Jumping Rock

This blog will be about a jumping rock near one of our favourite camping spots. The camping spot is on the Avon River, in the Avon Wilderness Park. It is part of a big rock that juts out over the water. It is about seven meters above the water. Seven meters is enough space to get up some speed.
We have a few games that we play when we go there. We have a loop that is just big enough to fit around your foot so we chuck it in the water and try to jump into it.A second game would be trying to enter the water with the least amount of splash. another game we play is trying to make the biggest splash which nine times out of ten stings more than if you were attacked by a hive of European bees that were very... very angry. In light of this jumping off a rock can be dangerous and a whole lot of fun. I will add some pictures later today.

Induction



Oh My God!!!!!



This blog will be about induction. Induction is when the large electrical field coming off a high voltage transmission or power line can be accessed. If you were to hold up a fluorescent tube near a power line it would start to glow. We discovered that if you held it on its side it would not glow and if it became damp it would discontinue glowing. This was a problem because when we were inducting it was quite cold and we had to continuously dry them with a rag. We also found that they would interfere with each other when held close together. This was probably because they were taking too much energy from the small area and could not get both of them to go. To the left is a photo of me and a glowing tube. Below there are two photos that were long exposures of the tubes.There is also a picture of the three held in one spot. this is not really dangerous but it is certainly fun.

Long Exposure

Long Exposure

The Three Of Them

Van De Graaff #1

This is one of the projects that i have recently started. It is a Van De Graaff. A Van De Graaff is a static electricity generator. I have acquired an old tread mill that has a 1.8 hp engine in it. There is a picture of it below. The old control circuit board was fried so I tried "hot wiring" it. This worked partially but I had to continuously tap two wires together. I have recently wired it up to a variable transformer from the mains that goes up to 12 volts but that only makes the engine crawl along. I tried putting it through a step up transformer but i could not figure out how to wire it.

The Engine

 Hopefully in the end I will be able to make a good spark. This is can be dangerous if used correctly but it can be a tad dangerous and whole lot of fun.  

Pre-apart taking



I think it used to be for a car

Explosives

 This is another one of those "someone i know" blogs. Before "my acquaintance" had acquired some fireworks he created some works of fire. These works of fire have ranged from balloons filled with some flammable gasses to sparkler and some expanding gassed in a cone to create a fountain. With the balloons the "person i know" had a dozen balloons strapped to a string, strung to a pole with a sparkler on the bottom most. I have uploaded a time lapse picture of them exploding .

Not to go on about fireworks but at one the parties hosted by "my friend" he set off a little bottle rocket type firework. It squealed up but off course and ended up exploding about a foot above "my friend’s" friend's head.


This was but one of the many occasions when explosives have been  dangerous and fun.

Power Kites

This week I'll talk about my power kites. We (my dad and I) have a number of them, ranging from a small 3m square to the big one, a kite surfing kite, at over 14m square. The bigger ones are more than enough to lift you off the ground even in a small breath of a wind. Here are a couple of pictures of me at the beach with one of the larger kites, strapped in with a half harness.

Ninja Kick!!!

I have crashed a few times though, like on my 12th birthday I was using the kite surfing kite at an oval that, When I got the kite into the air I noticed that I was shielded from the wind until I got the kite up but it was too late and I was ripped off my feet and came down very hard.

Power kites are not directly dangerous but if used correctly can be slightly dangerous and quite fun.

FireWorks

A few years ago "someone i know" went around Australia. "their" dad had timed their arrival in Darwin perfectly with Territory Day. Territory Day is a holiday in Darwin that legalises fireworks for one fun filled day. "They" purchased a number of sets that were 1X0.5 m large and filled with explosive fun (amounting to around $1000) that night "they" thought everyone that lived in Darwin was on the beach, running around like headless chickens. for around an hour "they" set off as many fireworks as we could, even though at the end "they" still had enough to take home.

At home "they" use them sparingly because they were expensive and "they" are not likely to ever get any more. Here are some pictures of the "someone I know" enjoying one of the loud ones. These things can be dangerous but if you do it safely it can be Dangerous and Fun.

My First Blog: High Voltage Jacobs Ladder

Hey everybody, for my first blog I will tell you about my High Voltage Jacobs Ladder. I will upload some photos of it in a few days but at the moment i will just tell you about it. I used two microwave oven transformers that, when powered up have a high voltage output of 4KV which is 4000 Volts or over 15 times the voltage of our houses. The immense voltage ionises the air and creates a path of low resistance through the air that allows the power to jump to the earthed wires. I got the two microwaves from my local tip and with them there were a few other bits and pieces like an AC motor that when the drive is moved it makes a decent amount of power that shocks you... I found this out the hard way.In total I have blown 4 fuses,the cost of these fuses amounts to more than the worth of the rig. This high voltage is more than enough to kill you but if you do it safely it can be dangerous and fun.

Through the welding mask

A great sign

I made it remote control :)



The ladder