2 dishes on equatorial mount as an alternative to Scheffler solar kitchens?

Just a note that I made a much shorter version that is at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-JpBu6vCgE

Less than 2 minutes long and if you are familiar with equatorial mount it should be understandable.

Brian

This seems like an interesting design. I would probably design the equinox adjustment as a manual change in the length of one leg of the support triangle. You might want to test it as a solar salt water still. There is a real market for these devices as a survival aide. It might even prove scalable in terms of small scale commercial fresh water or even alcohol production.

I don't think you can. Equatorial mount is very specific. The axis must be pointed due north in the northern hemisphere and it must be tilted up at an angle equal to your latitude.

So the seasonal adjustment can only be made as shown. Certainly manual is an option. I think a stay or adjustment rod could be attached between the 2 dishes in the scheffler alternative, for added stability. Thank you for the comment.

Brian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OqG2LesnSo is the latest version halfway built.

It is going to be one dish and a counterweight. I am trying to keep the thing as low tech as possible so that it can be built quickly anywhere in the world.

I have not begun to make the reflector yet.

Brian