VOTW: Man Makes ''Death Ray'' with Satellite Dish

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jerreece

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[citation][nom]haxs101[/nom]5,000 times hotter than the sun? I highly doubt that. Look how "small" that thing is. Lol at the dude not wearing gloves. Also, it doesn't even look like you could fit 5,800 mirror tiles on there..[/citation]
[citation][nom]oxxfatelostxxo[/nom]the sun is 15 million Celsius, est., if that thing could put out the same temp as the sun, there would be no video of stuff cooking, it would literally burn it all into ash the moment it touched, heck would prob even catch fire before it touched the beam.[/citation]

I think the guy means the beam of light coming from this thing is 5,000 times stronger than the sunlight you stand in outside. It's about magnification, just like using the magnifying glass to kill ants. It amplifies the beam of light and the intensity of such light. So this things magnifies the sunlight 5,000 times.
 

HolyCrusader

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There are solar collector arrays in existence based on this principal to generate power. Problem is that it takes a lot of space & mirrors to be able to produce meaningful amounts of energy.

That said, there are a couple plans to set-up numerous large-scale arrays in the Sahara desert, even going so far as using the sand in the desert itself to make the mirrors. The one I read about recently is called the "Sahara Solar Breeder Project".
 

f-14

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[citation][nom]LordConrad[/nom]"Unfortunately, the dish died a horrible death in a shed fire."Hint: When placing your Death Ray in storage, aim the shiny side away from your shed.[/citation]
or remember that with out a light blocking covering light bulbs and windows are your enemy.
my guess is with the time of the year and the sun being lower on the horizon and further south and a window to the east/south/west in the shed was as good as a bomb timer of self destruction.

i wonder how many times he burned/cooked his fingers before he decided to use pliers and how many pliers he went thru before he learned where the focal point was by memory?
also wondering what kind of equipment it would take to out do boeings aircraft mounted laser system is and if it would be cheaper then the $7.3 billion+ laser 747?
http://thetechjournal.com/tech-news/pentagons-airborne-laser-jet-blasts-successfully-ballistic-missile-us-military-test.xhtml
 

cookoy

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this is a really bullshit claim. let's see now. 1 small mirror, reflecting light from the sun 93 million miles away, is as hot as the sun? you need a big shovel, maybe 5800 shovels, to clear out the shit!
 

admore

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Lots of you people don't know anything about this topic. Terms like "death ray" are dumb. Its concentrated solar energy - nothing mysterious or bogus about it.

Inform yourselves before posting "This is BS!". Google the following and learn - solar concentrator, solar furnace, power density of solar radiation, optic focus solar radiation.

This guy's solution isn't really optimal - nor are the attempts on Mythbusters (a bunch of basically improperly aimed mirrors and poor focus on the most recent). I've seen more elegant demonstrations of this using a small satellite dish, a mylar balloon and a small pump.

Many many serious and commercial attempts to harness this sort of solar power are ongoing around the world. Reading these comments it sounds like a lot of people know FPS and not much else.
 

admore

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@Holy Crusader - you don't have to look so far from home. It appears that the 150MW Maricopa (AZ) thermal solar facility is actually proceeding. There's plenty of space in America's deserts for such plants, and while the initial cost of set up may be high, the lifespan is long, and fuel costs are nil into the future - an important point given the oil appears to be at floor of $90/barrel.

As for using the sand in the desert to make mirrors, well I suppose, I don't know if they have the right sort of sand there (its a big desert, probably somewhere they do).
 

robochump

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[citation][nom]haxs101[/nom]5,000 times hotter than the sun? I highly doubt that. Look how "small" that thing is. Lol at the dude not wearing gloves. Also, it doesn't even look like you could fit 5,800 mirror tiles on there..[/citation]

I hope the Gov't nabs this kid now!!!!!!!!!! Obviously a Evil Mastermind in the making!
 

sseyler

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Since the quoting function isn't working, I'll just say that this is a response to the first post:

When people say "hotter than the sun", they're usually referring to the temperature of the Sun's surface, which is only 10,000 degrees F. The corona, which is the Sun's "atmosphere", can reach temperatures well over 1,000,000 degrees F. The center of the Sun is well over 25,000,000 degrees F.

Now, knowing that the intensity of the Sun on Earth is about 1350 W/m^2. The video description also say that he used 5000 1cm square tiles. Assuming a high reflectivity of 95% and all tiles aimed perfectly at one focal point, let's say about 1cm^2 in area, then the intensity at that point is:

( (1350 W/m^2)*(5000 cm^2)*0.95 ) / (1 cm^2) = 6.413×10^6 W/m^2 = 641.3 W/cm^2

This intensity is probably around the power of a decently powerful CO2 laser used in industrial cutting (as a very optimistic guess - optimism favoring this mirror's ability).
 

gagyilaszlo

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[citation][nom]oxxfatelostxxo[/nom]the sun is 15 million Celsius, est., if that thing could put out the same temp as the sun, there would be no video of stuff cooking, it would literally burn it all into ash the moment it touched, heck would prob even catch fire before it touched the beam.[/citation]

I think he meant 5000 times the intensity of the Sun here on Earth.
 

leo2kp

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[citation][nom]Kingkstur[/nom]Note to others: Light intensity doesn't = heat.[/citation]

Hm, lasers come to mind here...
 

lamorpa

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[citation][nom]sparky2010[/nom]well doesn't really matter how many times more or less powerful than the sun, it's pretty damn strong to instantly start burning things up.. as soon as they're in the focal point they instantly flame on!! [/citation]
Oh yeah. His thing, and the magnifying glass I had as a kid...
 
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