Aetheric Neuralizer VI - An Interlude With Electronics

What Ho!

I spent a productive hour or so in the Manufactory experimenting with the electronic core of what will be the Aetheric Resonator, the chief in-weapon effect that will induce awe in the observer (the other being the lumin disk on the battery box).

One of my concerns is that the lead acid accumulator is quite capable of misbehaving in some rather unpleasant ways if care isn't taken and respect for the power it contains not foremost in the inventor's mind. Thus I added a fuse and some proper "spade" terminal connectors to the hook-up.

I had also seen a rather negative review of the very effect I was using, complaining of burns and fire danger. I therefore ran the device for a few minutes to make sure my unit was not as dangerous as that.

All seemed well when I brushed my pinkie finger against the negative battery terminal connection and received what could only be an alternating current shock - from a direct current power supply!

The effect I'm using requires that a DC supply be used, but the science of it requires that a high-voltage AC power source be used. This is achieved by a box of tricks called an inverter.

Given the super-cheapness of the components in the kit, I suspected inadequate design in this unit was feeding back AC onto the power supply lines. Note that I have no advanced electronics training, just what I got in 'A' Level physics 40 years ago. I do however have a box of electronic bits which I doodle with sometimes, and I dipped into that and added a rectifier to the power line.

Problem solved in that touching the battery terminals when the lamp is running does not give me a shock. I have no idea if any other effects are in play, but I will put my voltmeter on the wretched thing once I can remember where it is.

So what needs doing is to add a rectifier to the power connection to the inverter wherever one is used (I'm contemplating another special effect that would require one at the front end of the Aetheric Neuralizer and I do not want to get shocks off the copper rod carrying the negative connection from the rear assembly to the front). Placing it as near to the inverter as possible should prevent shocks - I think that there is danger anywhere between the rectifier and the inverter, if my physics is still good in this day and age.