We made a hot dog talk with RF [video] | Hacker News Reader

We made a hot dog talk with RF [video]

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48 pointsgeerlingguy15 comments

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Related classics:

(2019) BigClive overclocks a 120v Presto hot dogger to 250v https://youtu.be/n2ZZbuOeNmw

(2019) Veratasium grape microwave plasma https://youtu.be/wCrtk-pyP0I

(2022) BigClive The dangers of microwave transformers https://youtu.be/FBeSKL9zVro

(2016) BigClive Electrocution risk of cheap USB chargers https://youtu.be/3Hdn0MuCK_0

(2020) ElectroBOOM proves 5G isn't going to give you cancer or eat your children https://youtu.be/i4pxw4tYeCU

Nice list, also pickles apparently glow under mains AC - http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/pickle.h...

Why in the world is the fence around that so short? This is nuts! I would have jumped that as a kid to climb the tower. Probably not in bare feet or the rain. It seems strange to not protect this better (yes, i know, kids are not supposed to be there, but kids are (properly) designed for finding trouble.)

There's a small fence around each tower with signage indicating the RF danger. Then around the whole property there's a horse-height fence, with a locked gate. And around that there are a few miles of soggy farmland, so it's pretty low risk.

Site plans have to include certain safety precautions, and fence type, placement, height, etc. are all submitted to the FCC when a tower site is designed or rebuilt.

There's loads of videos of bored russian teenagers doing this with leafs and blades of grass held with their bare hands too, but yeah.....pretty cool. Only works with AM radio as far as I understand though.

One such old example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMuJKsUjD_o

Don’t ever touch a tower.

Important safety tip, Egon; thanks.

Egon?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jyaLZHiJJnE

Is the hot dog vibrating to produce sound or is the sound from hot dog derived plasma? The auditory frequency distortion seems minimal, so I'm betting plasma.

It's the plasma—the hot dog was just a convenient path for the energy to flow. The actual material vaporized pretty quickly, definitely don't touch a live AM tower while standing on the ground. And probably ever, unless it's locked out and de-energized! (Especially if you're not a radio engineer or tower climber.)

Any more details on how exactly that works? I've always associated plasmas with a buzzing noise but is that because they all vibrate?

Most of the ways we generate plasma aren't AM waves (amplitude modulation). They're similar to the waves you see in a speaker wire headed out to the magnet to move the speaker cone. As such, the power causes the plasma to move around in understandable tones.

Thanks for the reply. Love your work.

Wow the arc utterly obliterates the hot dog at the point of contact.

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