Dear Mike, I apologize for making this post on this list, but so very many
of the people desiring information on the device....relate that they are not on
the "Off-List".
I suggest that interested persons go to Dr. Richard Lloyd's website
using this url
www.royalrife.com/superthumpy.html His instructions are quite clear and
easy to follow.
This device (Super Thumpy) is a modified version of Dr. Bob Beck's
device (essentially the same as the current Sota device)----which incorporates
a modification to the original Thumpy variation of the Beck device. Of the
devices we constructed and tested, this unit gave the best performance
------based upon cost/complexity considerations. It is quite adequate in
power, for most "layman-type" users. Some may be interested in the Haining
Pulser, which is a 240 vac device which is MUCH more powerful, but does pose
some safety considerations. For the more adventurous types, just go to
Richard's index page and scroll down to the word Haining (down in the
electronic device section) for a circuit and limited general characters.
The secret to making the Radio Shack party strobe powerful
enough to do an adequate job is to increase the main capacitor strength.
Richard settled for a 200 uf capacitor rated at 450 vdc. We found that a
slightly lower voltage and a higher microfarad rating worked somewhat better.
The 300 mf capacitor at 320 VDC from Allied he recommends works quite well.
However, I suggest a possible variation----that we used. It is to
use part number LPX331M400E7P3 400vdc (450 surge) X 320 MFD by Mallory (it is
stocked by Allied Electronics ( http://www.allied.avnet.com) I believe it costs
about $9.00 and is well worth it. It will fit quite nicely in the area where
you remove the original capacitor from the top of the circuit board, of the
little party strobe. Do remember that the Negative (-) capacitor lead is on
the side where the black stripe is painted.
Remember, all you are doing is inserting an electro-magnet in
series with the strobe light. I am trying to download a couple of zoom photos
of one of the units we modified.....to show "exactly" which lead from the
strobe light we cut and spliced the coil (magnet wire coil assembly) leads into.
The Radio Shack strobe unit costs about $35.00 and works very
well.
I do not know, exactly, what the coil Richard recommends costs.....as we wound
all of our own on old VCR tape cores.......using #16 magnet wire.
The knob on the front becomes a fine frequency control. Just
advance in a CW direction until the unit is firing at the desired frequency.
We have found that about once every 1.5 to 2.0 seconds gives superlative
results for most applications. For a little more power.....set to about a 3.0
second firing frequency.
NO commercial unit we evaluated gave results comparable to this
little "shop-built" unit. The Haining unit is much more powerful......but does
pose some possible hazards to the unskilled population. Additionally, the
power levels are so high we have not established reliable safety
parameters.....for general use.
This is not a challenging project and does not require any
special skills.....other than being able to use a soldering iron, wire cutters,
stripper, a screwdriver---and some common sense.
If you strike a snag....just give me a post.
Good Luck ....Sincerely, Brooks Bradley.
p.s. I recommend you use a 1/8" drill bit in an electric drill and bore about
10 well spaced holes in each side and the top -------of the strobe unit cover.
This greatly assists in giving enough ventilation to prevent
overheating.....during prolonged use. Otherwise, I suggest you use a small fan
to keep the unit from experiencing a shortened life-----from lengthy periods of
sustained use.
