The Fusor Horserace

Reflections on fusion history, current events, and predictions for the 'fusion powered future.
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The Fusor Horserace

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It has been a very productive year.
It seems that long drawn out effort is starting to pay off.
It was only a year ago that I suggested one horse designs.
I thought it might be far away but life is stranger than fiction.
I could not have imaged a continous fusor with an input of a kilowatt with a sustanable grid made out of stainless steel.
More than one member doubted that efficiency could be raised myself included then Wisconsin results blew away that thought.
Is it nirvana ? No but darned close.
For all you young studs thinking I can do that in less than six months ... Good Luck Chuck!
Most of the success you see in the forum is the result of YEARS of work. Don't get dispondant if other people get ahead of ya.... there's alot of stuff still to do yet. If the fusion breakeven occured tomorrow , I see at least a decade of work to refine it to a useful usable form.
I know we are a stagg outfit and men tend to compete
at all times but remember we are competing against the fusion problem not against each other.
Fusion is fun.

Larry Leins
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teslapark
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Re: The Fusor Horserace

Post by teslapark »

"Fusion is fun."

Those are my sentiments, too. I work with the fusor because it is edifying and enjoyable, not necessarily because I think it will turn the world on its ear. This of course, doesn't mean there isn't room for serious research. The research and the science is a big motivator for nerds like myself to get involved. The limit of the fusor's usfulness in the hands of a competant and imaginative experimentor is only bounded by the creativity of that experimentor. There are all kinds of variables to test, scenarios to make, and improvements/modifications to be made. None of which might include making a power source out of a homemade thermonuclear device.

There is plenty of untouched ground here, I think. Lot's of stuff to do, and lots of neat discoveries to be made about fusor construction and operation.

That is where the fun is, exploring new modes of operation and gaining a deeper understanding of the device and the natural laws that make it work. This can also be very rewarding too.

It is very likely that a nice, expandable fusor setup could easily occupy a person for 20+ years, all the while never ceasing to find new experiments to perform and new modifications to make.

Among ourselves, I think we have scarcely begun to really investigate and play hard. Ideas and musings for new developments and experiments have been passed around for years, but the lab work just hasn't been done yet. It is nice to read and learn about all of your ideas and individual directions in research, and I look forward to seeing them become photos of real machines, followed by real data and results.

We have by no means exhausted our experimental capacity and potential for further fun and improvement. The main inhibitinng factor which makes the work go slowly of course, is the time and money constraints most amateurs have. This is ok by me, however, as long as there are those who are commited to getting out in the lab when they can and getting their hands dirty on the front lines.

Just to give an idea of where we are and maybe where we are headed, took a look at a sampling of scenarios which thus far have ramained only musings among our forum:

No one among us has tried yet to bring a fusor system under any type of practical computer control.

No one here has continuously operated a UHV system yet with special ionization techniques, except for one or two folks who are using ionizer grids and dispenser filaments. No ion guns have been tried, or RF field excitation.

No one has attempted any type of neutron spectroscopy.

No one has produced a fusor yet with an ouput of over 1e6 neutrons per second, although we have spent quite a few threads discussing issues of neutron shielding.

It looks like maybe one of us is beginning to step up to the plate when it comes to pulse work experiments, which requires alot of special considerations and safety regards.

Of course, I don't say any of these things to be vindictive or discouraging, but merely to point out where maybe we can expect the experimental routes of this group to be going as time and money allows. Any amateur who commits to building and getting to work even a demo fusor is to be commended, as such an effort represents the result of a mastery of many skills and scientific disciplines, and a knack for working with things in the real world, while balencing all this with rough budget and time contraints.

Only a few so far have taken a step further and made a real neutron producing fusor. At this point is it evident that one has a nearly proffessional knowledge of vacuum systems, and has tackled all the details of neutron detection.

Fusion may be relatively easy as Tom Ligon has said, but it is still quite a challenge among us to do good work in this field. Again, it's ok if experimental work moves slowly here. The items on the above list of experiments and projects are expensive, time consuming, and difficult. This is why they haven't been done yet; this is why we talk about and want to do them, for the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment and fun after all the sweat and brain cramps.

I count it a privelage to have access to some of the fine minds and personalities on the forum, and from those who are committed to doing, I know I can expect lots of neat stuff in the future.

Adam Parker
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