Roger Weichert wrote:
> G'day Jerry, Tony and all
>
> >Hi Tony!
> >
> >Yes, the Levitron is interesting and I tend to ignore all the sales
> >pitches about perpetual and ufo....I have the Super Levitron and I as
> >well as a lot of my friends have never been able to get it to spin
> >more than about 2 seconds
>
> snip
>
> I have had a levitron for a year and have had varied results with it. In
> different locations it can be quite difficult to get it to go, but when it
> finally does it's amazing.
>
> I took it to show my folks and spent 2 hrs. trying to show it off. In
> frustration , and with my fingers worn out from trying to spin it, I used my
> left hand and spun it anti-clockwise and it worked every time.
>
> The longest it has spun is just over 2 minutes.
>
> In regard to the perpetuator, I would love one too, but I assume that you
> would still have to have the levitron "flying" before you could switch it on
> to keep it going.
>
> You have to regularly change the weight on it while trying to get it to go.
> The idea seems to be to have just enough weight, that when you lift the
> launcher table gently upward, a few mm. at a time , then slowly down, to
> find the point where the levitron will float off gently, only rising a few
> extra mm.
>
> If it leaps off 5 or 6 or more mm. it will crash pretty smartly. This is
> where you find out if the base is level or not. Watch which way it goes and
> then wedge up the base to compensate.
>
> I thought I would cheat and use a spirit level to get the base level before
> I started, but that was most unsuccesful.
>
> I started to think of all sorts of esoteric reasons as to why the base being
> perfectly level didn't help but suspect that it is simply that the field of
> the base magnet is not perfectly symetrical, nor could I expect it to be.
>
> Even once it is "flying" well, you regularly have to adjust the weight to
> get a succesful launch.
>
> Regards. Roger Weichert.
>
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