Comments on: Inkject-Printed Antenna Gathers Ambient Energy from TV Transmissions

By: proofreader

proofreader — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 10:57:27 +0000

is “Inkject” in the headline a typo?

By: fred

fred — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 23:11:47 +0000

Rectenna
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rectenna

Carrier-powered radio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batteryless_radio#Carrier-powered_radio

Microwave power transmission (MPT)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_transmission#Microwave_power_transmission

Wireless energy transfer or wireless power
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_energy_transfer

BBC successfully sued a Droitwich farmer for stealing power. He was milking his cows courtesy their long wave transmitter
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/3336114/Over-to-you-Mythical-electricity.html

This article reminded me of some interesting links I gathered when I was researching a similar topic. Makes for some great reading for those interested in wireless power.

By: Georg

Georg — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 09:23:26 +0000

The season right now (mid-summer) is called “time of sour cucumbers”
in Germany. This expression comes from press/radio/TV , it is about the lack
of “stories” in this time.
If You know about this effect, You can place Your cucumbers in press/TV
with much more success than at other seasons.

By: Kevin N

Kevin N — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 03:32:22 +0000

There is indeed a lot of electromagnetic energy in space that satellites can utilize–sunlight, which they already capture.

By: PersonalJesus

PersonalJesus — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 19:22:29 +0000

Where is Nikola Tesla when you need him?

By: Maximzodal

Maximzodal — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:56:25 +0000

At the risk of sounding like a lecture, the questions were asked, all radio and TV stations, WiFi transmitters, public and business radio, radar, microwave transmitters, etc. generate radio frequencies; RF. All useful RF is always a specific frequency!! The energy available in the RF “signal” is dependent on the power of the transmitter and the distance between the transmitter and receiver. Well, there are other factors but these two are the most important. Except for microwave transmitters and radar, most radio frequencies are transmitted in a spherical pattern from the transmitter antenna. On the other hand, a tesla coil typically transmits at all frequencies. Play with one and your neighbors are likely to not be amused. In any case, the vast majority of RF energy is unavoidably untapped and dissipated.

“Free energy” circuits that harvest RF energy, like this one purports to do, have been around forever. The usual problem with them is that they can only be optimized for specific frequencies. Years ago, I built a circuit much like the one featured in the youtube video mentioned above to tap the RF from an AM Radio station and transmitter about 200 meters from where I worked. With a hollow core tunable antenna tuned to the transmitter’s broadcast frequency, it worked very well! Theoretically, with a large enough antenna, I could have harvested a lot of energy. But, the energy I collected would be energy receivers further away would not, something the radio station, and the FCC, would not have tolerated:-)

Of course a couple of paragraphs is only going to be a general discussion. There is a lot more to all this!!

If the antenna discussed in this article is able to optimally receive many frequencies, it could be a big thing. Would love to have more detail on it.

By: richard

richard — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 18:09:00 +0000

What is this technology officially called? I’ve seen a youtube video [free electricity; user: youthbe2007], originally from metacafe, where you can collect energy from the air with an antenna to generate electricity. Is it the radiant energy that Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) discovered? Thanks in advance

By: Cathy

Cathy — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:50:59 +0000

Great stuff comes out of GA Tech. Sometimes I regret turning down my acceptance there… I wonder how different my life would have been?

This seems like it’d only be useful for extremely low powered apps, but I wonder if it could also be applied to stuff like spacecraft. There’s a ton of electromagnetic energy in space, after all, and it might be more sustainable for extreme long distances than thermal nuclear devices.