Dick Dasterdly

An interesting link regarding the smell and effects of ozone.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...5190612AAtOIlH

The last link within the link as recommended by Michael Scott the Meteorologist, lists some of the nasty odours which can be destoyed by ozone.

These include dead animal smells.
Smelly doggy smells and
Sweaty perspiration smells

Amazing stuff this ozone.

Domino

I knew I could smell it years ago, but it came to the fore when after a very dry spell a storm was brewing and coming towards us and I could smell it. was talking with wife and neighbour and said so to be ridiculed, but vindicated by the arrival of a mother of storms a couple of hours later.
canned the wife into the exbox and havent seen the neighbour since.

the only reason I say magnetic is because I believe some magnets smell as well - but then the ex always said I was wierd - should have heard what I said about her
perhaps they will make me into an x-man

the arthritis is a good excuse for moving to spain, my gp didnt believe me when I told him my ankle swelling went down when on holiday !

kr

Domino

yeah have been considering getting myself an ozone generator for years, there was a fad for them a number of years ago.

however, will probably be disappointed as this may well be ozone but if it is preceding a storm something big is generating it or it has another component.

have worked with high voltages for many years along with equipment generating RF radiation and don't remember picking up on that particular smell in those circumstances.

however, interesting that something so easily generated can do so much good for humans, although I presume like most things it is possible to get too much of a good thing.

bil

OK, Ozone.

Filthy, dangerous stuff, and you don't want it anywhere near you. It will oxidise organic molecules in water and air very rapidly, which is why it is great for cleaning water, or smells out of the air.

Every time you inhale ozone, it basically eats your tissues away like acid fumes, and you will end up with an agonising cough and the mother of all sore throats. I speak from bitter experience here. I had an ozone set up on my koi pond, and when the bloke set it up, both he and I got a whiff too may, so I know what it is capable of. Too much will kill you as it will erode lung tissue, and you will drown in the fluids released.

Dick Dasterdly

.....but ok in very small doses perhaps such as when it pleasantly freshens the air in the presence of an electrical storm.

HBG

I'm sorry, but that's a load of bollocks. Our planet has existed for 15 billion years, the ozone element has been well adjusted over that time, it's an irrelevance.

It's the Mayfly syndrome that's relevant. We've got few seconds in the spring sun, enough time to post a few posts and then we're wiped out.

bil

I promise you it is true. Ozone is a triatomic molecule of oxygen, and a strong oxidiser. Up in the ozone layer, it is well out of the way, and I don't know how concentrated it is, but if you went up there and inhaled a lungful, it would do the same damage as it does down here.

In very small amounts, it can destroy organic pollutants, but if there aren't enough pollutants to neutralise it all, it starts to attack stuff you don't want it to.

Domino

it also attenuates radio signals

HBG

Our attempts to interfere with nature are the problem. As a young lad in a damp part of the UK I used to cycle past a top secret government site where they experimented with fertilisers to accelerate plant growth. Through the well-guarded fence surrounding the place it was possible to watch the weirdest plants shooting up into the sky.

But the wire fence didn't stop the seeds from escaping and local farmers found giant bamboo shoots destroying their corn crops. Local people signed petitions and protested peacefully, but were ignored, until the farmers got together and drove their tractors through the fences.

A load of us followed the tractors and took home souvenirs from the site before it was closed. I was dragging along a weird looking thing that resembled a small banana tree, until I noticed that my hands and arms were turning yellow.

The local hospital was inundated with yellow-looking zombies for weeks. The site was bulldozed to the ground by the Army and an even higher security fence was erected. I believe it's still there.

bil

You could argue that we have been interfering with nature for yonks. Were it not for human activities, this would probably be an ice age now.

Dick Dasterdly

It also greatly assists with long distance propogation of radio signals.

Domino

dependent on frequency

I used to do a lecture on Micky Mouse's Ears - describing the propogation of radio signals,

remember the Luxembourg Effect ? caused by the first bounce of the sky wave and ground wave meeting and causing a partial null.

those were good days

Dick Dasterdly

Fascinating subject.
I found the the propogation of radio waves to be by far the most interesting part of my studies towards an amateur radio licence.
So many different ways and paths by which signals can travel, from long distance skip right around the globe, moonbounce, meteor shower reflection and even aircraft bounce right through to the ghostly voices on the HF bands when an aurora event occurs.
I haven't been very active in that respect of late, but there again conditions haven't been exactly brilliant.
Roll on the next sunspot cycle peak, though I don't think it's predicted to be anything really special.

bil

I rather think it will be quite special.

Bear this in mind. The atmosphere has been boosted by industrial CO2, which is like putting a second duvet on the bed. However, we are not sweating, because the boiler was turned down on the central heating as the sun cooled as the sunspot cycle hit a low.

When the sunspots return, the thermostat goes up and the boiler will heat up.

Then we could have a problem.

Domino

ISTR you should talk to bil about sunspot cycles......

never got my licence, lifelong SWL, did it professionaly for a living from ships and shorestations, starting in what was probably the heyday, when so much Govt Surplus was floating around in Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Street etc.

did pirate a GB3 call one day, we had a commitment to be on air and the licenced guy was late arriving. with a logjam out there something had to be done. He did sign the log for my period though a few out there knew of my situation. My penance was filling in all the special QSL cards.

remember the day when aircraft from HMS Victorious off the Uk were talking to aircraft from HMS Ark Royal (or was it Eagle) in the South China Sea. I was on HMS Bulwark at the time. That was the time all 3 (and possibly HMS Albion) were in the SCS at the same time, just before the Vic had the disasterous fire that killed her off early.

aircraft bounce ? remember the old Fairy Gannet for that, known to some as the pregnant tadpole due to the comms dome underneath. Also "cloud bounce" with signal lamps

really do miss those times.............

and the kids today try to tell us all about internet (1970's), satnav (1960's), satcom (1970's) coding (1940's and earlier) still do 30+wpm morse and 50+ wpm touchtyping