America is the greatest country on the face of this rock! How come we cannot produce these huge transformers within the confines of our borders? Some billionaire could make a ton more money if he opened up a transformer manufacturing plant in the middle of the country with rail capacity to all 48 lower states. This ain't rocket science, but for some reason we have to source our huge transformers from countries that don't like us too much. Why?????? Are our billionaire investors told what to put their money into or do they ALL think transformer production is a bad investment?
Trump can fix this problem with one phone call, so why doesn't he?
It’s cheaper to source them elsewhere. The facilities and expertise isn’t cheap. The labor is precise and time consuming. It’ll be years of investment before they make back the investment. Which is part of why they outsourced in the first place. The Billionaire investors wanted the profits without the overhead.
Trump can make all the calls he wants. But it is going to be an exceptionally expensive proposition for any investor. That’ll be years of rebuilding, retraining and building up support industries again. Until they can expect to start making back their investment. Let alone turning a profit.
Privatize the gains. Socialize the losses has been the SOP for major American Businesses for decades.
He built ventilators (ASAP) , why would you assume that after 10+ years of hearing about this National Security Threat , that local production is not well underway ?
( I wouldn't tell us schlubs either to minimize the targeting of the facility)
I can only surmise he thinks we can get a better deal overseas or he waiting for a crash and then he will have the power to unilaterally begin forcing American companies to manufacture the transformers. But even before that we need raw materials for building the infrastructure the transformers will supplying energy to. So we need copper mines and, most importantly, American copper refining capacity. Right now we ship our raw material to China for them to refine. That is a bad idea. Is President Trump in the early stages of building copper refineries on the West coast? Yea, I'm sure Cali Oregon and Washington state want huge refineries near their pristine bays and warves. We have the copper mine in Alaska, Pebble mine, but they haven't turned one shovel of dirt yet. The company is fighting an EPA ruling and has been successful in the litigation. Now they will have to build rail access to the site and begin digging. But where are they gonna ship the ore to? That is the big question.
Trump, alongside everyone else might be waiting for The AI bubble to pop before we can force Corporate America's hand to build the upgrades to our infrastructure
....after 10 + years of whining about transformers*"...the fact that he doesn't speak(s) volumes..."*about how much is happening that we peasants are not read in about.
I briefed Congress on this in the’90s. The impact of an EMP attack by China and how it could be used as blackmail. The critical component was only being built in France at the time and took months to get one. It sounds like that hasn’t changed much since then.
He's Revodude, that's who. What more do you need to know, Boonie?
About 30 years ago I went around to the labs, etc. and supposedly shown all the best tech they had and wanted to do. No alien tech spin offs and they didn’t talk to
each other much. - Revodude, May 9 2026
Hmm. Enough clout to be given a tour of our top aerospace R&D labs, but not high enough to walk behind the curtain to the Unacknowledged SAPs. A former Admiral or 2+ star General officer?
Based on today's comments I'm currently thinking that Revodude was a technology acquisitions officer at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. How high up the chain of command I am not familiar enough to say. Sounds like he held oversight on a large swath of R&D.
Update after a little more read-through. Not Navy, Air Force. Revudude shared in one thread that he is a graduate of US Air Force Academy Class of 1979 - the LCWB, "Last Class With Balls". That puts his current age around 69-70. He initially trained as a jet fighter pilot. And must have been quite skilled because he flew in at least one airshow. Also, he saw action outmaneuvering multiple missiles shot at us.
Damn, that’s a lot of info. I didn’t think to read through his comments and posts on the board. Sounds like he’s seen some crazy shit in his life.
—Oh Gawd. I am behaving like a teenaged girl stalking a crush. I got to stop now
I may have to update my assessment. Based on "I wanted my own company to do really cool stuff. But I kept running into the infamous valley of death. I am on my third company and trying to reach the other side." That description sounds like he was a one-time researcher at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory but then jumped to the private sector as an inventor/entrepreneur. Not an employee of large defense contractors I'd suggest. Rather, small companies doing prototype designs.
This guessing game is perhaps the most fun I've had on GAW. We have someone exceptional in our midst.
Somebody who did some really cool stuff and made a lot of people very nervous. But then I wanted my own company to do really cool stuff. But I kept running into the infamous valley of death. I am on my third company and trying to reach the other side.
A quick stab: wireless power transmission, no problem. But omnidirectional and range are a real limitation. Of course back then, you just needed to power lights, etc. No big power draw. There was an easier and cheaper way to do long range comm. Earth is a ground, not a conductor.
Just shooting from the hip, since I don’t have the design.
Having brought this thread back to life I just saw this question of yours regarding Wardenclyffe. (Such a funny old English spelling.) Not an electrical engineer as disclaimer. But my reaction has always been the same as Revodude's. Omnidirectional transmission is highly inefficient because of the geometry-enforced 1 over r squared law. Plus, consider how much receptive area is just wasted because the receivers are small, few, and scattered. A 100 kiloWatt radio transmitter tower for example works because the faint EM signal can be detected with an antenna and amplified. The radio receiving and amplifying the signal is not powered by the EM wave itself, but by batteries. Back in the day, a long line of D sized batteries. Similar situation for GPS satellite signals.
Tesla was an intuitive genius. Strong visual thinker. As far as I am aware though he developed no mathematics. Eventually the lack of mathematics limits you. In a similar vein Faraday knew no mathematics. Maxwell was a once-in-century mathematical physicist. Tesla was a once-in-a-century hands-on inventor -- with a big daring for grand designs and a large heart for the well being of human kind.
Ridiculous environmental regulations keep companies from producing transformers in many states. Once all states are all red perhaps production can be approved with reasonable controls.
America is the greatest country on the face of this rock! How come we cannot produce these huge transformers within the confines of our borders? Some billionaire could make a ton more money if he opened up a transformer manufacturing plant in the middle of the country with rail capacity to all 48 lower states. This ain't rocket science, but for some reason we have to source our huge transformers from countries that don't like us too much. Why?????? Are our billionaire investors told what to put their money into or do they ALL think transformer production is a bad investment?
Trump can fix this problem with one phone call, so why doesn't he?
It’s cheaper to source them elsewhere. The facilities and expertise isn’t cheap. The labor is precise and time consuming. It’ll be years of investment before they make back the investment. Which is part of why they outsourced in the first place. The Billionaire investors wanted the profits without the overhead.
Trump can make all the calls he wants. But it is going to be an exceptionally expensive proposition for any investor. That’ll be years of rebuilding, retraining and building up support industries again. Until they can expect to start making back their investment. Let alone turning a profit.
Privatize the gains. Socialize the losses has been the SOP for major American Businesses for decades.
He built ventilators (ASAP) , why would you assume that after 10+ years of hearing about this National Security Threat , that local production is not well underway ?
( I wouldn't tell us schlubs either to minimize the targeting of the facility)
" Trump can fix this problem with one phone call, so why doesn't he?"
...the fact that he doesn't speak volumes...
I can only surmise he thinks we can get a better deal overseas or he waiting for a crash and then he will have the power to unilaterally begin forcing American companies to manufacture the transformers. But even before that we need raw materials for building the infrastructure the transformers will supplying energy to. So we need copper mines and, most importantly, American copper refining capacity. Right now we ship our raw material to China for them to refine. That is a bad idea. Is President Trump in the early stages of building copper refineries on the West coast? Yea, I'm sure Cali Oregon and Washington state want huge refineries near their pristine bays and warves. We have the copper mine in Alaska, Pebble mine, but they haven't turned one shovel of dirt yet. The company is fighting an EPA ruling and has been successful in the litigation. Now they will have to build rail access to the site and begin digging. But where are they gonna ship the ore to? That is the big question.
You're onto something,
Trump, alongside everyone else might be waiting for The AI bubble to pop before we can force Corporate America's hand to build the upgrades to our infrastructure
Wardenclyffe.
We have 10' s of thousands of these problems....
That's a lot of phone calls dog.
" That's a lot of phone calls dog."
...get on it Orange Man...
....after 10 + years of whining about transformers*"...the fact that he doesn't speak(s) volumes..."*about how much is happening that we peasants are not read in about.
https://archive.ph/yllTc
I briefed Congress on this in the’90s. The impact of an EMP attack by China and how it could be used as blackmail. The critical component was only being built in France at the time and took months to get one. It sounds like that hasn’t changed much since then.
Would you expose the location of plant(s) to your enemy ?
Is it better to appear to have a weakness that you don't have ?
Whoa, you briefed Congress? Who the heck are you revodude? Graham, Pry, Cooper, or one of the GOP reps?
He's Revodude, that's who. What more do you need to know, Boonie?
Hmm. Enough clout to be given a tour of our top aerospace R&D labs, but not high enough to walk behind the curtain to the Unacknowledged SAPs. A former Admiral or 2+ star General officer?
I missed that comment. He’s either that or a former Congressman that was part of a commission on military tech.
Based on today's comments I'm currently thinking that Revodude was a technology acquisitions officer at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. How high up the chain of command I am not familiar enough to say. Sounds like he held oversight on a large swath of R&D.
I’m thinking General.
Update after a little more read-through. Not Navy, Air Force. Revudude shared in one thread that he is a graduate of US Air Force Academy Class of 1979 - the LCWB, "Last Class With Balls". That puts his current age around 69-70. He initially trained as a jet fighter pilot. And must have been quite skilled because he flew in at least one airshow. Also, he saw action outmaneuvering multiple missiles shot at us.
From flight crew he transitioned to engineering. Briefing the General's team on tech.. When he left the Air Force to run his own engineering the amounts invested were not small, either, but at least on one occasion tragic: Almost set up business there until the trustee ran off with our $200M investment.. So those Pentagon and/or DARPA connections carried weight. It sucks though that many of his inventions ended in the DoD procurement Valley of Death.
Oh Gawd. I am behaving like a teenaged girl stalking a crush. I got to stop now.
Damn, that’s a lot of info. I didn’t think to read through his comments and posts on the board. Sounds like he’s seen some crazy shit in his life. —Oh Gawd. I am behaving like a teenaged girl stalking a crush. I got to stop now
You crack me up ffb.
I may have to update my assessment. Based on "I wanted my own company to do really cool stuff. But I kept running into the infamous valley of death. I am on my third company and trying to reach the other side." That description sounds like he was a one-time researcher at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory but then jumped to the private sector as an inventor/entrepreneur. Not an employee of large defense contractors I'd suggest. Rather, small companies doing prototype designs.
This guessing game is perhaps the most fun I've had on GAW. We have someone exceptional in our midst.
Somebody who did some really cool stuff and made a lot of people very nervous. But then I wanted my own company to do really cool stuff. But I kept running into the infamous valley of death. I am on my third company and trying to reach the other side.
Well good luck to you :). Any thoughts on Wardenclyffe?
A quick stab: wireless power transmission, no problem. But omnidirectional and range are a real limitation. Of course back then, you just needed to power lights, etc. No big power draw. There was an easier and cheaper way to do long range comm. Earth is a ground, not a conductor.
Just shooting from the hip, since I don’t have the design.
🙂
Having brought this thread back to life I just saw this question of yours regarding Wardenclyffe. (Such a funny old English spelling.) Not an electrical engineer as disclaimer. But my reaction has always been the same as Revodude's. Omnidirectional transmission is highly inefficient because of the geometry-enforced 1 over r squared law. Plus, consider how much receptive area is just wasted because the receivers are small, few, and scattered. A 100 kiloWatt radio transmitter tower for example works because the faint EM signal can be detected with an antenna and amplified. The radio receiving and amplifying the signal is not powered by the EM wave itself, but by batteries. Back in the day, a long line of D sized batteries. Similar situation for GPS satellite signals.
Tesla was an intuitive genius. Strong visual thinker. As far as I am aware though he developed no mathematics. Eventually the lack of mathematics limits you. In a similar vein Faraday knew no mathematics. Maxwell was a once-in-century mathematical physicist. Tesla was a once-in-a-century hands-on inventor -- with a big daring for grand designs and a large heart for the well being of human kind.
It doesnt need rebuilt It needs replaced. Local mini nuke plants all.over the country.
Ridiculous environmental regulations keep companies from producing transformers in many states. Once all states are all red perhaps production can be approved with reasonable controls.