[sdiy] OT: Generator?

[KA4HJH]

>    This is a well know effect.  Diesel Locomotives use this very principle
>to slow the train down going down hills.  They turn the traction motors into
>generators and disipate the power in resistor grids.

It's called "dynamic braking". The large cooling fan out in the middle of
the hood is usually where the resistor grid is.

Of course if you were really clever you'd feed the current to a motor
connected to a large flywheel and spin it up. Then on your way uphill again
you'd switch things around and use the motor as a generator.

Or you could use a large superconducting coil...


-- 
Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"