Xref: utzoo sci.electronics:7917 rec.ham-radio:13498 Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!portal!cup.portal.com!ISW From: ISW@cup.portal.com (Isaac S Wingfield) Newsgroups: sci.electronics,rec.ham-radio Subject: Re: Microwave oven output Message-ID: <22511@cup.portal.com> Date: 25 Sep 89 01:18:34 GMT References: <2410@radio.oakhill.UUCP> Distribution: usa Organization: The Portal System (TM) Lines: 34 Charlie Thompson writes: >My microwave seems to be slow a cooking stuff. I checked the >AC current with a clamp-on ammeter and it was 12 AMPS. Sounds >like its drawing lotsa current but not nuking very fast. Two questions >arise: > >1) Where can I get a new HV diode (cheap). > >2) How can you check microwave output vs. current drawn? > >Charlie Thompson >WB4HVD A while back, I worked for a small division of Litton Industries, and at the annual inter-division "technology transfer" seminars, I met the chief engineer of Litton's microwave oven division. In the course of casual discussions, I found out that a good way to determine the "microwave wattage" is to use simple calorimetry; put a measured amount of water at a known temperature in the oven, and run it a measured time to produce a *small* increase in temperature. The rest is left as an exercise for the curious... He also said that they never used one of those expensive "leakage meters"; they just bent the leads of a NE-2 out like a dipole and went around the seal with it. No light, no leakage. No responsibility if these things don't work, though. Isaac isw@cup.portal.com