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About This Site |
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SiteTheoryCoilgunsLevitatorsProjectsRover Locations |
Barry's VHF Radio and CoilgunsI like to drive up hilltops to activate Maidenhead grid squares on 6 meters. Here are a bunch of places I know about. In 2020, I designed and built a dashboard device with an Arduino and GPS to help navigate. It's called Griduino™. A quote from the ARRL Contest Update, Feb 18, 2021:
Coilguns![]() Read the slides for Magnetic Launches - Hands-on Ideas 10, my presentation about coilguns on May 22, 2013. This is a quick way to see how and why it started, what happened, and where it's going. Download the presentation here. Click here to see the latest coilgun,
my best coilgun or
my levitator.
Why build a coilgun? It demonstrates many basic concepts of magnetic machines. A coilgun is foremost an example of a solenoid. These appear practically everywhere, from car door locks to doorbells, from diskette drive ejectors to fuel injectors. The only difference is that most solenoids limit the range of travel, and usually have a spring return. A coilgun is also an example of a simple linear motor. A coilgun is scalable to very large applications, possibly as large as a mass driver to put payloads into orbit. It's a keen space-age toy. It has no moving parts -- there's the magic of invisible forces at work. It requires no special construction techniques or unusual tools. Winding coils is fun and relaxing (at least for the first few!). Even small coils are remarkably powerful. You can also learn about magnetic levitation. These pages include complete design details for several maglev demonstrators which levitate small iron parts. Read all about it and see levitation pictures. |
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©1998-2025 Barry Hansen |