Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

What 50,000 watts of RF energy sounds like through a jumper cable

facebook.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 163 posts

Re: What 50,000 watts of RF energy sounds like through a jumper cable

#21

Post by jrockway »

ronreiter wrote: post #3
gnu8 wrote: post #2

Flagged for linking to facebook.

Why is that an issue?

I've noticed that a lot of users have various vendettas against certain companies, and they like to pretend to be outraged whenever they have any opportunity to mention their dislike for the company. In this case, a link to Facebook was provided, so it was the perfect opportunity for a rant about Facebook, right? (In the case of gnu8, it appears they merely hate everything unilaterally which I suppose is refreshing. Probably just having a bad week.)

Meanwhile, there are plenty of things Facebook could have done to be annoying, but they didn't do those things. I don't have an account. The link loaded fine. What's there to complain about? The web worked like the web.

Re: What 50,000 watts of RF energy sounds like through a jumper cable

#24

Post by thwarted »

luxflux wrote: post #17
URSpider94 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The voltage applied to the cable is directly proportional to the audio signal, overlaid on a ~1 MHz carrier. All you need is a mechanism that transforms those voltages into vibrations or pressure waves. Presumably, since it seems to happen only when he's striking an arc, it's related to the local heating of the air in the gap ... But I guess it could be electromagnetically induced vibrations of the cable or the tower…

There used to be stories, not entirely urban legend, of people who lived close to AM towers hearing the station in the wiring of their home, or in their dental appliances. Reminds me of a Gilligan's Island episode, Hi Fi Gilligan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x1XHv0sxro

Lucille Ball talking about picking up radio signals in her fillings. https://vimeo.com/72473069

Re: What 50,000 watts of RF energy sounds like through a jumper cable

#27

Post by Nutmog »

estomagordo wrote: post #23

19 comments and not even one mentions that Watt, with a capital W, measures power, and not energy? I'm assuming 90% of posters know this, but it still bugs me. A modest proposal: "What 50 kilowatts of RF power sounds like through a jumper cable"

I think that usage is OK. It's like saying "40W of light". In this case, it tells us there's some RF energy and also that it's RF energy of the "50 kW" type.

Re: What 50,000 watts of RF energy sounds like through a jumper cable

#28

Post by vkou »

exabrial wrote: post #13

So dumb questions: Why were they shorting out the tower? (What was the purpose of the cable) What are those rubber things? What would happen to a bird that landed on the tower (not grounded) What about a large metal helicopter (if it didn't crash)?

The bird would be fine, due to the way parallel circuits work (Very little power travels through the more resistant one of two parallel circuits.)

Re: What 50,000 watts of RF energy sounds like through a jumper cable

#30

Post by estomagordo »

Nutmog wrote: post #27
estomagordo wrote: post #23

19 comments and not even one mentions that Watt, with a capital W, measures power, and not energy? I'm assuming 90% of posters know this, but it still bugs me. A modest proposal: "What 50 kilowatts of RF power sounds like through a jumper cable"

I think that usage is OK. It's like saying "40W of light". In this case, it tells us there's some RF energy and also that it's RF energy of the "50 kW" type.

I think "40 W of light" is a great example of why this imprecise, or quite frankly, incorrect usage is troublesome. 40 W of old timey lightbulb light is useful if you want to sit close and read a book in the evening, whereas 40 W of a modern LED bulb light is a great thing to have if you want to fend of a pack of marauding undead.
Post reply on HN