Can a high voltage across a chamber ionize a gas?

    I use the old camera flash to charge the capacitor to only 325 volts. The ignition coil is capable of about 30 000 volts for the conduction path.
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    How to calculate motor force from power?

    Put a 1 litre engine in a Mini and it will accelerate to 100km/hr fairly quickly. Put the same 1 litre engine engine in a Kenworth truck and it will hardly move. The mass has a huge effect on acceleration.
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    Can Different Same-Voltage Batteries Be Used in Parallel for Discharge Only?

    What kind of charging do you have while driving? The alternator is very powerful and a good source of a quick charge-up. I have a VSR [voltage sensitive relay] hooked up to mine as well. When the engine starts and the voltage climbs above 13.2v it connects my 'house battery' to the vehicle's...
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    Can a high voltage across a chamber ionize a gas?

    Just for interest, I've made a rough trigatron that dumps a 325 volt capacitor across the contacts of a starter solenoid triggered by my camera flash - if you have any questions :)
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    Can Different Same-Voltage Batteries Be Used in Parallel for Discharge Only?

    Hi, I'm an auto electrician. Your idea would work. if the batteries are at different levels of charge they may make a small spark when you connect them but they will simply equalize. With my own camping van I try to use as little electricity as possible - use gas for any form of cooking or...
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    How Can I Improve My Spark Gap Switch for High-Speed Photography?

    1100 views and no replies yet? Does anyone have any answers for me? here's my last design.
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    How Can I Improve My Spark Gap Switch for High-Speed Photography?

    Hi everyone , this is my first post here :) . I am an auto electrician , my hobby is photography. I am interested in high speed photography and have invented a new form of photography in a way . I call it 'superspeed photography' . It involves taking a picture of something that is triggered by...
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