Re: Weapon Naming Madness!!

On Sun, 22 Jun 1997, Alan E & Carmel J Brain wrote:

> Thomas Anderson wrote:
> 
> > 
> > the railgun is cool. the oxygen cannon (or, as they call it, the
death
> > ray) is cool. the magnetron is very cool.
> 
> The Magnetron is very dangerous!

whilst i share any intelligent person's extreme caution when confronted
with high-voltage electricity and resultant microwave beams, the danger
is
part of the reason it's so cool ...

> You can get X-rays under some
> circumstances. Hi Tension Electricity + Black Body Cavity Radiators
are
> a nasty combo. Microwave exposure can (obviously) cause significant
> damage, but it's the side effects I'm more concerned about. Not just
EM,
> but electrons zapping about at significant speeds causing radiation
> burns. Bad News. Do Not Try This At Home.

this is a very responsible attitude, and i heartily concur. the thing to
do is, of course, to get someone else to try this at home.

> The railgun OTOH looks relatively safe and easy to build.

right then, i'll just pop down the stores for some high-power
transistors.
anything the KV can do, i can do better ...

Tom