Do magnets and electronics mix?


Ever since Kurt Vonegout first wrote about magneticly suspended furniture I have been in love with the idea. When S.A.P. came out with the relaxa isolation base ($500) My interest was rekindled. My first thought was that I could make my own for about $100. The only thing that bothers me is what effect rare earth magnets will have on the electronics... tubes in particular. I can not believe it would not fowl a stream of electrons. Perhaps the exponential decay of force over increased distance is enough buffer. Any thoughts, fella's? I like the idea of zero contact under my components. I wonder how many magnets would be required to lift my 200+ lb altec vott's and what havoc that would wreak.
shiitakexxx

Showing 1 response by the_smokester

Your turn-of-phrase "zero contact under my components" is philisophically inspiring. The magnetic force is nonetheless real and is surely a viable option for isolating your equipment.

One of the attributes of such a suspension system could be continuously tuneable motion damping implemented by inserting coils with variable series resistance into the magnetic field to dissipate kinetic energy to and from the table. This damping could be custom tuned over a wide range. Such damping schemes prevent large oscilations in analogue meters, for example, and a search of the web will find other illustrations of this. You should consider this mode of damping if you are going to design your own platform.

I think that given the ability to tune the stiffness and damping of these "magnetic shock absorbers" might provide a compromise between isolation and dissipation and allow for an effective, critically damped system.

No doubt this has been thought of for audio applications in which case it would interesting to know about.