The alternator was simply a bicycle dynamo pushed into some pvc water pipe. The prop was from a car radiator fan with blades cut from some scrap alluminium sheet then riveted to the fan hub. This technique i still use for making props as im too lazy and not got around to carving one from wood yet however i use plastic now as this is a little less dangerous than metal. The bike dynamo was one of those rub on the tyre things that needed lots of rpm to give any power out but i didnt know at the time what to expect from the wind in the way of rpm. Oh was i surprised at the learning curve but then i do jump in feet first when i take up a new hobby. The yaw or that part that moves the generator from left to right was made using 2 pieces of steel pipe slotted into each other with a water fitting nut as a stopper. Sorry theres no pics at the moment but the digi camera came a bit late. As far as the electrical connections go from the generator there is no slip rings, i just wired it up and left enough slack to allow for a dozen turns or so from the generator. Its mounted in easy reach so its no problem to untwist and one more thing not to wear out.

Town genny

This one is my baby and is made mostly from junk, the only parts that were bought were copper wire, nuts, bolts and rivets.The frame is a bath leg cut in half and i even dropped lucky with the bath foot that was a threaded rod with a rubber pad which screwed to it. The threaded rod was the right size to go through the bearing of the drum which has 4 arch ceramic magnets inside.

Above you can see the threaded rod which the drum is mounted on. Does that drum look familiar? It should to those who are experienced with cars, its a radiator fan motor that has been stripped down. The drum ( armature ) used to be the motor stator and the stator with the windings on used to be the armature. The idea to reverse the armature and stator came to me when i saw it resembled a motorcycle magneto and allows me try different windings and removes the need for brushes.

In this shot the coils can be clearly seen and these are 125 turns each of 30swg coated copper wire. There is 2 phases giving a total of 8 coils and these 2 phases are wired in series. It would be a better idea to rectifie the phases and then series the dc but i will probably try that another day.

Not one for wasting things i used the fan hub of the motor and cut 6 blades from a bucket which seem to be shaped rather nicley for props, i riveted these to the hub and that was it ! Hey this aint rocket science if thats what your after try the NASA site.

Thanks to work they throw some interesting rubbish away and this bucket used to hold vegetable oil, i marked one blade out free hand cut it out and shaped it to what i think looked like a propeller blade then used it as template for the next 5 blades.

Does it work? Yes sort of i was a bit confused for some time about were the lift takes effect on the blades and had the prop facing the wrong way for some time and no matter how fast it was spinning i couldnt get a pic of the blades in motion with my digi camera. Then after posting a pic on otherpowers message board someone said the scoops of the prop should be facing the wind.

BINGO, heres the pic i was after! Thats spinning in about 12mph wind i havent got a clue on the rpm but it moves and to my surprise doesnt vibrate itself to bits.The output is small and i have added another phase since of 22swg 4 coils of 15 turns rectified then wired in parallel to the dc from the other output. The end result to date is it reaches charging voltage +12v in 7mph winds and gives 250ma, this increases to 500ma in 15mph winds and i have seen a few bursts of 1.5 - 2 amps in storms. This may not sound much but it spins for days non stop and thats some accumalated power.