🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <gYJRpyy00WB-E57Uwj@andrew.cmu.edu> rg20+@andrew.cmu.edu (Rick Francis Golembiewski) writes:
>Yes, you could broad cast energy in a similar mannor to radio waves (remember
>that radio waves are a form of energy too, so it already being done in a
>sense), HOWEVER you are NOT going to see power lines disappear, this is because
>it is increadibly inefficient because the power would be transmitted in a
>sphereical wave (assuming that you wanted to transmit power to everyone), you
>run into a distance dependance, ie the farther you are from the transmitting
>source the weaker the power transmitted it.

Having one, centralized broadcast station is inefficient.  Hell, we
don't even do that with wires.  The power grids I'm familiar with are
fed by multiple generating stations, with multiple local substations.

A more efficient tesla system might have a radiator on each block, or
in each house.  In the former case, you wouldn't need local
distribution wires to each house; in the latter you wouldn't need
wiring in the house itself.

However, since this is radiated power and would have a particular
frequency, and a harmonic series, it would wreak havoc with radio
reception on those and nearby frequencies.

>In any case, ever wondered why
>you have to have to amplify a radio signal when the radio stations use far
>far far more power then you ever would need to run your radio?  It's because
>by the time the signal gets to you, there isn't all that much power left.

Hmm, I guess you must be too young to remember crystal radios?  These
were radios that used a diode (originally, a germanium crystal and a
"cat whisker" contact you had to manually position to find an active
[semiconductive] spot on the crystal), a coil, a capacitor and a
sensitive headphone.  With an earth ground and a straight-wire
antenna, it is possible to receive enough signal to drive the
headphone without additional power.

However, you aren't wrong in that you receive microwatts of the
station's kilowatt broadcast power.


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