Quote:
Originally Posted by dcb
Wow, easier to develop superconductors than to pull the plug on the inefficient thing?!? We have a serious disconnect here Mike  I guess I have been making the assumption that efficiency of the system as a whole was on your radar, maybe that isn't correct? Even with(if) superconducting antennas, given the average distance to AM towers, how efficient do you expect this to be? |
Since we're not recovering any significant amount right now, the current efficiency is roughly zero. The radio transmitters are already out there. Assuming we cannot shut them down, even 1% is a big improvement over 0%. Superconductors inherently have zero resistance, so efficiency will be determined by the efficiency of the rectifier and the energy used by the support equipment to keep the superconductors operating. At AM radio frequencies, 90% or more rectifier efficiency is not unreasonable. Room temperature superconductors would not need any support equipment to operate.