8 October 1997 - Color Additions 17 October
Since it IS an historic document, I've retained his contributions, though removed his email address or other identifying particulars. He's informed me that his name is a fiction, so don't bother any Hurls in Australia, they likely will have NO idea what you are talking about!
Please respect James' wish to sever his ties with us if you've previously obtained his email address. Thank you for your respect. This page is now only an historical document.
I received this letter from James 20 July 1997 by DavidC.
I was rapt to receive the info on your electromagnetic version experiments, this is just what I want!
I have no problem with constructing this sort of gadgtry, I only lack the theory to make it as efficient as possible (turns per coil for maximum thrust yet lightest possible weight) So if you have any extra info on this I would greatly appreciate it, no matter how insignificant it seems to you... My bathplug/birdbath GIT is on it's last legs due to shearing, cracking of the balsa wood base, and now it can only handle one ball at a time.
I want to make an ultra stable version so that I can feel confident in demonstrating it (Theres nothing worse than the embarrassing silence following a failed demo!!!). Now it wobbles more than it moves and is not worth repairing. One of the most striking experiments I did with this model, was to suspend it by cords from a hook in the roof so it hangs about knee hight.
Place some kind of concentric circle metric on top of the Git, and hang a plum-bob from the roof to hang pointing perfectly in the centre of the measure. With this arrangement, you can clearly see how the GIT will average forward of centre in the direction of thrust, and check for sideways swing as well. At it's best, my GIT averaged about 3 1/2 centimetres forward of centre, with about 1 1/2 cm drift sideways. But anyone can clearly see how it thrusts in one definite direction. This eliminates any possible ratcheting action on the ground.
I cannot describe to you the immense pleasure I had in leaving this arrangement running for several hours, and letting the swishing sound lull me to sleep, the dreams I had and upon waking to find the thing still going!!!
Ready for Electromagnetically-induced Gyroscopic Inertial thrust into the future."
James Hurl, Australia.
Added 17 October 1997 - Though I lost the original test clip of the "bird bath" GIT in a system crash a while back, James has sent me a copy of his first test of indiegit.mov at 3.3 megs (Obtainable from Gabriel Ataya's web site in New Zealand). It's about 22 minutes download time at 28.8, this demo clip shows the real power potential of a GIT given a precision race and more orbitals.
I'll just paste in most of his letters to me so you can get the impact of his excitement and details of this neat new construction:
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SHUP SHUP SHUP SHUP SHUP SHUP SHUP!!!!!!! That's the sound of
my new GIT, the one that has passed the water test and ground tests,
within 10 minutes of a rough slap together ie: The thing is NOT WORKING
PROPERLY YET!
My drive wheel (full contact) is too big and the balls
get stuck at one point on the race, but it works FANTASTIC even with one
ball in it - get this, I think it's the worlds SMALLEST GIT - 4 inch
diam pvc pipe segment races with 35mm marble as orbital, one low power
tape deck motor running on 7 volts at 300 ma.
The drive wheel is just a
brass thingy of the bathplug I used in GIT no 1 (Completely obsolete!!!)
the race halves are held together with copper strips and nuts/bolts,
that's the entire construction details! It's probably a bad irrational
ratio, but the parts were just lying about and after looking at the page
last night I guess I felt a bit out of the race for the stars, and
seeing others work gave me the proverbial kick up the arse that I need
sometimes... I haven't slept scince I last wrote either so although I'm
going insane again, I'm doing it with purpose like you wouldn't
believe!
Hideously technical results of badly, hastily and excited first tests of
'untuned' GIT MK II
Too fast to measure the speed in the sink! I don't have a bath so all I
can tell you is that it goes FAST IN THE WATER!!!!! I placed it
loose in a small plastic ice cream container to float it, but theres
just not enough room in there to enjoy it, I only just finished it
anyway and I'm going to take it over to my brother's house as soon as
possible (when he wakes up) to use his bath.
I think the reason for it's markedly improved thrust is not only to do
with it's lighter weight, but to the sharper turning circle causing a
much stronger transference of force into the race (and thus the whole
thing) at the nose point. The tiny size also makes deviation and elastic
loss in the race much less possible.
Maybe I'm jumping the gun a bit here, but I built this one to be as
small and lightweight as possible, to try the long overdue balloon test,
and as my 'reference GIT' to demonstrate with. Dare I say it but maybe I
can get this one to FLY!!
I wish you could see it firsthand, I'm crawling out of my skin to show
everyone, so I'll make a quick vid of it with my TYCO videocam.
Anyone out there hesitating to build the thing because of doubt or lack
of money, at least this GIT removes the second excuse! It cost me a
grand total of NOTHING, but was build from spare parts, heres a list of
them for the unfinished version (it needs a small but wide rubber band
around a smaller drive wheel) if you or anyone wants to try it this
way..
2 35mm diam balls (mine being glass marbles) for orbitals.
2 rings cut from 110mm outside diameter PVC pipe. (around 20mm wide,
this is not crucial just enough so that your rings are reasonably sturdy
when you try and twist them, and make the edges SQUARE)
One motor of about tape deck strength, the stronger and more lightweight
the better...Also one of those white pulley things from the tape deck
which is probably already attached to the shaft if that's where you got
it, oh and keep whatever screws it was held in with.
My drive wheel is a thin brass disc which was a decorative part of a
rubber bathplug (funnily enough the rubber part is the drive wheel on my
first GIT)
Epoxy to cement the drive wheel to the plastic pulley wheel, this lets
you pull the wheel off to access the screw holes in the motor which are
probably obscured by the drive wheel when assembled.
Three thin but sturdy metal strips (mine are copper 15mm wide and 1.5mm
thick) these are what holds your thing together along with..
6 small 1/8th inch bolts with nylon thread nuts.
Some sort of power supply, depending on your motor this could be a
battery (extra weight but free from wires which can influence direction)
a D.C wall pack ( variable voltage is GOOD)
Hey, try a solar powered motor for complete independance and lightest
weight (got to be a good one though, and a sunny day!)
If enough people ask, I'll make up a full step by step instruction set
for those mechanically challenged.
James Hurl, Australia. 9:00am 8/10/97
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I've named my new child 'Indie GIT', Because even though it's a
little slower with it's 9v battery mounted instead of a wall pack, it's
independant! It's hilarious watching it shlup off into the distance, and
my brother is going to film it's maiden voyage in the local pool's spa
(turned off of course) In the meantime, I'm waiting on a color hi-8 cam
to film it swimming in the photography basins and get some witnesses in
the vid for you, further proof that it's real time and inertially
propelled!
This has already been shown to numerous people who previously thought me
a fruitcake when I confidently described to them a clear and simple
means of cheating Sir Isaac's law (on the surface of it to them anyway)
For the record, I don't beleive that this is what it does, in fact it's
a blissfully elegant means of acheiving saucer style characteristics in
a craft which rigidly adheres to the dictates of these laws!
To me now, this concept is just common sense, and the
skeptic who denies this without trying at least my simple cheap working
(and how!) model will begin to look more and more naive as his/her
children start surfing theirs!
I've got enough people interested to try a small HUMAN TRANSPORT VERSION
as a boat without rudder or prop, which can in fact be an excellent
submarine if I find the cash! but for now it will be a simple saucer
shaped boat, open air, and possibly leg powered!
James Hurl, Australia. 2:30pm 8/10/97
Click on small color pictures to get a larger version of renderings he has done for fine detail of his elegantly simple construction.
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The following was posted on Wednesday, the eighth of October 1997.
15cm/sec along level ground, slight curve to path.
As a construction aid, I have included side, top, bottom elevations as
stills.. just one thing, when you drill the holes for the bolts in the
PVC pipe, resist the urge to center them in in the width of your rings,
more than likely this while appealing to any sense of perfection you may
have, will present six insurmountable obstacles to your eager orbitals,
and the litte tacker will seize up and spit the drive wheel at you, not
that I learnt this the hard way but I was tempted...
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I'll write back as soon as I've finished my mini GIT ( I fully expect it
to come crashing back down to earth after it's balloon pops) and give
further details.
David,
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