Doug Coulter

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billwcf
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Doug Coulter

Post by billwcf »

It is with great sorrow I announce the passing of Doug Coulter in the wee hours of Thurday May the 6th. As you know Doug had been battling Non small cell lung cancer. None of us thought Doug would leave us this soon. He had unbearable pain in his bones as the cancer had metastasized, but he somehow managed to carry on. I will write more later. I intend to keeping Coultersmithing.com running as long as I can, but his provider may shut it down due to an outdated version of PHP. I am trying to figure out how to make a complete copy of the site. I suggest that if you have a particular subject from the board that you are interested in, that you try to make a copy of that part for yourself. Of particular interest is Doug's tutorial on making high voltage feed throughs. Many of Dougs videos are still available on youtube under Dcfusor. If you have paid a youtube premium you can download them for safe keeping. I intend to reach out to another board member for his help with the site. I also have possesion of Doug's fusor and intend to run it with another board member and try a few things maybe Doug did not. We are also going to try to recreate Doug's accidental exposure run, but at a safe distance. Doug automated the fusor so we could run it from a control room many feet away. Grown men don't cry, but I did. Doug has been a great friend for close to 14 years. Thank You. -Bill Fain
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Jim Kovalchick
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Jim Kovalchick »

Bill,
Please accept my condolences for your personal loss. I didn't know Doug well, but I'm grateful for various electronic exchanges we had mostly to the benefit of my education.

I always appreciated his DIY style and especially his outside the box thinking. It was always inspiring.

Thank you for sharing the sad news.

Kind regards,

Jim Kovalchick
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Frank Sanns »

That is a tragedy. I am sorry Bill and everybody else that knew Doug and called him a friend or mentor or any of another number of adjectives. I did not know it would be so quick.

A little over a month ago, Doug and I had an in depth discussion on many things. One was the forum and what would happen with it. We discussed succession planning. I had told him that most the were on his site was to follow him and his work. That it would not be the same place without him in an active way but passively, it contains a wealth of information.

I think he wanted me involved it in but I was a little hesitant to take on full responsibility for another site now and forever more. With that said, I pledge my full support to do what needs to be done to keep his site up. Bill, I can help with the backup and updates to the site to keep it going. I do not know when his hosting account and domain name expire so I would assume time is off the essence so I would not delay. Email or call me and we can figure this out. Until then. RIP Doug. you are gone too soon.
Achiever's madness; when enough is still not enough. ---FS
We have to stop looking at the world through our physical eyes. The universe is NOT what we see. It is the quantum world that is real. The rest is just an electron illusion. ---FS
Jon Rosenstiel
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Jon Rosenstiel »

Bill,
I'm so sorry to hear of Doug's passing, my condolences to all. Just yesterday I was thinking about an experiment Doug had done... wow, life is too short.

Jon Rosenstiel
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Mark Rowley
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Mark Rowley »

Very sad to hear Bill. My sincerest condolences. I’ve been following his posts on his website and it didn’t seem like things would happen this soon.

Doug has been a great scientific resource, a fun character, and will undoubtedly be missed by all. Most recently I had the enjoyable project of recreating his microwave ion-source. If it wasn’t for his detailed explanation it’s doubtful I could’ve done it. I’m sure there are many others who have equally benefited from his research. Rest In Peace Doug

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billwcf
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by billwcf »

Thank you everyone for your kind words. He was still working on projects ,despite the pain, literally, until his dying day. Bill
John Futter
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by John Futter »

Thanks for letting us know Bill
A sad day indeed. I enjoyed my short stay with Doug before
HEAS one year and we made good progress on the beast hitting low 30 million neutrons /s for a short while till things got too hot. A lot of our time taken checking calibration of various neutron detectors against his last bubble detector

A few weeks later Doug hit Gonzo mode and wasn't too well for quite a while afterwards./ I kept in regular touch via the web site and Googles Hangouts video conferencing system that seems to have gone.
Bill thanks for all you have done for Doug by regularly checking on him and supplying excellent scrounged material for the project and of course thank you for picking me up from the Richmond airport and driving me down to Doug's ( quite a few hours drive) and then picking me up again on the Friday ready for HEAS
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Richard Hull
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Richard Hull »

What a blow to the amateur fusion community. Doug was a staple and I know had a strong friend in Bill and am sorry for the loss both to Bill, personally, and the fusion community as a whole. Doug lived a rustic and active life. He gave of himself at every turn and helped many others over the years. I hope the forum that he started can be kept going as Bill hopes with the help of friends of the board locally and remotely. Doug did a lot of great work that is to be admired and, hopefully, saved for posterity. A sad day indeed.

All of us old guys will also pass in the fullness of time. Nothing and no one gets out of life alive. It is more a pity, still, to see valued people pass away, both friends and family.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
Alex Aitken
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Alex Aitken »

Very sad to hear of Doug passing. My heart goes out to those that knew him.
Rex Allers
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Rex Allers »

Sad news, indeed.

I have made a bit longer post on the Coulter forum.

Here's one line I wrote there:
RIP Doug, my remote internet friend and guru.
Rex Allers
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Bob Reite
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Bob Reite »

When Doug was diagnosed with terminal cancer he posted on his forum that he would like someone to carry on his work. By rights Bill should have the fusor, but Bill's wife said "No way" and nobody else spoke for it. Here is a link to a YouTube video of me rolling it off the truck into the shed where it's going to live. https://youtu.be/LGLbDHBGCiM. My ultimate goal is to reproduce the "Gonzo Mode" that Doug discovered about seven years ago. Safely I might add, Doug had set it up for remote control a couple of years ago, which is how it will be operated here. I will document the reassembly and progress in Images de Jur.
The more reactive the materials, the more spectacular the failures.
The testing isn't over until the prototype is destroyed.
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Richard Hull
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Richard Hull »

Wow! That unload looks hernia inducing....I seems far too fond of gravitational attraction.
I am glad it will be operated in future. I guess you bellied up to the bar to continue the legendary runs. I remember the tales of "Gonzo mode". I can't wait to see it replicated. I look forward to seeing the images and reports in future.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
John Futter
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by John Futter »

No it was not light
Doug had to shore up the floor of his shed as it started to sag rather alarmingly
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Richard Hull
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Richard Hull »

Was there any help at Doug's to assist in the teardown and loading?? I am sure there was, perhaps, Bill Fain ? Others? How long did it take? A rental truck, I assume? Inquiring minds who have been faced with this task in the past wants to know.... I have found myself in this situation on 4 different occasions moving heavy, large and monstrous scientific stuff over many years. None of it ever involved my moving to a new address. I lived at my birth address 1945-1973 with 4 years military in between. I have lived here from 1977 - to date.

...Tell th' tale/adventure of your moving the tonnage. I betcha the story is interesting.

Oh, and how is everyone's back doing?

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
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Dennis P Brown
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Dennis P Brown »

Doug's efforts to both promote and spread both fusors, high voltage and general science is incredible. People like him helped so many both understand and participated in physics and research in these fields. I am truly and deeply sadden that we lost such an amazing person - his passing isn't just a lost for our community but for all of science.

His forum was so very good and that just in of its self, will be sorely missed.

Thank you for posting this information.

I do think it is wise to always mention that fusors can be dangerous sources of electrocution, and x-ray radiation. Erroring on 'over protection' is harmless but failure to have proper protection or follow safe procedures can have severe consequences.
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Bob Reite
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Bob Reite »

More details on the move: Unfortunately Bill had to cancel his participation in the tear down at the last moment, but sent me numerous email detailing what to look for and what not to forget. I could not go by just what was currently installed but also how Doug's fusor was set up seven years ago when he hit "Gonzo Mode". Fortunately I have experience in heavy equipment moves between sites in the past, in the form of FM Broadcast transmitters the size of a big side by side 'fridge and weighing 2000 pounds, keeping track of all the connections so that it can get back on the air at the new site.

The first step was to take photos of everything external to the outside of the chamber. The I removed the feed through insulators complete with grids. I used a rifle case to securely pack the main and ion grid assemblies, as well as some other fragile items. I brought some blanks to cover the hole in the vacuum chamber to prevent entry of dust and critters. I ran out of blanks, and used aluminum foil and rubber bands to cover other ports that I removed fragile items from for shipping. I labeled connections and took plenty of photos as I went along. Next was to disconnect the turbo, roughing pump and related piping. The process took a good 10 hours working time, but someone was surprised that I could do it that fast.

I brought along a patient lift, rated at 450 pounds. I used that to lift the vacuum chamber off the metal cart it was on. I did have one helper who went by the name "JoJo" that Bill had arranged for. I had to use angle iron stock that was in the shop to move the chamber near the edge of the table so that it could be rigged to the lift and more or less centered. I got it to the floor with no problems. I was able to use the patient lift to get the chamber just clear of the floor to wheel it out of the shop and and outside. JoJo was able to get a hold of a friend that had a BobCat with forks, which was used to lift the chamber then the table into the 15 foot U-Haul truck. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the table was on wheels. It became free to move on the wheels once the weight of the chamber was off of it.

At my end, I used my bucket loader/backhoe to create a truck ramp to the shed that would have the loading ramp almost level to move the heavy stuff into my shed as shown in the video. My next step will be to build a support strong enough for my chain hoist to lift the chamber off the floor, then roll the metal stand under it, then gently place the chamber back on the metal stand as it was at Doug's place.
The more reactive the materials, the more spectacular the failures.
The testing isn't over until the prototype is destroyed.
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Richard Hull
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Richard Hull »

Great story! I figured being a transmitter guy you had moved and installed stuff before. I wonder if Jo-Jo was Joe Jarski. He came to HEAS 2011 with Bill and was a helper of sorts with Bill and involved with the Coulter effort. I remember Joe as a good guy. I think he came to two HEAS events.

You did a great job of protecting the device and accessories in the move. In such ventures getting the heavy, large item from where it is to the transport and then, at destination, from the transport to shelter...This is the hard part. Most of the rest of such moving efforts is busy work in preparation and loading the smaller stuff. The relief is when the item is at its final destination and under shelter/storage. Reassembly and use can be put off until one is mentally prepared to wrestle with the beast once again for its real use. A good night's sleep after seeing the item in hand and safe is a reward with peace of mind.

Thanks again for the story of the move.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
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Bob Reite
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Bob Reite »

Again, my experience with moving big vacuum tube transmitters was helpful. For those all the heavy iron transformers came out, not only to make it lighter, but to prevent damage to the cabinet, as the cabinet was designed for a static load, not stresses during moving. The vacuum tubes also came out, to be packed in the foam lined boxes designed specifically for the tube type. And as Richard said, I was able to rest easier once the chamber was under roof. I still am making it a priority to get the turbo and roughing pump installed, as well as the quartz tubes I took out, so that critters can't get in the openings.
The more reactive the materials, the more spectacular the failures.
The testing isn't over until the prototype is destroyed.
ian_krase
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by ian_krase »

This is terrible news. May he rest in peace.

Doug Coulter didn't just help inspire me in science and engineering, but was also one of the people who lead me to the understanding that a more rustic lifestyle, combined with cutting-edge DIY engineering, could be a realistic possibility. (though for me, it is still only an aspiration.)
billwcf
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by billwcf »

No, That was JoeJoe one of Doug's best friends from their days in the Rock Band they had. The inheritor of Doug's "homestead", John was also in the band. John, has been most hospitable in allowing us to remove Doug's physics equipment. Doug and I had discussed his mortality many times prior to his death. He knew there was nothing that could be done with late stage Non Small Cell Lung Cancer. Instead he focused on how the fusor and the open source effort could continue and advance. I had also tried to get Doug to revist the "Gonzo" mode after the construction of the remote operator post. Doug didn't want to do that. He was convinced that he could make the fusor repeat the "gonzo" mode by feeding it the right parameters, rather than hoping it would happen again magically on it's own, with the original setup. The current fusor is a kinder gentler fusor than the gonzo mode one, Doug's feed through eliminated all the pops and cracks that had wiped out instrumentaion and caused shutdowns. He was also able to pretty much dial in the neutron output he wanted from say one to eight million neutrons per second. The fusor can run for 10-15 minutes with no issues, although the main tank will probably get to hot beyond that time. Because the fusor is so stable, getting the gonzo mode to happen will probably require the introduction of the transients, that it was so richly endowed with in the beginning. I was originally going to take the fusor to a garage near my house and try my hand at it, but life events forced me to rethink that. Bob had contacted Doug and wanted to come down and try the gonzo mode during the week he actually wound up moving it. Doug and I discussed Bob's credentials and Bob seemed to be the closest to Doug's skillset; that lived within a reasonable distance. Doug was an audio and Rf man; along with pretty much any scientific discipline one can pick. Bob, seems the same. We made a decision to let him run it. I don't mean to detract from any of the other great minds on the forum that are just as capable, but Bob just seemed to be the best fit.
Bill
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Richard Hull
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Richard Hull »

Bill, thanks for this update on Doug and his efforts following Gonzo event. It explains a lot. The fusor that Bob took was not the gonzo fusor. That again, is a much needed revelation. This fusor sounds like a much more refined fusor of some good stability. Bob is indeed a good choice for future operations around it.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
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Bob Reite
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Bob Reite »

I did tell Doug that if anyone else shows interest that has the skills and lives closer to VA to let them have a go at it, but as it was, I was the most likely candidate willing and able to accept it. The main change that might make replication more difficult is the more stable feed throughs without the arcing. I'm going to guess that the arcing is what shock excited the system into oscillation. I may have to use link coils like one did for making a TPTG oscillator using tetrodes or pentodes. We'll see.
The more reactive the materials, the more spectacular the failures.
The testing isn't over until the prototype is destroyed.
John Futter
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by John Futter »

Bob, Bill
I've got some video of when i was helping Doug some where
question
Should I put it up here or on youtube or should it go incognito to Bob?????????????

I did a few while being bathed in a neutron field that was making me quite uncomfortable with the reported levels from Doug's instrumentation. Silver activation was super simple and the decay was very visible for 10's of minutes
billwcf
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by billwcf »

John, Hi. I’d send it Bob directly so you won’t have to edit out all the “descriptive” language😊. Bill
Last edited by billwcf on Thu May 27, 2021 1:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Nicolas Krause
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Re: Doug Coulter

Post by Nicolas Krause »

For what it's worth, I'd love to see the video as well, always great to see how people operate their devices!
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