Baylis

[bwts]

Can any one shed more light on how the clockwork radio manages to convert mechanical energy to electric anergy? I am also interested in any mechanical replacements for electrical systems, for instance a friend of mine has made a fruit juicer that fits onto the back of a bicycle much the same as a dynamo but instead of turning a magnet it drives a gear train that turns the blades in an otherwise conventional juicer. (I realise there is some irony in asking elecrtonics buffs about replacing electronics with mechanics)<p>B

[hlreed]

B
Just as you can make an electrical analogue of mechanical systems you can make a mechanical analogue of most any electrical system. Lots more work of course. For example, mechanical AC is done by rotation. You can provide an AC amplitude by rotating an unbalance mass. The automaton makers in the 1700's made a revolving cylinder with pins to provide sequential actions. (They still exist as music boxes.)
One of the reasons for electricity was to get rid of all this stuff. I don't think you can go backward.
There is a publisher (Lindsay Publications, Inc) that publishes old stuff. I have a book
507 Mechanical Movements by Henry T. Brown in 1893
All this information is lost now, and probably should be. Electric is much better.

[russlk]

A wire moving in a magnetic field produces a voltage. Every DC motor is also a DC generator. All you have to do is turn the rotor (mechanical input) and have electric power output.

[bwts]

I appriciate that electric is more convenient but it is not cheap in the long run Bcos a constant supply is needed also the generation of electricity causes a great deal of pollution not to mention the use of toxic materials used in the manufacture of electric goods. This is why I am interested in mechanical analogues or ways to gererate electrical power that are cheep clean and effective , such as the Baylis clockwork radio. <p>B

[josmith]

"generation of electricity causes a great deal of pollution "<p>Conversion of fuel to mechanical energh is where the inefficiency lies. Power plants are the most efficient systems in use with an effiency of around 30%. An automobile which uses no conversion to electricty comes in at around 18%.<p>If you're looking to reduce waste and pollution try to find a way to use the 70+% that is going out the radiator,exhaust,stack,cooling tower etc.

[Chris Smith]

Rainfall / Dams and fast moving tides as well as Solar can easily produce more electricity than all of our present needs, all the way past the next two centuries, where the word conservation might not be a dirty word?<p> But we must first kill off all the remaining dinosaurs, AKA the oil men like shrub and Cheney.

[Ron H]

Winding up that radio spring is a conversion from chemical energy (the food you consumed) to electrical energy. I wonder how efficiently our bodies process food, and whether our bodily waste (feces, urine, sweat, CO2, etc.) should be considered pollution?<p>Ron

[josmith]

By back figuring the actual mechanical input compared to the readout of Calories burned on a piece of exercise equipment it came out that they used 25% conversion effency plus an additional 90 Calories per hour. <p>The byproducts of being alive are similar to any other products of combustion. In the course of a day you only put out around 4 hp-hours. Compared to the things you do like drive your car and the energy you use for heat lights and just about anything you consume your human pollution is small.

[jollyrgr]

Mr Bwtz I will try to enlighten you on the operation of a Baylis Clockwork radio.<p>The radio is just a standard AM/FM (and on some) shortwave radio. If you hooked a battery or wall wart to the radio circuit, the radio would play just fine. The Baylis (Baygen) is special in that it uses mechanical (and on some models solar) energy instead of conventional batteries. The part you probably want to know about is the "clockwork" section.<p>There are two different design methods for the "mechanical" radios. On some you turn a crank which through a "transmission" of gears turns a "generator". The "generator's" electricity then is converted to DC (think diodes) and stored in a NiCad battery. The Baylis is truly a "clockwork" radio. This radio uses a spring made up of a piece of metal about and inch or two wide and about 30 feet long. The spring is wound from its "resting" coil to a "storage" coil by cranking the handle. Think of the coil as being in a S shape. At rest all of the spring is wound on the bottom of the S. When cranked up, the coil is moved to the top of the S. When the handle is released the spring unwinds back to the bottom of the S. It is restricted from "springing" back by having the spools attached to gears which, in turn, drive a "generator." <p>I keep putting generator in quotes because there is nothing special about this device; it is not some special hard to find item. Russ Kincaid is right, the so called "generator" in a Baygen radio is nothing more than a motor in reverse. You could take a "DC" motor out of a battery operated toy, tape recorder, printer, etc. and turn it into a generator. I'm not talking a stepper motor but a device that you "normally" apply DC voltage and get motion out of it. I was surprised how small the motor is in a Baygen radio. <p>Follow the link below. Scroll down to the HOW DOES IT WORK section to see the inner workings of one model of Baygen radio. Models vary but the picture will give you some idea of what goes on inside.<p>And the one with the light? No big deal, you can modify your existing radio to power a light as well. Use an LED bulb instead of a filament bulb for best results.<p>http://www.leeselect.com/baygen/baygenamfmsw.htm

[bodgy]

Mr Btwz,<p>I know that you posed this question elsewhere, I am surprised that no one from the other board popped up to say that their magazine has featured a similar style project. I'll have to look it up, but it was either by Rev. Thomas Scarborough or by John Becker, pretty sure it was the former as he spoke about power problems in his part of South Africa. It differed in that this was used to power a white led torch - but this power may not be that far out for some portable transistor radios.<p>I recall that this used a stepper motor as an alternator rectified and charged a largish capacitor which acted as a battery. No gearing was required.<p>colin

[Dimbulb]

The generators used on bicycles that have a roller that runs against the tire were popular long ago. Paying for batteries has become a must with so many gadgets and portable devices. The idea of more windups may not be popular even though it is earth friendly. There might be room for a fast lithium cell charger that accomidates all the different sizes.

[jollyrgr]

Here is more information I found regarding Baylis radios. This is from the Radio Shack branded FREEPLAY radio. This gives the specs for the device and even the motor (generator's) part number.<p>Go here:<p>http://support.radioshack.com/support_a ... /50742.htm<p>This motor is widely available. As it turns out this is a motor normally used in audio equipment such as a tape recorder, VCR, or DVD/CD player.