It's been quite a while since I last posted. Whenever I remember, I never seem to have the time to type up a quick post. I've been pretty busy with my truck, along with school, work, and a host of other things. One of my other projects that's been receiving a lot of my attention lately is my wind generator. Since this falls into the realm of alternative energy, I might as well post a few pics and a description.

At right are pics of (from top to bottom) all six blades arranged around the hub, the 40 VDC Ametek tape drive motor, and the tip of one of the blades. The blades and hub were purchased off of eBay from Hydrogen Appliances. Their website is at www.hydrogenappliances.com. The blades appear to be carbon fiber reinforced polycarbonate. They're pretty nicely made, although I think the leading and trailing edges could have been finished a little bit better. They definitely seem to be plenty strong enough for the job. They also appear to have a very efficient shape. The sharp taper should provide a nearly elliptical span-lift distribution, while minimizing tip vortices. I'm expecting very good performance out of them.

The motor is an Ametek 40 VDC motor. These motors were used in early tape drives (!) and are now used as generators for wind turbines or traction motors in very small EVs, among other uses. Since I don't have much use for a small EV right now, I decided to put it to use in my wind genny. I'm thinking I might be able to get something along the lines of 75-100 watts out of it in a decent wind.

Right now I'm exploring different methods of constructing towers and pivots. I should have that figured out before long. I think I've got a good plan for a tower. I'm planning to use two 10' lengths of 2" electrical conduit with 1/8" galvanized steel guy wires. That'll give me a 20' tower. That's kind of short, comparatively speaking, but I think it'll be plenty adequate for a first try. Later on, I might set up a taller tower.

So, all I've got to do is come up with a pivot and I'm all set. It shouldn't be too long before this thing is up in the air spinning around.

I'll be posting some more about the truck before long. I haven't done a lot of work on it, but I have been doing some design work. I'll be putting that up here soon.