Electricity: measuring and testing – Testing potential in specific environment – Voltage probe
Patent
1995-04-26
1998-05-26
Strecker, Gerard R.
Electricity: measuring and testing
Testing potential in specific environment
Voltage probe
324323, 324344, 34031007, 340601, 343720, 455270, G01V 312, G01V 100, H04B 1100, H01Q 146
Patent
active
057571775
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This application is a 371 of PCT/US94/02630, filed Mar. 10, 1994.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to resonant circuits, particularly to infrasonic frequency ("ISF") resonant circuits and the use thereof to receive ISF electromagnetic signals.
Receiving and identifying ISF electromagnetic signals has been found to be valuable in studying and evaluating various naturally occurring electromagnetic phenomena, as well as man made signals. As used herein, ISF refers to electromagnetic signals whose frequency is less than audio frequencies, that is, less than about 20 Hertz. "ISF" includes extremely low frequency ("ELF") and ultra extremely low frequency ("UELF") signals to the extent those terms are used to refer to frequencies below about 20 Hertz. One emerging, particularly valuable application for receiving and evaluating ISF signals is to identify electromagnetic energy produced by tectonic activity which has been found to precede the occurrence of earthquakes. This is proposed, for example, in Takahashi U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,582, Naville et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,030, and Takahashi U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,943.
It is well known that resonant circuits are employed in radio receivers to tune the receiver to a particular frequency. The resonant frequency of a simple parallel inductor-capacitor-resistor ("LRC") resonant circuit is given by the following equation: ##EQU1## where f=frequency in Hertz ("Hz"), L=inductance in Henrys ("H"), C=capacitance in Farads ("F"), and n=3.14.
It has previously been recognized that an ac power line can be used as an antenna for high frequency radio signals. For example, Adler U.S. Pat. No. 2,553,734 and Hughes et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,142,064 propose various circuits for coupling television signals on a power line to a television receiver.
It has now been recognized by the inventor herein that ISF electromagnetic energy produced by tectonic activity preceding earthquakes induces ISF signals on the power line and that an electric power distribution system, of which a power line is a part, makes an especially good ISF antenna. However, none of the circuits proposed in the aforementioned patents is suitable for receiving ISF signals induced on a power distribution system. Consequently, there is a need for an improved circuit for coupling ISF signals from an electric power distribution system to a device for identifying those signals.
Further, prior known methods of receiving electromagnetic signals associated with tectonic activity have ordinarily employed specialized pick-up devices or subterranean or submarine antennas to receive the electromagnetic energy. Such devices and antennas are inconvenient to use and have undesireably limited useful range due to their small size relative to the wavelengths of ISF signals.
In addition, while attempts have been made to receive and interpret ISF signals associated with tectonic activity, no system or method appears to have been known which presents information regarding these signals in a manner suitable for adequate understanding of the nature of the tectonic activity.
Accordingly, there is a need for a better method and system for receiving and evaluating ISF electromagnetic signals, particularly those associated with tectonic activity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention solves the aforementioned need for a better method and system for receiving and evaluating ISF electromagnetic signals by employing an electric power distribution system both as an antenna for ISF signals and as a source of inductive reactance for a resonant circuit tuned to a band within the ISF spectrum. Evaluation of ISF signals, particularly those associated with tectonic activity, has been improved by using a spectrum analyzer connected to the resonant circuit to visualize the ISF signals in both the time domain and the frequency domain.
It has been found that, by placing a capacitor from the neutral conductor to the ground conductor at an ac power outlet in a structure, a resonant circuit ordinarily can be formed which can be tuned to
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Strecker Gerard R.
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