Posted on 10/14/2009 5:26:24 AM PDT by xcamel
The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again!
They will come up with a solution - re-direct the beam higher in that direction?
BTW - I drive by the big white ball everyday!
Since when have weather forecasters been accurate anyway? Where I live, you’re better off sticking your head out the door to see if its raining or sunny......
They can adjust the radar for this just like any other hindrances. (like ground clutter, buildings, etc.)
Or they could also coat the windmill blades with the same stuff used on our Stealth Fighters.
Animal Rights activists won't like it because they'll chop up more bats that way.
But who cares? Those creepy little cave critters spread rabies anyway.
I attended the Windpower Expo in Chicago last May. There were several vendors there that had samples of their blades on the exhibit floor. Everything I saw was made of fiberglass and fiberglass is invisible to RF. Radomes that protect radar antennas and microwave antennas are made of fiberglass for this very reason. What are these blades made of that are supposedly causing the interference? Carbon reflects RF, maybe the blades are carbon?
Most of the blades have CF or aluminum ribbing for lateral strength.
Their 'intentions were good'.That's all that matters. Now get with the program you knuckle-dragging Neanderthals!
I saw that sort of construction on smaller, "back yard" type windmills, but all the large commercial blades I saw were 100% fiberglass. Of course, that doesn't mean that everything out there is all fiberglass. I built a composite airplane a few years ago and I've been into gliders for over 20 years, so I was curious about the construction since the blade is essentially a wing, just like a glider. I would be curious to see if the generator produces a large enough magnetic field when in operation and maybe that is what is causing the distortion?
Yeah. What’s a few thousand migrating birds clobbered by these blades ?
Actually that shredded poultry will be used to help feed the starving masses as the Baraqqi depression grinds on.
Exactly.
Plus all that darn chirping at 4:00 am in the Spring is irritating as heck.
(I trust you know I was being sarcastic.)
True, but the eddy currents (turbulence) when the blades are turning ARE visible to Doppler...that's how Doppler is able to detect winds. Doppler doesn't require a metallic target. It picks up minute particles and droplets that are moving in the winds. When there is little or no wind...no problem, but the stronger the wind, the more interference is created and shows up quite well on a WSR88-D.
Been there...watched it happen. But didn't get the t-shirt.
Yep, you are right. I was thinking specifically of the blades and why they would cause such reflection. I wasn't considering water vapor or wind distortion being picked up by the Doppler. Amazing stuff, huh?
Nearly every one of the 80’ class and larger have carbon fiber leading edges and tips.
Static charge generation is a huge problem, along with ice buildup.
Yes, same thing with cell towers. One of the things I did in the wireless industry was design lightning protection systems for towers. Now I'm wondering how they would drain off charge from the blades? Draining the tower is easy, provided that soil conductivity cooperates. With the blades, though, somehow you have to be able to drain the charge from a rotating shaft that is part of a generator. Interesting.....
We can’t put drilling platforms in some areas of the Gulf of Mexico because someone might see them and be offended.
Yet we can put hundreds of these monstrocities out in nature and it is ok.
I don’t get it....must be racism on my part.
Its illegal to take ducks out of season but these monsters take birds 12 months of the year.
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