Fusion Message Board

In this space, visitors are invited to post any comments, questions, or skeptical observations about Philo T. Farnsworth's contributions to the field of Nuclear Fusion research.

Subject: Re: Email List
Date: Apr 08, 0:52 am
Poster: Jim Lux

On Apr 08, 0:52 am, Jim Lux wrote:

>Is there an email list on this subject? This BBS seems too slow...

The BBS is actually pretty fast, and it has the advantage of retaining the messages on a system not your own. There is a sort of archive of old messages, but there was a bug in the program I wrote to suck all the messages down, so the longer posts are incomplete. I am fixing it.

In reference to a previous question of yours about Cockroft Walton gens: One of the advantages of the spherical IEC fusor is that it does measureable fusion at relatively low voltages (I suppose a colliding beam scheme would be comparable).

The technical challenges of working at >50 kV (relative to ground) are a sufficient complication that I don't think anyone has done it yet: There are enough other problems to keep you busy for quite a while. And, when you do get to higher voltages, the currents also rise. Xray transformers (which put out >100 kV at 100 mA, easily) are so readily available that a CW multiplier probably isn't worth the hassle. If I were going to work at, say, 200 kV or more, I'd start to consider multiplier stacks of some sort (mostly because transformers with a 200 kV secondary voltage are hard to come by, and big and expensive). However, if you want bright 200 keV ions, there are better ways to get them than accelerating through a 200 kV potential drop. (for microamps, though, a Van deGraaf generator makes a dandy deuteron source, ref the Amateur Scientist proton accelerator article).