We used mag amps on locomotives like the EMD GP20, GP30 and GP35 locomotives before going to SCR modules. You did a great job explaining how they work.
I highly recommend you look into Thane Hienze's work with regenerative braking, basically when you use thin Guage wire many turns you get a delayed lense effect, where instead of having resistance as the magnet approaches the coil you get acceleration because the lenze effect is delayed until its already past top dead center. It's now a helping force. The Guage wire and the number of turns effects how pronounced the effect is. You must reach a minimum number of rpms before putting a load on so that the rotor is spinning fast enough to be past top dead center for the lenze effect to be a helping force instead of a hindrance. Hope this leads you down a wonderful new Rabbit hole
Fluxgate magnetometers were beautifully elegant instruments for determining the earth's magnetic field strength using 3 orthogonal ferrite rods and 3 coils of wire on each ferrite. AC at about a few hundred Hz, a secondary winding and a DC winding to keep the core from saturating in one or other direction.Classical zeroing current proportional to the ambient field strength.
The magnetic core 'rope' memory used in the Apollo Guidance Computer is another fascinating use of magnetic fields and saturated cores. Well worth looking for Curious Marc's series on the restoration and running of an AGC, (he has a YT channel of that name, but his is Marc Verdiell) they were able to archive all the software stored on rope memory modules from the Apollo days, some sixty years after it was written!
Timely presentation. This one sparked and got me back on track till 4 hours past my bedtime. After work I need to get back to work. Very useful. Thank you, Robert.
I have never heard of this it's fascinating & my farther never told me & i used to repair tv/ electronic gear with him & he was in the RAF just after ww2 (ticketed on avionics/ic/jet engines & more) i will look into this & would love to see more. Thank you 👍
I was a radar systems technician in the RCAF during the 80's and I worked on the APN 501 doppler radar. It was designed with a mag amp during the 50's to provide ground speed and drift angle of the aircraft. It was used on C130,C119, Sea King , Argus, and a few other aircraft. Navigators loved the system as it was independent of external radio stations.
First I want to thank you for showing this "Magnetic Amplifier"... really incredibly interesting electronic behavior. This is really sending me down a rabbit hole to make sure I am fully understanding this behavior. I believe you showed a clip from the video "Magnetic Amplifier" by KRAFTBAU which shows work of Nyle Steiner... it is very interesting. I will definitely spend some time analyzing this! Great stuff.
You can combine the two transformers into one with a third centre leg, the coils are wound in the outer two legs so the fluxes they would create down the centre leg cancel so it is possible to wind a coil around that for the DC control (this arrangement was shown in one of your slides).
Well explained. Thanks! There is also a thing called Solid state Magnetic Field Diode. These don't have the negative counter effect to the primary coil. So some circuits could be designed extremely officiant.
I’m impressed that people who have a mind that can grasp circuits look at a diagram and instantly get it. Unfortunately I have discovered that my eyes glaze over and the shutters slam down! My loss I know. I love that you can grab technology from a bygone age and find an application for it. You must have a cunning plan. I have no idea where you are goi g. So, I will just watch the next video and spectate. Thanks for your dedication Rob.
Magnetic amplifiers very cool! I also have a love for magnetic logic circuits. One day soon I will be attempting to build an all magnetic copy cat of the atari or some simular home computer
@@pepe6666 I wish I had time to dive deep into some new design, but I am just playing copy cat off of US military hardware from the 1950's; its been de-classified for a while now. Its gonna be a bit bulky! But not unmanagable.
man thats awesome! you're right this is way overlooked. an amplifier without a transistor. its an amplifier using coils of wire! cool thing is anyone can make an inductor out of wire!
I remember my senior motor design engineers reminiscing the days in (1980-85) when they designed a magnetic amp. control system for use on A.V.R.'s that were installed on Indian Railways..where the rolling stock wheel coupled alternators/generators were used for auxillary power generation.... b.t.w. the m/g/ alternators were also our company products This incidentally was when we were discussing use of "UNITRIODE" pwm databooks (now taken by T.I.). & happened to come across their magnetic amplifier ic's & apps. in them.
When I was an RAF apprentice in the 1970s we were taught these as they were utilised in aircraft autopilot and auto stabilisation equipments on aircraft such as the Lightning, Vulcan, Victor etc. These mag amps were called Transductors in these applications
Tektronics scopes used this to regulate the voltage on the tube filaments. Variations in line voltage would effect the calibration of the device by changing the temperature of the tube cathodes. It used one tube that was designed to be extra sensitive to filament voltage, this was fed into the saturatable core reactor. Very interesting forgotten tech. I have thought about using such a device to stabilize the HV plate voltage of a amateur radio tube amplifier as they are in the 1000s of volts and I don't like the idea of playing with semiconductor circuit at these voltages.
something else interesting about transformers that I have discovered , is that a step-down transformer can be used in reverse. that is, by putting the voltage to the secondary that it is rated at, you get a higher voltage at the primary. so in a way, it can be used as a inverter. so if your transformer primary is rated at 130 volts [ here in the US ] with 6 volts out of the secondary, and you place 6 volts across the secondary, you will get very close to the mains voltage out of the primary, or 6 volts in - almost 130 volts out.
- yes, transformers like gears (a mechanical analogy), are reversible, step down, step up - bidirectional... - check out how a single coil - auto (self) transformer or variac works... (just take care to not create deadly experiments )- note that the power levels at each side must be similar (ie. allowing for losses, nothing is perfect) - ohms law still applies. (lower voltage with higher amps is the same power P = I*V - (I = Amps, "current").. the ratio for 130 step down to 6 something is between 21 and 22 :1, if it was 120VAC the transformer would be a simple 20:1...) What are you using for a 6V AC source?? ie transformers don't do their "job" if running on DC - then the saturated magnetic field - bit - Rob is talking about here comes into play.
@@kadmow I don't remember for sure, as this was something I did waaaaaaaaaaay back when I was a teen in the 1970's. but I am sure it must have been another Ac transformer that had a 6V AC output, without a rectifier circuit. I was just experimenting and discovered this purely on accident.
@@pepe6666 love the name BTW. I mistakenly did this as a teen 1 time. alot of magick blue smoke from the transformer, and anger from my parents who thought I had started a fire in my room. :)
HEY! That's the basis for Nikolai Tesla's rumoured Earth Quake Machine! Here's how: Certain materials have a dampening effect on magnetic fields when place in a gap of magnetic flux ... so, if you use a magnetic amplifier to create a circuit based on an device called an e-bow ( used to sustain vibrations in a guitar string ), then you have the ability to create a mechanical resonance device without transistor or tubes as in Tesla's era!
OMG! I almost thought someone beat me to it again! But this is NOT the same as my magnetic amplifier. Whew. Regardless tho, I don’t know what my initial power magnification could be, cuz I ain’t finished yet.
Your warehouse of tinkering stuff must be huge Rob . The copper coil on a boost pcb interest me mini transformer . Yes done fare bit research the silicon steel used on microwave transformers is interesting.. Very interesting thankyou
wonderful video, very fascinating! its almost as if the magnetic field of the magnets are acting like wires, allowing an alternative route for ac current to vibrate within.?
the flux sure is, but i would say the gravity produced 90° to the polar axis is not (the pull force of magnets shrinks toward the magnet's horizontal axis the stronger and bigger it gets, like planets, stars, and galaxies.)@@kadmow
Hi Robert, we need to see more schematic of what you have built. With so many transformers and clip leads its hard to trace what config your have. Good video on a long forgotten principle.
Love your knowledge, very greatful. People now day don't lighting rods anymore. And things as such. Do you have any lighting rods ideas plz, and thank you ❤
This looks eerily similar to the magnetic voltage regulator I have on my modified sine wave inverter, the inverter will not run the microwave or induction cooktop however with the mag VR they run fine, but the 750 watt microwave consumes about 1000 watts because the LCR networks have to fill in the choppy inverter output .
I have a vague memory of a HiFi amplifier based on magnetic amplifiers. Other than it was apparently very heavy and reviewed fine, I haven't a clue what happened to it.
Hi Robert, you can do something similar with just one transformer using the outside legs, use the center leg for supply, one outside leg for output and the other outside leg for control, you can use a variable cap or resistor on the control leg. I'll post my video if I can on here.
This is very interesting in that if you can split the AC to DC: can you get both side of the alternative current to then charge to all DC 12/ volts with less loss than some other way?
Can a magnetic amplifier be made to work as a radio receiver and audo amplifier all in one? Maybe a regenerative reflex magnetic amplifier circuit? Though you would still need a radio lc cirucit and tuner i think.
can't imagine a world without this type of content. I'm trying a steam engine generator with a focused magnifying glass. I suspect they used these glasses in ancient times.
Well I guess I will have to watch that again, I feel a bit out of depth with that one. Still in the early stages of learning and I'm a bit thick with it. 😮 On the other hand, it's fun to learn and I'm enjoy it. 😅
Hey and thank you for so many intresting ideas during the many years i followed your channel! You should look up ferroresonant transformer for another intresting effect regarding magnetism/transformers. Cheers!
Enjoyed this video about Mag Amplifiers. Have a question In regards to wind generators. Have you heard about or looked at the concept being presented by a co in the USA called AirLoomEnergy? Making many claims about reducing cost for starters. Thanks Lonnie
I hope you’re in for a joke. Your blue gloves made me think, hey, he would do well performing for the upper smurf, just a red hat and some blue paint on his face…😂 Would you?
i cannot find a detailed enough drawing to make a magnetic amp some who have made them just dont have contact details on there channel video to ask some questions and they don't answer comments asking questions about them either and the drawings some do have lack of information on them let alone decent explanations so im finding it hard to even try making one from using just 1 or 2 transformers and if you need to wind a control coil there's no space on the core except the sides around the outside only
@@RobC1999 yeah, I just posted this at the beginning. It switch from sounding like he was reading an encyclopedia entry to the normal way he does videos, but I though he was changing video format for a little while.
Didn't look like magnetic amplifier, looks more like magnetic reducer because full power would have occurred without additional inductors, you reduced power to zero then slowly increase power with resistor. Think I have a use for that.
Wait… can we use this to build an operational amplifier (or even just start with a differential amplifier)? Wondering if we could explore this to create something as complicated as a PID controller (even doing all the necessary stability analysis for example)… I don’t know why I’ve never heard of this... 😮
We used mag amps on locomotives like the EMD GP20, GP30 and GP35 locomotives before going to SCR modules.
You did a great job explaining how they work.
I highly recommend you look into Thane Hienze's work with regenerative braking, basically when you use thin Guage wire many turns you get a delayed lense effect, where instead of having resistance as the magnet approaches the coil you get acceleration because the lenze effect is delayed until its already past top dead center. It's now a helping force. The Guage wire and the number of turns effects how pronounced the effect is. You must reach a minimum number of rpms before putting a load on so that the rotor is spinning fast enough to be past top dead center for the lenze effect to be a helping force instead of a hindrance. Hope this leads you down a wonderful new Rabbit hole
Good point. As a recent new owner of an ebike with no regeration i think the tech is primitive.
Mag amps were an important part of my career during the 1970s when we used them on ships' weapons systems.
Nice to review the theory
Thanks
Fluxgate magnetometers were beautifully elegant instruments for determining the earth's magnetic field strength using 3 orthogonal ferrite rods and 3 coils of wire on each ferrite. AC at about a few hundred Hz, a secondary winding and a DC winding to keep the core from saturating in one or other direction.Classical zeroing current proportional to the ambient field strength.
Very good Rob . Great to the point demonstration is the best way to generate intrigue . 👍🏻
The magnetic core 'rope' memory used in the Apollo Guidance Computer is another fascinating use of magnetic fields and saturated cores. Well worth looking for Curious Marc's series on the restoration and running of an AGC, (he has a YT channel of that name, but his is Marc Verdiell) they were able to archive all the software stored on rope memory modules from the Apollo days, some sixty years after it was written!
Timely presentation. This one sparked and got me back on track till 4 hours past my bedtime. After work I need to get back to work. Very useful. Thank you, Robert.
Always learning something new, thanks to your relentless research and hands-on presentations. Thank you Robert!
I have never heard of this it's fascinating & my farther never told me & i used to repair tv/ electronic gear with him & he was in the RAF just after ww2 (ticketed on avionics/ic/jet engines & more) i will look into this & would love to see more. Thank you 👍
I was a radar systems technician in the RCAF during the 80's and I worked on the APN 501 doppler radar. It was designed with a mag amp during the 50's to provide ground speed and drift angle of the aircraft. It was used on C130,C119, Sea King , Argus, and a few other aircraft. Navigators loved the system as it was independent of external radio stations.
Thanks Rob! Looking fwd. to seeing what you do with these!
Great job Rob, as always well done. Thank you that you looked this one up. Keep it up pal 👍
First I want to thank you for showing this "Magnetic Amplifier"... really incredibly interesting electronic behavior.
This is really sending me down a rabbit hole to make sure I am fully understanding this behavior.
I believe you showed a clip from the video "Magnetic Amplifier" by KRAFTBAU which shows work of Nyle Steiner... it is very interesting. I will definitely spend some time analyzing this!
Great stuff.
this is a very good read mate archive.org/details/MagneticAmplifiers
You can combine the two transformers into one with a third centre leg, the coils are wound in the outer two legs so the fluxes they would create down the centre leg cancel so it is possible to wind a coil around that for the DC control (this arrangement was shown in one of your slides).
-enjoined the video!!! -lots to think about in mysterious world of magnetism.
So cool. I always get something a good bit more after Rob explains it.
Agreed!
Well explained. Thanks! There is also a thing called Solid state Magnetic Field Diode. These don't have the negative counter effect to the primary coil. So some circuits could be designed extremely officiant.
I’m impressed that people who have a mind that can grasp circuits look at a diagram and instantly get it. Unfortunately I have discovered that my eyes glaze over and the shutters slam down!
My loss I know.
I love that you can grab technology from a bygone age and find an application for it. You must have a cunning plan. I have no idea where you are goi g. So, I will just watch the next video and spectate.
Thanks for your dedication Rob.
This is very common in this dark day and age. The public is slowly being dumbed down.
Love it - very interesting - Can't wait to see that audio amp application.
When I was a young lad in the Royal Air Force, I worked on Phantoms, they used magamps for the anti skid control system.
Magnetic amplifiers very cool!
I also have a love for magnetic logic circuits.
One day soon I will be attempting to build an all magnetic copy cat of the atari or some simular home computer
oh man that gets me so excited. magnetic logic would be awesome.
@@pepe6666 I wish I had time to dive deep into some new design, but I am just playing copy cat off of US military hardware from the 1950's; its been de-classified for a while now. Its gonna be a bit bulky! But not unmanagable.
We used magnetic amplifiers on the power drives for the big gun mounts in the US Navy.
man thats awesome! you're right this is way overlooked. an amplifier without a transistor. its an amplifier using coils of wire! cool thing is anyone can make an inductor out of wire!
I remember my senior motor design engineers reminiscing the days in (1980-85) when they designed a magnetic amp. control system for use on A.V.R.'s that were installed on Indian Railways..where the rolling stock wheel coupled alternators/generators were used for auxillary power generation....
b.t.w. the m/g/ alternators were also our company products
This incidentally was when we were discussing use of
"UNITRIODE" pwm databooks (now taken by T.I.). & happened to come across their magnetic amplifier ic's & apps. in them.
Would love to see this for an audio amplifier
When I was an RAF apprentice in the 1970s we were taught these as they were utilised in aircraft autopilot and auto stabilisation equipments on aircraft such as the Lightning, Vulcan, Victor etc. These mag amps were called Transductors in these applications
that's very interesting stuff. I got lost at the end but still love the videos. Cheers Rob
Great to review this, thanks Rob! ❤
Tektronics scopes used this to regulate the voltage on the tube filaments. Variations in line voltage would effect the calibration of the device by changing the temperature of the tube cathodes. It used one tube that was designed to be extra sensitive to filament voltage, this was fed into the saturatable core reactor. Very interesting forgotten tech. I have thought about using such a device to stabilize the HV plate voltage of a amateur radio tube amplifier as they are in the 1000s of volts and I don't like the idea of playing with semiconductor circuit at these voltages.
I had no idea. Thanks for sharing!
very cool, I didn't know about this. Now it gives me an idea for something audio related...
something else interesting about transformers that I have discovered , is that a step-down transformer can be used in reverse. that is, by putting the voltage to the secondary that it is rated at, you get a higher voltage at the primary. so in a way, it can be used as a inverter.
so if your transformer primary is rated at 130 volts [ here in the US ] with 6 volts out of the secondary, and you place 6 volts across the secondary, you will get very close to the mains voltage out of the primary, or 6 volts in - almost 130 volts out.
- yes, transformers like gears (a mechanical analogy), are reversible, step down, step up - bidirectional... - check out how a single coil - auto (self) transformer or variac works... (just take care to not create deadly experiments )- note that the power levels at each side must be similar (ie. allowing for losses, nothing is perfect) - ohms law still applies.
(lower voltage with higher amps is the same power P = I*V - (I = Amps, "current").. the ratio for 130 step down to 6 something is between 21 and 22 :1, if it was 120VAC the transformer would be a simple 20:1...)
What are you using for a 6V AC source?? ie transformers don't do their "job" if running on DC - then the saturated magnetic field - bit - Rob is talking about here comes into play.
@@kadmow I don't remember for sure, as this was something I did waaaaaaaaaaay back when I was a teen in the 1970's. but
I am sure it must have been another Ac transformer that had a 6V AC output, without a rectifier circuit. I was just experimenting and discovered this purely on accident.
@@GothGuy885 now to put 130 volts on the little side and get 12*130 volts on the angry side :)
@@pepe6666 love the name BTW.
I mistakenly did this as a teen 1 time.
alot of magick blue smoke from the transformer, and anger from my parents who thought I had started a fire in my room. :)
HEY! That's the basis for Nikolai Tesla's rumoured Earth Quake Machine! Here's how: Certain materials have a dampening effect on magnetic fields when place in a gap of magnetic flux ... so, if you use a magnetic amplifier to create a circuit based on an device called an e-bow ( used to sustain vibrations in a guitar string ), then you have the ability to create a mechanical resonance device without transistor or tubes as in Tesla's era!
Men's playground and heaven. So fascinating!
The magnificent Magnistor!
You are so brilliant,
but only when the lamp is on ;)
The question of efficiency comes to mind, and this is a bulky device so is this an efficient method? How much energy is lost as heat?
OMG! I almost thought someone beat me to it again! But this is NOT the same as my magnetic amplifier. Whew. Regardless tho, I don’t know what my initial power magnification could be, cuz I ain’t finished yet.
You can add a tank circuit on one tap for added bang.
I heard mag amps efficiency can be increased quite a lot with more diodes placed in the right places. I haven't confirmed it myself though.
The increase in gain is astounding.
Your warehouse of tinkering stuff must be huge Rob .
The copper coil on a boost pcb interest me mini transformer .
Yes done fare bit research the silicon steel used on microwave transformers is interesting..
Very interesting thankyou
Super! Thank you very much!
wonderful video, very fascinating! its almost as if the magnetic field of the magnets are acting like wires, allowing an alternative route for ac current to vibrate within.?
- electro-magnetism is the complete "loop" ("field" of knowledge) - flipsides of each other yep..
the flux sure is, but i would say the gravity produced 90° to the polar axis is not (the pull force of magnets shrinks toward the magnet's horizontal axis the stronger and bigger it gets, like planets, stars, and galaxies.)@@kadmow
ive had allot of fun makin them out of wallmount transformers
Yes, "Everything Old Can Become New Again"! Methinks I can use a configuration with my VAT Generator!
Hi Robert, we need to see more schematic of what you have built.
With so many transformers and clip leads its hard to trace what config your have.
Good video on a long forgotten principle.
Very interesting and informative.
I am increased by this intriguing device.
Welders use this system to control the "Arc" current, & also steel furnaces= 'Carbon Arc" .
You have to use AC in a transformer to get a voltage on the other side. That might be one of the disadvantages.
Love your knowledge, very greatful. People now day don't lighting rods anymore. And things as such. Do you have any lighting rods ideas plz, and thank you ❤
This looks eerily similar to the magnetic voltage regulator I have on my modified sine wave inverter, the inverter will not run the microwave or induction cooktop however with the mag VR they run fine, but the 750 watt microwave consumes about 1000 watts because the LCR networks have to fill in the choppy inverter output .
I have a vague memory of a HiFi amplifier based on magnetic amplifiers. Other than it was apparently very heavy and reviewed fine, I haven't a clue what happened to it.
Couldn't it be possible to build a diode using a electro magnet set to pulse to pass a certain part of the sine wave?
it should block current flow, but it might not block voltage
Look for Solid state Magnetic Field Diode.
Yes to the audio amp replication.
Hi Robert, you can do something similar with just one transformer using the outside legs, use the center leg for supply, one outside leg for output and the other outside leg for control, you can use a variable cap or resistor on the control leg. I'll post my video if I can on here.
I enjoyed the video, but now my brain hurts! :) Induction seems like magic to me. I need to lie down now.
"2112" is an album by Rush.
"Magnetic Amplifiers" sounds like it should be an album by Rush!
Me and you are on the same page check out my comment
This is very interesting in that if you can split the AC to DC: can you get both side of the alternative current to then charge to all DC 12/ volts with less loss than some other way?
RUSH 2112 long lost album ( magnetic amplifier )
Can a magnetic amplifier be made to work as a radio receiver and audo amplifier all in one? Maybe a regenerative reflex magnetic amplifier circuit? Though you would still need a radio lc cirucit and tuner i think.
Check out that video "Magnetic Amplifier" by KRAFTBAU... he demonstrates an RF audio amp using this about 2 mins into the video.
Rectifier for hydro and wind turbine 3phase generators? Guess it would be easy to regulate output voltage?
can't imagine a world without this type of content. I'm trying a steam engine generator with a focused magnifying glass. I suspect they used these glasses in ancient times.
@danijelovskikanal7017 probably made a sun disc religion out of it
Well I guess I will have to watch that again, I feel a bit out of depth with that one. Still in the early stages of learning and I'm a bit thick with it. 😮
On the other hand, it's fun to learn and I'm enjoy it. 😅
Hey and thank you for so many intresting ideas during the many years i followed your channel! You should look up ferroresonant transformer for another intresting effect regarding magnetism/transformers.
Cheers!
10:28
I cannot find Myles Steiner. Can you help with a link? Thank You.
Physicists will tell you that magnets can't do work, but they can.
hey rob have you seen the 'airloom' technology 'wind turbine'? i'm interested in hearing your thoughts.
Why the gloves, (Oh yes ,is there is 220 coming out of the primary of the second transformer?)
Enjoyed this video about Mag Amplifiers. Have a question In regards to wind generators. Have you heard about or looked at the concept being presented by a co in the USA called AirLoomEnergy? Making many claims about reducing cost for starters. Thanks Lonnie
I think free energy is ppossible it’s how people think about it
Could this be used as a simple motor controller Rob?
I hope you’re in for a joke. Your blue gloves made me think, hey, he would do well performing for the upper smurf, just a red hat and some blue paint on his face…😂 Would you?
i cannot find a detailed enough drawing to make a magnetic amp some who have made them just dont have contact details on there channel video to ask some questions and they don't answer comments asking questions about them either and the drawings some do have lack of information on them let alone decent explanations so im finding it hard to even try making one from using just 1 or 2 transformers and if you need to wind a control coil there's no space on the core except the sides around the outside only
FET.
This sounds like you wrote a script before hand. Other videos sound like you are ad libing.
The beginning yes, did you listen to all of it?
@@RobC1999 yeah, I just posted this at the beginning. It switch from sounding like he was reading an encyclopedia entry to the normal way he does videos, but I though he was changing video format for a little while.
Didn't look like magnetic amplifier, looks more like magnetic reducer because full power would have occurred without additional inductors, you reduced power to zero then slowly increase power with resistor. Think I have a use for that.
its just a transformer right ?
is a "magnetic amplifier" just a transformer?
1 st time 😮 noticed😊
your schematics don't agree with your wiring.
The mag amps were also used in Nimrods for Magnetic Anomaly detector system
Wait… can we use this to build an operational amplifier (or even just start with a differential amplifier)?
Wondering if we could explore this to create something as complicated as a PID controller (even doing all the necessary stability analysis for example)…
I don’t know why I’ve never heard of this... 😮
maybe because this can't amplify, it can only attenuate...
:)
I power multiplayer
Magnetron metal banwith free electrons
Magnetic inductance
2:14
What are the moving parts involved here ? Why is this meaningless argument always used ? ( With all due respect, Robert, I don't mean you ).
Interesting but I don't see the point in complicating things
The eternal triangle is currently inducing attractive couples🫡😆