Light an LED by drawing power from high tension wires

[Owen Lawrence]

Hi. I bought one of those 1mH coils from solarbotics, and a
supercapacitor, in the hopes that I could cobble together a little circuit
to light an LED when I drive under those huge high tension wires. I figured
if I choose the component sizes to make a tank circuit with a 60Hz
fundamental frequency, I could somehow get a voltage and draw off power to
charge up the supercap. Then it could be used to drive a blinkey light.

But on paper, after I connect the coil and a capacitor of the right size
together (in parallel?), I'm stuck. What do I do next?

Do any of you know of a circuit that can do this, or can you give me
some advice on how to proceed? Thanks.

- Owen -

//http:www.iosphere.net/~owen

 

[John Popelish]

Hi. I bought one of those 1mH coils from solarbotics, and a
supercapacitor, in the hopes that I could cobble together a little circuit
to light an LED when I drive under those huge high tension wires. I figured
if I choose the component sizes to make a tank circuit with a 60Hz
fundamental frequency, I could somehow get a voltage and draw off power to
charge up the supercap. Then it could be used to drive a blinkey light.

But on paper, after I connect the coil and a capacitor of the right size
together (in parallel?), I'm stuck. What do I do next?

Do any of you know of a circuit that can do this, or can you give me
some advice on how to proceed? Thanks.

I think you will have trouble getting the blinky light to run off any
small sized circuit, regardless of design. This is because the energy
density in the field at ground level under a transmission line is
pretty diffuse.

But you will learn some things from the exercise.

Think of this resonator as just a very low frequency AM radio
receiver. You need some sort of rectification to convert any resonant
AC in the tank into a DC output to charge up the cap. Since you are
working with very low power, you might start with a 1N4148 signal
diode, or a small germanium or schottky diode (which will waste a bit
less with forward voltage drop). There are lots of ways to connect
the rectifier diode and cap to your resonator, but you might just
connecting them in series, and paralleling that across the tank. You
might get enough voltage to measure with a DC meter.

I once stood under the 500 kV lines with an umbrella, and drew a thin
spark between the metal and the tip of my finger. It might have dimly
lighted a neon lamp.

 

[Owen Lawrence]

I think you will have trouble getting the blinky light to run off any
small sized circuit, regardless of design. This is because the energy
density in the field at ground level under a transmission line is
pretty diffuse.

Disappointing. Maybe I can draw power from wires in my house, instead. I
realize that the two wires in an extension cord, side by side, cancel each
other at any distance, so I'll have to place it next to a single wire.
(Correct me if I'm wrong.) I'll try the high tension wires, though.

Think of this resonator as just a very low frequency AM radio
receiver. You need some sort of rectification to convert any resonant
AC in the tank into a DC output to charge up the cap. Since you are
working with very low power, you might start with a 1N4148 signal
diode, or a small germanium or schottky diode (which will waste a bit
less with forward voltage drop). There are lots of ways to connect
the rectifier diode and cap to your resonator, but you might just
connecting them in series, and paralleling that across the tank. You
might get enough voltage to measure with a DC meter.

Do you mean something like this:

Coil
|--O_O_O_O---|
| |
---| |---------
| | Cap | |
| ------||-----| |
| |
| |
|---.--||----.----|<-----|
Supercap Diode

I have a 1N34 diode; would that work better than a 1N4148?

Do I then draw power off the supercap to whatever circuit I intend to drive,
by just connecting where I put the '.'s in the above diagram?

I once stood under the 500 kV lines with an umbrella, and drew a thin
spark between the metal and the tip of my finger. It might have dimly
lighted a neon lamp.

Somehow I don't find that very comforting. Pretty cool, though!

Thanks.

- Owen -

 

[Watson A.Name - Watt Sun, Dark Remover]

Disappointing. Maybe I can draw power from wires in my house, instead. I
realize that the two wires in an extension cord, side by side, cancel each
other at any distance, so I'll have to place it next to a single wire.
(Correct me if I'm wrong.) I'll try the high tension wires, though.

The same holds true for the high tension lines. That's why the three
conductors periodically change positions on the towers. They
transpose the wires to cancel out the field along long lengths.

[snip]

Somehow I don't find that very comforting. Pretty cool, though!

Was his name Ben Franklin, Jr.?

Thanks.

- Owen -

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