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What happens when you touch a pickle to an AM radio tower

jeffgeerling.com

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Re: What happens when you touch a pickle to an AM radio tower

#71

Post by timr »

JCM9 wrote: post #62

For folks wondering why these sort of videos (there are lots on YouTube) always focus on AM towers: 1. On AM the radio energy literally pulses (the amplitude modulation) and thus the arcs of plasma will pulse too thus creating the audio noise. AM has a carrier wave that’s constant but the two sidebands of signal pulse from zero energy at silence to more power the louder the sound being transmitted. FM signals broadca…

Another thing to note, since people seem to be focusing on the RF aspect of this: there's 20-30 Amps running to the tower in this video. If your body is the connection to ground for a 20 Amp current, from any source, you're going to have a lot more to worry about than a burnt pickle (I guess it's cool that you'd make radio sounds while you died?)

When they put the pickle/hotdog/whatever an inch away from the tower without actually touching it, it doesn't even get warm. This isn't RF, it's just standard-issue AC electrocution. Maybe the one "radio" thing here is that the ground underneath a tower like this is essentially a big metal mesh, but even that isn't a factor -- they're literally hooking a jumper cable from the pickle to ground.

Re: What happens when you touch a pickle to an AM radio tower

#72

Post by SoftTalker »

justanother wrote: post #40

I understand he got permission and everything was checked out by actual RF eggheads, but damn. I won't even change a HV run capacitor unless i'm wearing crocs, standing on cement, and wearing the rubber oven mitts. And even then, I keep one hand behind my back. Because there have been accidents, and they hurt (the pool pump run cap fails approximately annually in this climate and if I paid someone to change it every…

Just short the terminals with a screwdriver before you touch anything else? (Look away in case there's an brief arc flash)

Re: What happens when you touch a pickle to an AM radio tower

#73

Post by ck2 »

JCM9 wrote: post #62

For folks wondering why these sort of videos (there are lots on YouTube) always focus on AM towers: 1. On AM the radio energy literally pulses (the amplitude modulation) and thus the arcs of plasma will pulse too thus creating the audio noise. AM has a carrier wave that’s constant but the two sidebands of signal pulse from zero energy at silence to more power the louder the sound being transmitted. FM signals broadca…

The history of AM radio and the invention of the mechanical sparkgap transmitters by Reginald Fessenden is absolutely fascinating.

Imagine only having telegraphs and morse code and amateurs listening every night to the spark noises in morse then suddenly in 1906 (first done in 1900 !) you hear voices and music!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Fessenden

can't seem to direct link the photos but scroll down to see what you are talking about with the base of the tower being a massive insulator

scroll to: Brant Rock, Massachusetts, facility

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Fessenden#Rotary-sp...

Re: What happens when you touch a pickle to an AM radio tower

#74

Post by SoftTalker »

awful wrote: post #68

side comment; Cub Scout project books of the 1960s, as I recall, had you make a hot dog cooker by connecting line voltage to two nails through a board...

There was actually a kitchen appliance that did this, we had one when I was a kid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=029jcmv4tIU

Re: What happens when you touch a pickle to an AM radio tower

#75

Post by geerlingguy »

timr wrote: post #71
JCM9 wrote: post #62

For folks wondering why these sort of videos (there are lots on YouTube) always focus on AM towers: 1. On AM the radio energy literally pulses (the amplitude modulation) and thus the arcs of plasma will pulse too thus creating the audio noise. AM has a carrier wave that’s constant but the two sidebands of signal pulse from zero energy at silence to more power the louder the sound being transmitted. FM signals broadca…

Another thing to note, since people seem to be focusing on the RF aspect of this: there's 20-30 Amps running to the tower in this video. If your body is the connection to ground for a 20 Amp current, from any source, you're going to have a lot more to worry about than a burnt pickle (I guess it's cool that you'd make radio sounds while you died?) When they put the pickle/hotdog/whatever an inch away from the tower wi…

RF burns are a lot different than electrocution-style burns, though. But I'm not an expert on either topic, I'd defer to some people who know more about it.

Re: What happens when you touch a pickle to an AM radio tower

#76

Post by alnwlsn »

JohnMakin wrote: post #39

I always wonder if there would be any pain in the death that results from touching one of these. I’d assume it’d be instant from the electricity traveling through your heart - or would you just burn up more slowly?

I've been gently bit by a small Tesla coil before (100s of kHz but lower frequency than AM). There is absolutely no 'electrical' pain to speak of - it is nothing like getting a static shock or touching line voltage. However, it still hurts because it burns you, like touching a tiny flame, which is the only way I could tell anything was happening. It also vaporizes your skin, which smells terrible.

Re: What happens when you touch a pickle to an AM radio tower

#77

Post by awful »

SoftTalker wrote: post #74
awful wrote: post #68

side comment; Cub Scout project books of the 1960s, as I recall, had you make a hot dog cooker by connecting line voltage to two nails through a board...

There was actually a kitchen appliance that did this, we had one when I was a kid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=029jcmv4tIU

Haha; Thank You for sharing that.

Re: What happens when you touch a pickle to an AM radio tower

#78

Post by dekhn »

bsder wrote: post #19
ljf wrote: post #6

I mentioned over dinner at my parents house (about 20 years ago) that I'd read that running 240v through a gherkin would cause it to glow - and pretty much as soon as dinner was over, my father and I had the experiment set up. Gherkins and even pickled onions glowed brilliantly. I set up a basic site to share the video we'd taken and details of the experiment, and shared it to B3ta. Sadly all lost to time.

"WRL Technical Note TN-13 Characterization of Organic Illumination Systems" https://simh.trailing-edge.com/semi/docs/WRL-TN-13.pdf

One of the authors, Alan Eustace, was an exec at Google (in the days when execs at Google had a clue) and also holds the record for highest jump (135K feet).

Re: What happens when you touch a pickle to an AM radio tower

#79

Post by dekhn »

pacaro wrote: post #69

The tech trivia related to this that springs to mind is that the DEC Alpha processor was known internally by the code name EV, which stood for "Electric Vlasic" — although the suits backfit this in to "Extended VAX". (Vlasic is an American pickle brand.)

well, alan eustace who's on the DEC electropickle paper also worked on the alpha, I bet he suggestedit.

Re: What happens when you touch a pickle to an AM radio tower

#80

Post by WarOnPrivacy »

bArray wrote: post #70
the_arun wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where is the energy coming from? The power source towers are connected? Already our electric bills are super expensive. How can we run localized AM Stations with high cost of maintenance?

It depends how powerful, but running a 1kW station could be feasible for a home owner. Also I imagine they would generally have operating times which would greatly reduce operational overheads.

True and a community station might have community content and funding. Buying airtime is as old as broadcasting.

It could also power down for a bit. I'm old enough to remember commercial TV going off-air overnight.

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