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Ozone
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Registered: 28-7-2005
Location: Good Olde USA
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Going back to an original mad scientist, how about a kite, kite string and a very fine (fine magnet wire) wire. Hell, put a key on there for
historical value!
As for lasers, the rarification of the air to create your conductive plasma "tube" will require a massively powerful (see expensive) laser. I think
the military (via national labs, don't remember which one) have been experimenting with this. OTOH, any laser passing through air will be ionizing
some of the molecules. The trick would be to ionize enough to be conductive (probably not too many at potentials of several million volts), but not so
many that the energy from you beam is transferred completely (which would kill the range; careful wavelength selection is key here). Maybe IR is not
the range to use?
How about a crazy UV range (N2 type, maybe)?
Cheers,
O3
-Anyone who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
--Albert Einstein
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hashashan
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why not use a rocket?
it is prooven to work so why not?
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hinz
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Better use a small kite. The balloon will probably get some problems with the wind present in a thunderstorm. if using a rocket it's important to use
a sophisticated wire unwrap mechanism, which is difficult to build. Imagine you have a wire reel with something like 300m of wire on it. A small
rocket will accelerate to 50-200m/s in one to a few seconds. So the wire reel must be accelerated alot of rpm's in a few seconds and this means alot
of tensile to the wire that will eventualy break.
A kite you can start before the thunderstorm beginns and than you can wait in safe distance till the lightning strikes it, so there won't be any
problems with the rocket ignition and and CATO's with selfbuild rocket engines.
Is there anything like carbon fibre string available? It would be useful in this task as it conducts, so you don't have to use a copper wire coaxial
with your nylon string or whatever is used to tie the kite down.
PS on't forget to film the event! 
[Edited on 31-7-2007 by hinz]
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YT2095
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IF you use a rocket, remember what I said, it MUST be electrically isolated! so either a blow tube to a pressure switch or some other remote control,
you cannot simply light a fuse OR use an Ematch to your hand held trigger!
\"In a world full of wonders mankind has managed to invent boredom\" - Death
Twinkies don\'t have a shelf life. They have a half-life! -Caine (a friend of mine)
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hashashan
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you dont need to accelerate anything .. you just need to lay the wire in a smart way ... you need to fold it in circles on the ground so it will be
just pulled upwards.. of course you shouldnt use a rolled wire
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franklyn
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| Quote: | Originally posted by solo
I had a strange dream |
Not to worry stranger ideas have been proposed by others
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=6032&a...
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unionised
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Life imitates art.
http://xkcd.com/260/
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DerAlte
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@Solo - are you still alive down there in Mexico? Here where I live (you can work that out) is one of the most most lighning prone areas in the
western hemispere, if not world wide. The idea of hoisting a wire into the sky causes me to fear for your safety, amigo!
I have twice had lightning strikes on trees within 10 meters of my house(s). In the first the wall paper in the kitchen happened to be aluminim backed
(Why I have no idea). A very large spark crossed this room but did no damage, fortunately.
The same year the neighbor was also struck, resulting in damage to various electrical systems in his house.
At my present abode a strike hit a large tree less than 10 meters from the house. Attached to it was a steel cored clothes line - this was vaporized.
An underground coax cable was also fused. In the house certain appliances such as a fan and and a bell transformer were ruined.
A friend who lives nearby is a radio amateur and has a 15 meter steel lattice tower to support his antennas. He says this is struck 2-3 times yearly.
Recently a neighbor 150 meters away had their house rendered uninhabitable by a lighnting induce fire - this is common in this area, perhaps 100 in
the county per annum. Regular news in the summer. This particular neighbor had small lightning conductors attached to their roof. I suspect the down
leads vaporized due to inadequate gauge wire.
Oh, and we have sharks, too, nearby in the ocean... Take care, amigo!
Regards,
Der Alte.
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IrC
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If you read up on diamond making patents they are always adding microwaves to the mix. I think you should drill a hole in your microwave for the
leader to the rocket to connect the reaction vessel inside the oven to the lightning. Of course the vessel is glass or quartz and the leader out the
top of the oven is insulated. Also helps if the vessel can take great pressure. Then just before you fire your rocket turn on the microwave!
This all may sound idiotic but you guys really need to look at all the diamond making patents starting in the early 1960's. Not much different.
Moderate pressure in containment vessels with microwaves and bolts of electricity shooting into the mix of carbon inside the vessel.
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vulture
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How about firing an EBW circuit into a charcoal filled enclosure then?
One shouldn't accept or resort to the mutilation of science to appease the mentally impaired.
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The_Davster
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Or perhaps firing an EBW circuit through a thin graphite rod? Think pencil lead for mechanical pencils.
Perhaps with the lead encased in thick glass for some pressure?
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Xenoid
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May be this is the way to do it, Bob only needs a bit more power... 
http://members.tm.net/lapointe/Allotropes.html
I seriously question why anyone would want to make synthetic diamonds. The world is awash with cheap synthetic gem quality diamonds of any colour
imaginable. Added to this is a "glut" of natural stones, the price of which is only maintained artificially by DeBeers. Diamonds are not the "rare"
gemstones people think they are, natural sapphire, ruby and emerald are all rarer. But again are all easily coloured and made synthetically.
Regards, Xenoid
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