rail/coil guns

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03-15-2002, 08:36 PM
dighn

Re: Re: *******WARNING*******

Quote:

Originally posted by !shira!

this is why I am going to start with camera flash caps and a 12VDC powersupply
as for making my own caps, I doubt it in the near future, those are dangereous because you don't know the limits on them and homemade things tend to fail sometimes

you don't need camera flash caps with a 12VDc source. just ordinary ones with voltage ratings well above 12 is fine (like 30 VDC). you may need to take into account the induced voltage from the coil though cuz you dont want that to break down the capactiros... a lot of diodes might work
03-15-2002, 11:49 PM
talldude

That would be cool to make a coil gun...but it's not gonna be very powerful. I'd just stick to the good old spud gun if i were you ;)

I've made 3 of those bad-boys, best one launched a potato over 200 meters :D
03-16-2002, 08:39 PM
!shira!

I'm using flash camera caps becasue I have several of them
03-16-2002, 10:42 PM
stoo

About homemade capacitors

I remember that my physics teacher made a capacitor from tinfoil and clingfilm. And accidentally discharged it through himself* :rolleyes:

(*He didn't actually hurt himself)
03-17-2002, 01:00 AM
nova

Microwaves have high capacity capacitors too. They are real high volatage though. You'd probably have to use the power supply from the microwave which is like 100X more juice than needed to kill you. Needless to say it wouldn't be very safe.
03-17-2002, 11:46 AM
!shira!

if I had a microwave I could take apart I would get the magnetron out and cook thing from several feet away :)
03-17-2002, 10:08 PM
nova

Quote:

Originally posted by !shira!
if I had a microwave I could take apart I would get the magnetron out and cook thing from several feet away :)

You'd probably cook yourself too. :D :p

If I'm not mistaken if you ever needed to build a radio transmitter most of the major components to do build one are in a microwave. All it would require was some minor modifications.
03-18-2002, 06:35 PM
jester22c

Quote:

Originally posted by CadetLee
Remember computers 50 years ago? A world market for maybe 5 computers...then 640k should be enough for anybody. I think railguns will eventually be practical - look at the technological advancements in the last 75 years, and imagine 75 years down the road. It will be interesting, at least..I know that much :)

This is true, but then again a computer has proved useful to most people today. A railgun is a bit extreme. I mean we already have high powered rifles etc. Civilians won't have much need for such a high powered firearm. I mean whatever you're shooting at can be mangled/killed/whatever with a severely less powerful weapon. If you're a hunter and you shoot a deer with a railgun it is going to either explode or have a hole in it the size of a watermellon. Either way it wouldn't be too practical lol. Even if you want it for self defense.. it would be nice to know who you just obliviated. I do think the technology will get there, but I don't think the usability for the average American will.
03-18-2002, 08:49 PM
nova

Quote:

Originally posted by jester22c

This is true, but then again a computer has proved useful to most people today. A railgun is a bit extreme. I mean we already have high powered rifles etc. Civilians won't have much need for such a high powered firearm. I mean whatever you're shooting at can be mangled/killed/whatever with a severely less powerful weapon. If you're a hunter and you shoot a deer with a railgun it is going to either explode or have a hole in it the size of a watermellon. Either way it wouldn't be too practical lol. Even if you want it for self defense.. it would be nice to know who you just obliviated. I do think the technology will get there, but I don't think the usability for the average American will.

Militarily there is the problem of how far the projectile will travel. Fratricide is a real problem with tanks shells that travel 2-3 miles. It would be much great with a projectile that could theoretically travel 10X as far.
03-18-2002, 11:00 PM
!shira!

Quote:

Originally posted by nova

Militarily there is the problem of how far the projectile will travel. Fratricide is a real problem with tanks shells that travel 2-3 miles. It would be much great with a projectile that could theoretically travel 10X as far.

true but there would be no flame from the barrel of the tank
that way, your position wouldn't be given away to the enemy visually

as for fratricide, by the time we are mounting rail/coil guns on tanks they will have better iff (anyways we have shot at own own abrams tanks and the armor is so good that is survived :D )
03-19-2002, 09:27 PM
nova

THis I know. I'm in ROTC and several of our CADRE fought in the Gulf War.

You do have to worry about the Bradleys and such though. They aren't quite as tough.

Plus what do you do if you miss and accidentally wipe out a town or something. Civy casualties are frowned upon.
03-20-2002, 12:30 PM
Sparky_D

Quote:

Originally posted by nova

Plus what do you do if you miss and accidentally wipe out a town or something. Civy casualties are frowned upon.

Frowned upon?! :rolleyes:
03-20-2002, 04:20 PM
Pestilence

Quote:

Originally posted by nova
Plus what do you do if you miss and accidentally wipe out a town or something. Civy casualties are frowned upon.

That would be an understatement if I ever saw one.
03-22-2002, 07:06 PM
alanpennington

Quote:

Originally posted by Sparky_D

Frowned upon?! :rolleyes:

It depends on what side you are on. Some countries aren't that particular about civilian casualities except as propaganda. As for a market for a railgun, I think Saddam Hussien or Osama bin Ladin would buy it. Your ground troups would be quite formidable.
03-24-2002, 02:05 PM
!shira!

Quote:

Originally posted by alanpennington

It depends on what side you are on. Some countries aren't that particular about civilian casualities except as propaganda. As for a market for a railgun, I think Saddam Hussien or Osama bin Ladin would buy it. Your ground troups would be quite formidable.

true but osama would need to power it with something and there usually aren't power outlets in caves
03-24-2002, 07:54 PM
nova

Quote:

Originally posted by !shira!

true but osama would need to power it with something and there usually aren't power outlets in caves

More truthful than you know. The increasingly high tech weapons of the world are getting more and more out of reach of nations and groups without large amounts of infrastructure and resources.

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