Free Fluorescent Lighting

I don't know about the legality of it. The power company might see losing a couple of cents a day as "a significant profit loss." It could be fought since it is interfering with your property and the fact that you are not touching the lines themselves(just the air around them).

Anyway, you could likely hook a bunch of flourescent lights up in a manner you described and used that energy to charge a capacitor or energy storage unit or something. During the day, you do that then you can have power at night too. Use that with solar panels and you'd be good to go... assuming you dont get sued to into an oblivion.

Yes , this is possible. In our country, there are resourceful groups that do this in the remote areas where there is a high tension line. They hook up a suitable coil that can utilize the magnetic field induced by the high voltage line. Of course they have to climb up the tower to do this. This could be really dangerous and illegal but they do it. The electricity generated is not only used for lighting but can also run some appliances and computers.

Yes,,,but who wants to live under a power line....

I can go you crazy make , or head you symptoms give ache.

Affect the wurst is in Europe tathode cray cubes on, when computers abused with. 50-Hz fealed the with interferes 60 hurts, and the pobble wictures the place over all. That head to ache certainly makes. Ubt LCD's KO r.

Fyz (wean barking wit hug supper-conducive electronmagnet)

Successful prosecutions have been brought in the UK against individuals using a tuned circuit in their loft to obtain power that is emitted from nearby broadcast antennae, the power being rectified to feed electricity to their homes.

A simple test for a portable radio transmitter (typically ~ 2W) is to bring the antenna close to a fluorescent tube lamp. If the lamp lights when the transmit button is pressed, it is a useful indication that the transmitter is working. Given the nature of the low-energy fluorescent, it is extremely likely that this type of lamp would work too, and this test would confirm it.

It is an old farmer's trick here in the States to conceal a coil underneath power transmission lines to run small irrigation pumps where no other power is available. It is absolutely illegal and the power company will prosecute if it is discovered.

Reminds me - back in the day as my kids say now...

As a young squid in the service of the United States Navy as an aircrewman, we used to test the aircraft radar before flight by sweeping it across the office building across the field from us. Three stories of offices and as the beam passed the light show was humorous. Used to get new security people quite excited, as a bonus.

On a more practical note: when troubleshooting the HF radio (more commonly referred to as Short Wave) approaching the transmit cable with a fluorescent would instantly tell you if you we making transmit power. Or having some younger, less experienced squid simply hold it was equally effective.

Thanks for the trip,

Emmett

An old guy told me that on ship bourne radar they had a section of waveguide which they could open up and put their mug of cocoa inro to warn it up on the dog watch!

Maybe the first mirowave cooker?

What no one remembers the Tesla coils at school science shows. Hplding a flourescent light near and it would light up, then take you hand around the tube and press out the light.

Fluorescent lights are turned on by the electric field, not the magnetic one in the proximity of a high power electromagnetic source like a power line or a radio transmitter - unless you use some kind of transformer described by others here which works on the magnetic component. However, even if you get some lighting or stolen electricity (it's definitely illegal), you may be severely affected by the SAR (specific absorption rate) which is a measure of biological safety when exposed to non-ionizing radiation. To have an idea, for head exposed more than 10 minutes, the accepted SAR is 4W of RF energy per kilogram body. The accepted increase in tissue temperature due to RF radiation is 1 degree Celsius. Beside the warming effect that leads to cancer, prolonged RF radiation is also responsible for DNA alteration.

At the end of the day, when considering such a way of living, I would think at health first. The funny thing is that utility companies when bringing you to court are not thinking of your health but are working on it. They cannot say publicly that HV lines are dangerous but will teach you a lesson not to steal from a thief.

I couldn't agree more. I was going to make the point if no one else did, that wether electro, or magnetic fields, there are definate health issues. Neurons (and therefore the brain itself ) will attract this electric field, interupting receptors after awhile, and yes essentially ' microwaving ' the brain, possibly contributing to tumors or cancer eventually. The magnetic field can not only interupt certain other instruments ( i.e. electronics on a radio or microwave ), but after long term exposure can wreek havoc on the body and especially the blood system.

Thank you. You don't seem uneducated at all.

To answer the question, I'd say that we'll die anyway, but today to die from ignorance is quite a shame.

Aaargh !!! No wonder I feel I'll never make 60*

Fyz

*again

My friend bought a dairy farm in the midwest back a few years ago and has had many, many cows die since he moved his herd in. He has gotten shocks from the (grounded) equipment in his milking operation. Just stopping by their place on the way back from vacation, he asked me to "check things out" and see if I had any answers. I have been into electrical/electronics since a boy and employed in the RF/electronics field for 30 years. I too am educated by experience. Well, the first clue was that my friend measured 160 VAC on his top fence wire which ran along the secondary power lines. I checked the fence wire that had a driven ground about a 1/4 mile away to the power poles ground and it read 2 meg ohms (pulsing from the AC in the ground). I then took the only inexpensive DVM I had and when the test lead was raised about six feet up in the air and the other was grounded, I measured around 20 VAC, with a AM signal impressed upon it, no less.

Here is the good part. I suppose the secondary power line is around 11-14 kV or so. My friend wanted me to take a florescent tube and hold it up to the power line. We waited till it was dark and went out under the lines. I could get an 8 foot tube to illuminate quite brightly holding it up. They have been trying to do isolation on the farm with pole mounted isolation transformers but I believe the source is outside being radiated underneath by mineral veins or springs. Any ideas or comments?

To run a fence under and along a HV power line results in the best conditions for induction. Additionally, by connecting it to the pole ground is a mistake because you get a nice loop made of power line + HV insulators + pole + fence.

If the fence is just for keeping the herd inside a perimeter, the best is to replace that fence with an electric one and not to touch the poles at all. On the other hand, I am sure that the owner of the power line would not agree with the layout you described as it increases power transportation losses. For this reason, If I were in your friend's shoes, I would involve them in finding a solution in both interest.

The electrocutions in the milking operation is a different story. Significant ground currents could be involved, possibly the geological structure playing a part. A solution could be to use rubber flooring all over for preventing further accidents. If now there is enough electrical potential and current to kill a caw, than a person cannot stand it either. Another thing that could be done is to power the milking machines from batteries and inverters. When milking, the battery should be disconnected from its charger and consequently from the grid.

Overall, the whole place breaches several safety standards. If you enjoy life, try to spend your vacations elsewhere.

Based on my previous comment, I would never drink that milk either.

I guess that the part about the grounds on the fence was a little ambiguous. I was trying to describe the measurement of the actual ohmic difference between the actual driven, 10 foot ground rod, supplying the fence wire and the power line pole ground potentials. Even though they had low ohmic readings from the rods to the ground, you could not see them over that distance.

The fence has an electrifier attached to it. But his curiosity of where the voltages are coming from, he measured it when it was not attached to the device.

What I am trying to point out is that standing on the ground, holding up an 8 foot florescent tube DOES NOT light under the power lines in my front yard. There are three phases on my pole, supposedly around the same voltage. Yet, under his single power line the tube DOES light up. Something is different about the composition of the earth and the grounding potentials in that area.

OK RFactive.

Power grounding cannot be measured with a cheap DMM -you need a specially dedicated tool which is a precision resistive bridge. Electrical contractors use them everyday.

The big difference between your fluorescent bulb experiments is very likely coming from the difference in what shoes you were wearing in the two situations (better or worse electrical insulating soul) and what surfacing you have in your back yard compared to the farm yard. In other words it's about a different coupling in terms of induction in electric fields. You also have to be sure what nominal voltage have the two power lines. You actually can do some calculations of the electric field strength knowing voltage, distance and air electrical permitivity which varies largely as a function of air density, temperature and humidity. The ionization (i.e. glowing) of a low-pressured rare gas that is contained in your bulb is directly proportional to the field strength. There is no mystery in your settings, only different values of the same parameters.

While I was at his farm, I could carry this 8 foot bulb to approximately 10 feet on either side, under the single line and it would illuminate. Now, this not only worked in a grass covered, gravel like field but also when I walked across a paved street, did the tube light also as I followed the drop into his pole. Both instances were on opposite sides of his property. I was wearing the same pair of shoes both times. I will continue to do research on starting voltages and height, etc. Thanks for your input. Does anyone know if there are published limits on electrical emission fields from power lines?

What about making some pictures of you in the Statue of Liberty posture in the dark with the lit bulb and post them on a website or in our forum. Would be fun! And even more - could be the proof for many people concerned about living in the proximity of overhead power lines.

If you want to start a crusade against power transporters, this could be a good start. You can label it as electromagnetic pollution - a silent and invisible killer.

Do you know those small neon bulbs used in some electronic circuits and in simple voltage testers for hot wires? What makes them work is exactly the same phenomenon you are amazed about.

If you think your sleep is too good, read this:

http://www.midtod.com/9603/voltage.phtml

My neighbour has install an Electric Fence (4ft high) directly underneath 3 x 11,000 volts Power Lines - fencing off a large paddock - it runs for over 400ft !. It is on our boundary with his land. He has also, connected the fence webbing directly to 2 of the Power Line Poles.................7 connections that I can see.

I am trying to find out, if this is dangerous to us/others on my land because of effect of induction on the fence via Power lines ?.

Why not sue the power company for his losses?

I remember (as a young squid) being posted at an airfield and we would use cable ties and put various sizes of tubes on the radar antenna and spell out messages. The radar would pump out a Megawatt at about 1 Ghz. We would put up messages like Merry Xmas and the like. It helped make the evening go by quicker. I know we didn't get alot of publicity because the tower was in a horse/cow pasture but it was neat to see.