The ASTROD
The ASTROD is Alan's Sparkgap Trent-Rife and Ozone Device. Well,
it needed a catchy acronym and that's all I could come up with when Alan first
explained to me how to build one. My family and friends now know it by my
nickname for it: The Fire Zapper. I typically use this device for acute
illness when I don't know what the bug is or when the frequencies being run on a
Rife Bare device aren't doing the trick. I often use it at the same time
as a Rife Bare.
The ASTROD produces a damp-wave output of a wide spectrum of
frequencies from a tube with a spark gap.
The benefits to using this type of device as opposed to a
BRG is that a frequency need not be known. The downside
is that since the signal is not riding on an RF carrier,
it may not penetrate the body as well plus the power is spread among a large
amount of frequencies with not much in any one. It does, however,
produce some RF directly from the large spikes created by the
spark gap which are then "concentrated" by the large capacitors
and then dumped into the tube when the voltage builds to
a high enough level across the gap. It appears to be perfectly safe to
hold onto the tube (as long as the electrodes or wires are avoided). See Usage
Notes for more information.
The neon transformer that is used for this device produces
very high voltage (typical 7500 - 12000 V) so constructing and
using this device is only for those who understand and
have experience with high voltage devices. One can easily
be killed with a 10000V 30ma device.
The ASTROD uses homemade capacitors made from wine or champagne
bottles. It will operate with a little as one, but using
more increases the power output by storing more charge to be
output across the gap and then the tube. I currently
have three in mine. The diagram below shows how these
are connected in the circuit. The Variations article
instructs how to make the device using as little as one,
two, or more than three capacitors.
The device is mounted in a plastic cooler (Rubbermaid). This keeps down
the noise plus contains the ozone produced by the spark, which would quickly
become overwhelming in a small room.
After using my first ASTROD a couple of months, the tube began
burning oddly. It developed orange plasma areas surrounding
the pink beam. I did not think it would burn forever used
in an ASTROD since the bubble tubes are not meant to be
driven from the electrodes, which causes excessive heat to
be generated. At the time I was using the device mostly in radiant,
non-contact mode with a large spark gap. I replaced the large bubble tube
with a short (20") straight tube from Allred
Neon. Note that any tube
used must have internal electrodes. I started using short spark gaps on
the order of 1/4" or less, mostly in contact mode, and the straight tube
has lasted over two years so far.
|
