Abstract:
A method and apparatus for forming an antenna extending downwardly into the ground, below the Earth&#39;s surface, for sensing the Earth&#39;s inner ELF (extremely low frequency) signals which signals are in turn useful in predicting earthquakes and volcanoes, and also sensing the intensity of said phenomena. More particularly, the inventive antenna is basically reversed in direction from conventional antennas.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
       [0001]    This utility application claims the benefit of the filing date of provisional applications filed in the name of Robert W. Beckwith, which application was filed on May 30, 2006 and accorded Ser. No. 60/809262. Application Ser. No. 60/809262 was titled “Apparatus and Methods of Obtaining Information About the Earth&#39;s Extra Low Frequency (ELF) Signals from a Hole-In-The-Ground (HITG)”, let us define ELF signals as being at any frequency from 30 cycles per second (CPS) down to and including those with periods of 24 hours and 12 months. 
         [0002]    Various researchers have been looking for Tesla Schumann (TS) frequency, occurring above the Earth, calculated to be 7.8 hertz and which is due to the combined effect of lightning strokes over the entire Earth and the magnetic field of the Earth. Antennas that are several miles long have been built to sense the Earth&#39;s TS signals mentioned above and some success has been reported. 
         [0003]    One embodiment of the antennas previously used by the inventor to detect TS signals is shown in  FIG. 1  wherein separate spaced coils  2 ,  3  and  4  are coiled around an iron strap or rod  1 . Rod  1  is about 20 ft in length and positioned on the Earth&#39;s surface  10 . Coils  2 ,  3  and  4  are connected in series by wires  6  and  7 . The wires  5  and  8  of  FIG. 1  were connected to a receiver built in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 6,411,9113 issued to Robert W. Beckwith, the inventor herein. Attempts were made to orient the antenna of  FIG. 1  at different directions with respect to North in search for the TS frequency, but all attempts were unsuccessful. 
         [0004]    The inventor attempted to use various voltages such as 120 VAC and 240 VAC to act as an antenna to separate the TS frequency from ground potential and it was recognized that no such separation exists. The entire above the Earth interconnected power system acts as a single ground for all signals below 30 Hz. 
         [0005]    If no such separation exists from the Earth upward, the inventor asked himself: I wonder if there are any signals from the power system ground downward into the Earth. In conducting the experiments, the inventor realized that all of the electric power lines of all voltages short out the low frequencies from 30 Hz to zero Hz. Note that electric power frequencies are given in Hertz (Hz) and Earth&#39;s electromechanical signals in cycles per second (CPS). 
         [0006]    The Hole In The Ground (HITG), under the ground antenna structure, of  FIG. 2  was the result of the foregoing analysis. The antenna of  FIG. 2  will be described in detail herein below. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    A method and apparatus for providing an antenna structure formed and constructed to extend downwardly below the Earth&#39;s surface are disclosed. In one embodiment of the invention, a non-conductive casing is embedded into the ground and an associated conductive tubing is positioned to extend downwardly within the length of the casing. Magnesium sulfate and conductive metallic pieces are introduced into the casing and dropped into the casing and thus to the ground around the lower end of the casing to enhance electrical contact with the ground beneath and around the lower end of the casing. Electrical connection is made to the conductive tubing through the metallic pieces and the magnesium sulfate to sense ELF signals occurring in and through the surrounding ground. Spectrum analyzers are used to detect and display ELF signals. 
         [0008]    The foregoing features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of the invention. The accompanying drawings, listed herein below, are useful in explaining the invention. 
     
     
       DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  labeled prior art is a depiction of an antenna structure used by applicant in previous research; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a view of one embodiment of the present invention wherein an antenna is embedded in the ground in a shallow position; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  shows a spectrum of signal spikes between 2.5 and 25 cycles per second obtained using the “Hole In The Ground (HITG) under the ground antenna of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a view of an apparatus structure illustrating the basic principle of the present invention depicting an antenna extending downwardly below the Earth&#39;s surface; and 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  depicts a more detailed embodiment of the invention wherein the antenna extends deep into the ground. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    Refer now to  FIG. 2  for a detailed description of an operating embodiment of the inventive underground antenna structure. The antenna structure generally labeled  9  includes a plastic casing  18  having a plurality of sections  18 A,  18 B, and  18 C. The number of sections depends on the depth to which the casing  18  is to be embedded. The casing sections are joined together to form the desired length of the casing  18 . The casing  18  of the embodiment of  FIG. 2  was jetted (water pressure driven) using a garden hose  16  since the ground soil on which the antenna was located was a relatively soft type of sandy soil. In harder soils drilling of the associated hole is required. 
         [0015]    The casing  18  is available in various lengths and in the embodiment of  FIG. 2 , it is PVC plastic pipe of one inch nominal inside diameter. The multiple pipe sections making up casing  18  are joined in situ to obtain the total length of pipe  18 . 
         [0016]    The section of  18 C, which is a T-section, connects to water valve  14  and on to connector  16  enabling making temporary connection to a garden hose  17 . Water under pressure from the hose permits the casing  18  to be jetted into sand with pipe sections added as needed to form the vertical portion of casing  18 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 2 , the casing  18  is about twenty feet (20) in length. 
         [0017]    A one half inch diameter copper pipe  15  is inserted and lowered into the casing  18 . The pipe  15  extends down the full length of the casing  18 . The copper pipe may comprise different sections which are joined or soldered together. 
         [0018]    After casing  18  and pipe  15  are in place, water is introduced to casing  18  through water regulator valve  14  hose connection  16  and garden hose  17 . The water is allowed to go up to the top of the T-section  18 C. A funnel  29  is temporarily mounted atop the T-section  18 C and then magnesium sulfate  20  is poured through the funnel into the water filled casing. The water and magnesium sulfate  20  are allowed to soak the ground for one half hour to one hour. The magnesium sulfate soaked ground  21  is indicated by the cross hatching in  FIG. 2 . It is known that magnesium sulfate can be used to form a low impedance to electrical ground without corroding copper pipe  15 . 
         [0019]    Next several pounds of stainless steel nuts  19  (of about a #8 size) are introduced through funnel  29  into the casing  18 . The stainless steel nuts  19  will settle down to the bottom or lower end of casing  18  and into the region of ground  21  beneath the casing  18  which is soaked with magnesium sulfate. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the stainless steel nuts will be in physical contact with the copper pipe  15  and will provide a low dc resistance to the copper pipe  15 . The copper pipe  15  will thus have good electrical contact to region  21  soaked in magnesium sulfate and containing the stainless steel nuts  19 . 
         [0020]    After the magnesium sulfate  20  and stainless steel nuts  19  have been introduced into the casing  18 , funnel  29  is removed from the casing and a cap  30  is fastened onto T-section  18 C that forms the top of casing  18 . The water introduced through the hose  17  will drain away to the ground water level. 
         [0021]    To complete the installation of the copper pipe  15 , the upper end of the pipe  15  is connected to bolt and nut assembly  12  that is mounted on the casing T-section  18 C. Assembly  12  is connected to the center conductor  25  of an RG-58/U coaxial cable  26  leading into building  27 . Electric current signals between pipe  15  and electrical ground  28  are connected to electronic equipment for processing. Cable  26  end connector  23  is left disconnected to avoid circulating currents being introduced into the sheath of cable  26 . 
         [0022]    The embodiment of  FIG. 2  was installed on the grounds of the Beckwith Electric Co. (BECO) complex located in Largo, Fla. The building  27  is an steel frame structure. A copper wire  22  is connected from the sheath of RG-58/U cable  26  to building  27  ground  28 ; 
         [0023]    The ground and neutral lines of electric power systems (utilities) in the USA are connected together and to electrical ground rods. These ground/neutral connections are carried across the United States and through interconnected electric power systems to the North and to the South of the USA. Connection to this ground reference is made to the steel frame of the building  27  (shown in  FIGS. 2 and 5 ) to which the electric power systems neutral/ground is connected. The impedance of these electrical grounds is quite low in the ranges from DC to frequencies of 30 Hz and this forms a ground reference for ELF signal waves. 
         [0024]    In the embodiment of  FIG. 2 , a Textronic TDS3054 digital oscilloscope was connect between ground and the output connects  23  of coaxial cable  26  from the HITG underground antenna. This oscilloscope has separate modes for time and for frequency spectrum outputs. Snapshot of the spectrum modes are stored on a floppy disc, when called for. Floppy discs can be put into an external computer for display, adding frequencies, amplitudes, time and date for printing results such as  FIG. 3 . 
         [0025]    The source impedance was measured by placing resistors of varying size across the spectrum analyzer until the spectral peaks were lowered by a factor of two as compared to no resistors. It is well known that matching a generator source impedance with a load of equal value will extract maximum energy from the generator. From this a source impedance of 62.5 ohms is calculated. 
         [0026]    The rms voltage for the peaks of  FIG. 1   a  was calculated using the following table of amplitudes: 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Frequency Hz 
                 Amplitude millivolts 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                   
                 5.56 
                 37 
               
               
                   
                 8.0 
                 08 
               
               
                   
                 8.69 
                 78 
               
               
                   
                 10.3 
                 40 
               
               
                   
                 10.8 
                 35 
               
               
                   
                 11.5 
                 68 
               
               
                   
                 11.9 
                 16 
               
               
                   
                 13.5 
                 13 
               
               
                   
                 5.75 
                 16 
               
               
                   
                 19.75 
                 05 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0027]    The total rms voltage is the square root of the sum of the squares of above 10 amplitudes or 150.18 mV. 
         [0028]    By dividing the voltage by the resistance a current of 2.4 milliamps is obtained. By multiplying voltage and current an output power of 0.361 milliwatts is obtained. 
         [0029]    Tests of the antenna  FIG. 2  obtained results as shown in the graph of  FIG. 3 . As stated above, the graph shows signal spikes between 2.5 and 25 cycles per second. The inventor was pleased to see a spectrum never before seen or predicted. Work is ongoing in attempts to correlate spectrum peaks such as shown in  FIG. 3 , with events provided by the United States Geological Survey. Such events include earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It may be that eruptions of the Krakatoa volcano and certain earthquakes have already been seen. A more practical spectrum analyzer obtained in May 2007 is an AARONIA Model Spectran NS-5020 Spectrum Analyzer Blue Tooth output to a computer for display or printing. 
         [0030]    Refer now to  FIG. 4  which shows a basic principle of the inventive antenna  9 . In contrast to prior art antennas, antenna  9  extends downwardly into the Earth (i.e. below the Earth&#39;s surface). The antenna is positioned within an electrically insulated casing  9 A that is embedded in a hole drilled into, and extending into or below the Earth&#39;s surface. The depth of the hole, and of the antenna, may be of any selected length; the inventor contemplates that the antenna may be down to 2000 feet in depth. 
         [0031]    The antenna  9  is intended to detect Earth&#39;s inner ELF signals developed in and through the various layers of the Earth. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the output of the antenna  9  is connected through lead wire  9 C to signal processing equipment  9 B. The subject underground antenna is intended to detect and sense the electro mechanical phenomena, that is the sensing of the cps (cycles per second) of signals created by the eruption of volcanoes and the Earth&#39;s crust. Changes produced by earthquakes and has as one purpose, the prediction of earthquakes. 
         [0032]    Refer now also to  FIG. 5 . The apparatus of  FIG. 5  is essentially a more detailed view of  FIG. 4 . Deep holes  9 A with insulated casings  18 E are drilled into the Earth at various locations and depths to investigate each particular region and the ELF signals occurring in that region. The antenna  9  comprises a signal conductor pipe, rod or tubing  15  positioned within the casing  18 . The stainless steel nuts  19  and the magnesium sulfate soaked region  21  are as described above for the embodiment of  FIG. 2 . The antenna  9  of  FIG. 5  thus comprises a conductive pipe or wire  15  insulatively positioned in the insulated casing  18 D positioned deep in the Earth. The upper end of the conductor  15  is connected via wire  25  to signal processing equipment  32  in an associated building  27 . Grounding rods  28  provide the electrical ground, similarly as in  FIG. 2 . Note that conductive pipe or wire  15  may be insulated by a coating of epoxy  33  and will extend below the bottom end of casing  18 D. The casing is likely steel pipe at electrical ground potential. The extended hole beneath the lower end of casing  18 D contains magnesium sulfate  20  and stainless steel nuts  19  for picking up ELF signals. 
         [0033]    While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
       Advantages of the Patented Equipment 
       [0000]    
       
         1. Develops new knowledge of electromechanical signals circulating under the Earth. 
         2. Changes in the electromechanical signals may help understand global warming and other long range effects of the weather. 
         3. Signals from earthquakes may warn of oncoming earthquakes. 
         4. Signals from volcanoes may warn of oncoming eruptions.