CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-24 00:12:59 (5 comments, 3 reshares, 14 +1s)

"My Eyes! The goggles do nothing!" (for red).
 Apologies to the Simpsons. 
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-goggles-do-nothing

2013-05-20 00:44:31 (19 comments, 3 reshares, 28 +1s)

Zany comments preferred.

A lightning simulation with tens of thousands of amps at 6kV through a fine wire.
I bought the car for $100 and sold it for nothing. 

2013-05-12 20:46:29 (31 comments, 0 reshares, 26 +1s)

What's scariest about this creature?
1 It evaded capture and runs really fast.   
2 It is still in my room.
3 It gave me goosebumps and I have had large spiders on my hand  
4 More legs = more evil
5 It could be a head crab larvae
6 Its body measures 2cm but I havent seen its hive mother yet
7 G+ wanted me to tag its face!

What's scary about it for you? Or does this pet belong to you?

2013-05-10 21:59:22 (9 comments, 2 reshares, 22 +1s)

Yay. Just completed my first processor controlled magnetic isobar display. It's crude with a slow PIC processor and really just a proof of principle. The magnet is the usual ring ferrite magnet that every microwave oven has 2 of.
These are circles of equal magnetic intensity with the central one much stronger. They are about 3cm above the magnet.
So, how did I do it?

2013-05-07 17:38:36 (9 comments, 5 reshares, 20 +1s)

Magnetic viewing film.  An interesting sheet that changes colour depending on the direction of an applied magnetic field.
It shows the unexpected segmented field from the top magnet which is not apparent by just looking at it. The old AlNiCo bar magnet on the right has a very distorted field.  

2013-05-05 04:30:20 (11 comments, 0 reshares, 18 +1s)

Yep, time for a decent cover photo. Hope y'all like it.

2013-05-04 13:04:56 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 24 +1s)

Levitation with magnetism and diamagnetism. What's not to like about that?

2013-04-26 15:28:36 (27 comments, 14 reshares, 51 +1s)

Thank goodness for the redbacks on my chair, They keep the scorpions down.

2013-04-25 14:57:21 (2 comments, 3 reshares, 10 +1s)

The result of last weekend. Lots of high voltage fun. (just don't believe the biggest in the world or the 1/2 million volts)

2013-04-25 04:57:39 (6 comments, 3 reshares, 29 +1s)

This was done by someone some years ago about my Tesla stuff. It still has more hits than any individual one of mine. I'm the "Australian maniac" - you have been warned.

2013-04-23 19:11:54 (9 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Horsing around prior to Chayne's world record "lightning onto a swallowed sword" attempt.

2013-04-21 08:21:17 (2 comments, 4 reshares, 18 +1s)

A bit of fun was had at my place last night and the Tesla coil got a bit of a workout.
Pretty amazing guy who has achieved 27 Guinness World Records.
His website: http://thespacecowboy.com/

2013-04-12 15:09:31 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 30 +1s)

A bunch of crumbling flyers for my grandfather's lion tamer act in Bullen's circus dating from around 1947 were found under the floorboards many years ago.
I understand that one of the lions was the grandson (not son) of the Metro Goldwyn Mayer lion.
From my mother's handwritten biography:
... His professional garb in his "Marcassi" persona was purple Ali Baba pants, wide orange leather belt and gold armlets around his lower arms.  His hairy chest was bare and he wore a purple bandanna around his head with a gold emblem over his forehead, and gold sandals.  To complete the picture in the ring with his lions, he wore stage make-up with black eyebrows sloping down at the outer edges giving him an unintended look of woe. Eye-liner  lipstick and rouge made finishing touches.
His pinstripes pants were really his fishing clothes and often stank of dead fish, becausewhen ... more »

2013-04-04 13:57:32 (5 comments, 3 reshares, 22 +1s)

Electricity flowing in a wire or as an arc will have a force on in a magnetic field.  This will make it rotate. 

2013-03-31 16:08:16 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

2013-03-29 15:33:42 (10 comments, 4 reshares, 25 +1s)

Electricity and water is safe.  Apparently my Mom didn't tell me otherwise ...
From an Open Day at my house a few years ago

2013-03-28 13:01:12 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 8 +1s)

Put your rubbish out by moonlight.
115 seconds with star trails.

2013-03-26 17:20:49 (8 comments, 4 reshares, 24 +1s)

A directed energy device. Actually a small alcohol flamethrower. Get it right and the flame can be almost linear with the rise due to the heat balancing the gravity drop of the alcohol stream. The little butane torch acts to keep the stream alight.
http://tesladownunder.com/interesting_stuff.htm#Flamethrowers

2013-03-26 16:47:28 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Have I come to the right place to post this? You decide.

2013-03-25 18:13:14 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 17 +1s)

2013-03-25 13:19:35 (9 comments, 2 reshares, 35 +1s)

I couldn't really work out whether this termite mound was sculpted in the image of Jabba the Hut or whether the termites did it because they enjoyed the movie..

2013-03-25 12:59:11 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 12 +1s)

Notable earthworm photographer, Professor Archibald Sneed, found early in his career that capturing fast moving mammalia was not his forte.

Actually it was me. Yeah, but it was bright and I couldn't see the screen and the boat had spray and ... no I didn't crop it.

This one was at Walpole. In our home town of Bunbury many years ago, my son was wading out with a group to interact with the local tame bottlenose dolphins . One of them circled him alone. A magic moment... or maybe he was just smelly.
http://www.dolphindiscovery.com.au/ 

2013-03-22 12:38:17 (26 comments, 3 reshares, 44 +1s)

March of the sevens.. How did I do this?
Creative answers only. If you actually know - don't tell!

Location: Cosmology dome at Gravity Discovery Center, Gingin, Australia

2013-03-19 19:55:14 (25 comments, 5 reshares, 22 +1s)

A video special effects company took some Tesla coil spark shots at my place.  Camera was a Red Epic which shoots 5k (5000 pixels horizontal) cinema quality. Peter Jackson used 48 of these to film the Hobbit.
Cost? this setup here perhaps $150K but a 3d fully optioned configuration might be closer to $1m (quoted from making of David Attenborough's latest). 
http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/05/peter-jackson-reveals-the-red-epic-secrets-behind-the-hobbit-vi/

I was really struck by how well the promos played back on my 2k monitor. Even played from Vimeo on a slowish link.  http://www.red.com/products/epic

2013-05-19 22:43:58 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 18 +1s)

A Tesla coil gif from a couple of days ago. Each one second exposure is represented by a 1 second frame. In real time this is much more dynamic.

Tesla coil is about 7 feet tall and the breakout point is angled up to avoid sparking to the ground. Done for a video effects company with cameraman shining lights lower left.

2013-03-16 14:14:31 (10 comments, 9 reshares, 51 +1s)

The VIC-20 computer of the 1980's, had a 5V supply bus which happens to be the same as that used for radio control servos for models. Servos are set to a degree of rotation by a 1.0 to 2.0 mS pulse which could be programmed by the computer using a machine code subroutine for speed. By combining 3 of these servos it was possible to make a printer / plotter and still have a massive 1.5 k of memory left over to program it to do patterns. It was published in an Electronics Today International magazine in 1984. I was a bit niftier with the maths in those days. And I knew how to use string and gum to make things. Printers have advanced a little from these times.

Actually, looking at it, this is not the low pressure ink stylus I used, but a small light and photocell to scan things.  I remember doing a scan of Mona Lisa and printing it back later. So printer, scanner and copier in one, 1980's... more »

2013-03-09 07:17:42 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 30 +1s)

This Tesla coil long exposure photo reached 1 in 3000 daily global internet users on one day in 2007.
I was gobsmacked. 

That's 0.03% on the Alexa graph and is the first spike. Other projects did even better later on.

A few qualifications. This was before social media in 2007 at time when DIGG was No 75 most popular website and a lot of sites pulled articles off DIGG, I got video and photo coverage and this spread to at least 50 other sites and after 200 gig download in a few hours, took down the ISP server I use.
Construction details here:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/108941983487083451766/posts/12ghUMr5x7F
Or on the website:
http://tesladownunder.com/tesla_coil_sparks.htm#Rotating long breakout point

2013-03-09 05:50:50 (3 comments, 5 reshares, 29 +1s)

Tesla coil long exposure series No 4   Rotating breakout. Eye of Sauron.
In this series I explain long exposure techniques as applied to high voltage sparks from a Tesla coil. 

The left photo shows the smallish Tesla coil with a breakout point which is rotating. The spray of high voltage streamers over a full rotation of 7 seconds is captured on a single photographic exposure.  The "eye" like effect is (barely) enough to liken it to the Eye of Sauron.

The right photo shows the rod stationary and Tesla coil off. When rotating the rod blurs out. The sparks themselves are bright microsecond events and are fixed and sharply defined wherever they occur.

Also in this series:
Post No 1: Single and multiple sparks from a Tesla coil toroid.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/108941983487083451766/posts/agX5XysJFg4
Post No 2: Single breakout point with longexp... more »

2013-03-09 03:22:14 (7 comments, 4 reshares, 28 +1s)

Nikola Tesla features on this 1992 Serbian banknote for 10 billion dinara from a hyperinflationary era.
This note cost me about $20.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Yugoslav_dinar
I count Tesla being on their banknotes 9 times.

2013-03-04 07:02:33 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 11 +1s)

Good news:  I just noticed I have a PageRank 4 for this G+ site. 
Bad News: my website has dropped from PageRank 5 to 4
http://tesladownunder.com/  has been an idle shipwreck for ages.
After 18 months the new one is well under way with links preserved.

2013-03-03 07:00:30 (3 comments, 5 reshares, 22 +1s)

 A big Fresnel lens focuses sunlight to make popcorn. Actually, despite the power the corn initially just burns rather than pops until you add a little oil.  Here is the setup.
Powerful enough to melt brick.

Previous posts and data on this setup 
https://plus.google.com/108941983487083451766/posts/gQKqsiJ9nn8
Brick melting
https://plus.google.com/108941983487083451766/posts/ZRnPg76PiE6
Wood burning
https://plus.google.com/108941983487083451766/posts/EfHrBqvRaUr

2013-02-23 16:18:20 (6 comments, 3 reshares, 18 +1s)

Did you know you had a crazy maze in your nose?
A CT scan at the level of the eyeballs and ear canals shows the complexity of the air-filled ethmoid sinuses.  Aaa-aa-tish-oo

2013-02-21 13:00:58 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 35 +1s)

Castles in the sky.
I have no real interest in cloud photos but this was just a strange sunset photo.  The sea is in that direction and fairly flat ground, so this is a cloud shadow on a cloud. 

2013-02-20 19:39:31 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 13 +1s)

Funny faces in medical scans.

A CT scan of the brain showing the eyes being the lateral ventricles which contain the white calcified choroid plexus. The third ventricle is the nose and the fourth ventricle the mouth.

2013-02-17 06:33:41 (5 comments, 3 reshares, 18 +1s)

A magnetic levitation demo of a pyrolytic graphite sheet above a magnet array.
Pyrolytic graphite is one of the most diamagnetic materials and is light enough to be lifted by standard magnets.
Sheet is 45mm square and weighs 1.04g.  The model boat is .04g.
There are 169 magnets in a 13 x 13 array with alternating polarities. Black poles are north.

2013-02-16 13:52:19 (5 comments, 2 reshares, 28 +1s)

Captain Soviet. So you thought that was a meteorite?

Other captions invited.

A pulse capacitor puts 4kJ into some steel wool.
http://tesladownunder.com/Pulse_Power.htm
A bigger explosion is here with exposure started just after the main flash. 
https://plus.google.com/u/0/108941983487083451766/posts/YxBcQK2fvBm

2013-02-16 05:33:49 (3 comments, 23 reshares, 31 +1s)

Tesla coil long exposure series No 3   Breakout rod rotating
In this series I explain long exposure techniques as applied to high voltage sparks from a Tesla coil. 

The left photo shows the Tesla coil with a single breakout point directing sparks and streamers in one direction. The exposure is 2.5 seconds.

Th right photo shows the rod now rotating (7 seconds per full 360 degrees) and a 10 second exposure shows sparks originating from a circle. Note that the poorly lit rod disappears. The sparks themselves are bright microsecond events  and are fixed in sharp focus wherever they occur.
You can start to see the magic of the long exposure in producing dramatic and different images. They are still just what the camera records. If the rotation and power were 200 times greater your eye would see the same effect due to persistence of vision.

The rotation is driven by aba... more »

2013-02-13 08:53:30 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

Tesla coil long exposure series No 2   Breakout rod
In this series I explain long exposure techniques as applied to high voltage sparks from a Tesla coil. 

In the first of the series a long exposure of sparks was shown with sparks originating from more than one place on the top terminal or toroid.
However, for many artistic effects, I want sparks from one position only.

If there is a point or short rod the sparks will jump from this point. This rod can be from inches to many feet.
In the photo below from a larger Tesla coil, there is a rod about 1 foot long acting as a breakout point.
Note the bright white "spark" to the ladder and the purple branching "streamers" which fade out into the air. 

Next post No 3: Reload this post to get the link or in my comments.
Last post No1:... more »

2013-02-16 13:46:47 (2 comments, 6 reshares, 43 +1s)

Tesla coil long exposure series No 2   Breakout rod
In this series I explain long exposure techniques as applied to high voltage sparks from a Tesla coil. 

In the first of the series a long exposure of sparks was shown with sparks originating from more than one place on the top terminal or toroid.
However, for many artistic effects, I want sparks from one position only.

If there is a point or short rod the sparks will jump from this point. This rod can be from inches to many feet.
In the photo below from a larger Tesla coil, there is a rod about 1 foot long acting as a breakout point.
Note the bright white "spark" to the ladder and the purple branching "streamers" which fade out into the air. 

Last post No 1:  https://plus.google.com/u/0/108941983487083451766/posts/FxsPfbjxb4Q

Next post No 3: ht... more »

2013-02-13 03:31:05 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Tesla coil long exposure series No 1 Basics
In this series I will explain long exposure techniques as applied to high voltage sparks from a Tesla coil. These have been popular in international media for me. 
But first the basics: The key feature of spark photography is that a spark is a sub microsecond event. It cannot be blurred by motion.  They are repetitive (bursts of perhaps 10 at millisecond intervals, repeated at perhaps 20 - 40ms or longer) but chaotic and bursts may not follow the same track.  

First photo is a 1/100 sec exposure on a small Tesla coil in a shipping container which has picked up only one spark. Background is shaded sunlight. Sparks are 2-3 feet long.
Second photo shows an 8 second exposure with many sparks and is a much more dramatic photo. Background is night and all light is from the sparks with a very high bluish colour temperature.
Note thatyo... more »

2013-02-13 08:43:19 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 19 +1s)

Tesla coil long exposure series No 1 Basics
In this series I will explain long exposure techniques as applied to high voltage sparks from a Tesla coil. These have been popular in international media for me. 
But first the basics: The key feature of spark photography is that a spark is a sub microsecond event. It cannot be blurred by motion.  They are repetitive (bursts of perhaps 10 at millisecond intervals, repeated at perhaps 20 - 40ms or longer) but chaotic and bursts may not follow the same track.  
First photo is a 1/100 sec exposure on a small Tesla coil in a shipping container which has picked up only one spark. Background is shaded sunlight. Sparks are 2-3 feet long.
Second photo shows an 8 second exposure with many sparks and is a much more dramatic photo. Background is night and all light is from the sparks with a very high bluish colour temperature.
Note that your eyesu... more »

2013-02-04 22:07:53 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 26 +1s)

Lizard on left talking to lizard on the right: "Yeah, mate. Was flat out like a lizard drinking and woke up legless..."
All a bit Aussie really.

2013-02-03 09:46:52 (23 comments, 1 reshares, 25 +1s)

Zany comments invited. Zany means.. Ohh never mind.

2013-02-03 09:38:57 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 14 +1s)

An inobtrusive flower from our driveway verge. The 3 fold symmetry is satisfying and it has a mild 3D effect.

2013-01-30 08:58:56 (15 comments, 4 reshares, 31 +1s)

Pyrolytic graphite repels a magnetic field allowing stable levitation.  This is diamagnetism and since the graphite is light a strong field will allow levitation. These magnets are only 5 mm a side.

It is most commonly done with a checkerboard configuration of cubic magnets with alternating poles. The black tops of two of the 4 magnets here are South poles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrolytic_carbon
Note that you can't do that to levitate a magnet. In a static system, they can never be stable (Earnshaw's Theorem).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earnshaw%27s_theorem

2013-01-29 10:27:48 (16 comments, 3 reshares, 33 +1s)

Messin' with forces I don't understand.
Bizarre and offbeat comments invited.
This is an 8 second exposure as the camera sees it. No photoshopping.

2013-01-10 00:23:36 (9 comments, 7 reshares, 41 +1s)

A hot 2000 volt arc forms from a high voltage circuit based on a Royer oscillator drawing 300W. Most of the parts are from an inverter microwave oven. 

2012-12-30 03:20:06 (41 comments, 2 reshares, 11 +1s)

Comments with imagination required. Bizarre is best.

2012-12-28 12:28:42 (9 comments, 3 reshares, 29 +1s)

Bunbury lighthouse lit by an even brighter light source, my torch at 80,000 lumens. I still believe this is the worlds most powerful torch that can be carried although the Guinness record is for one about 50% more powerful but needs a crane to lift it.
http://tesladownunder.com/WorldsBrightestBike.htm#BikeLights

2012-12-28 11:53:04 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

Bunbury lighthouse lit by an even brighter light source, my torch at 80,000 lumens. I still believe this is the worlds most powerful torch that can be carried although the Guiness record is for one about 50% more powerful but needs a crane to lift it.