I don't find it to "abandon good science in favor of a "wow" presentation" ; LS says he wishes to develop a flashlight; nothing wrong with that.
But what types of measurements would you like to see?
Agreed, nothing wrong a wow presentation if it's real and not just showmanship, posers abound on youtube, as you probably know. I would like to see him show the measured current per pulse into the LED, both peak and average, pulses per second (frequency), duty cycle, Initial measured charge on the capacitor, measured value of the capacitor. As a bonus, he could include the effects of dielectric absorption in the capacitor. This alone could extend the run time of a barely lit LED. Dielectric absorption is a battery effect that goes beyond the normal 1/2 cv^2 formula and is present to a large degree in big electrolytics. Developing a bright, usable flashlight using pulse mode drivers has already been done many times over, the science is well advanced. Is LS attempting to develop a flashlight for the blind, which would be an interesting project. I saw such a project while employed at "Bionics Inc" in the mid 60's, but it used ultrasonic transducers. Or is he attempting to build a flashlight which utilizes a source of as yet unknown energy? That would be more in line with this forum. He really has stated just a long run time as his goal, usable light output has not been mentioned. There is always hope. Hoppy said: Its this one with the tiny SMD ceramic cap that really gets me wondering: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOUrRXINDqY&feature=em-uploademail Yes, that one caught my eye also, and if real would point to some extra energy being captured from somewhere. SMD ceramic caps would not have that kind of duration, though it be short....but SMD electrolytics or tantalums would!
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"Secrecy, secret societies and secret groups have always been repugnant to a free and open society"......John F Kennedy
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