h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Stirling Engines - A5113388
Author: Ictoan S.H.A.D.O.W. Secretary - AWE - WAWi - U173821

Well, not much happening in the Writing Workshop so here goes.

Once you've considered the various merits of this piece (or otherwise) please could you give consideration to this:

I think this this entry will only really work well with embedded diagrams for the engine cycles, and less so with links to someone elses website. And I'd rather keep the guide as self sufficient as possible without having to link to Wikipedia!

Anyway, comments welcome, and if the comment is that it's too complicated then fair enough, I'll give it another go!

This is an extremely brave and well-written attempt, but I think all this kind of entry ultimately does is to show up the limitations of the DNA platform and how far we are lagging behind our main competitor. I wanted to write on this subject myself but gave up because of the diagrams problem.

I hope somebody UP THERE is reading this thread and senses the total frustration felt by the more technical of the regular authors when faced with communicating concepts using the written word alone. Come on, Towers, covince us that you're not thinking like a bunch of humanities students and give us some bloody diagramming features!

PS: The Stirling Engine is now used in the Whispergen home power plant: http://www.whispergen.com/

Thanks for that Felonious Monk, and ta for the link! It was that company that I was referring to in the bit about the power systems for Yachts.

I think there are more people who agree on the 'give us some diagramming ability' question, just it hasn;t really been shouted too loud (or maybe it has and I missed it!).

Interesting that you had also considered this subject, have you any critique on the article from that angle?

It's funny you should mention that, but it's been a bugbear of mine for ages. Hence my new campaign: F66763?thread=1197462

Please join if you can.

I've had diagrams included in some of my entries, and so has Hell.

A4596735

A3176165

We drew them ourselves and the eds uploaded them.

oh, cool, wasn't aware you could do that.

so no comments on the article itself. Not sure if that is good, bad or indifferent?

I'll reserve comment until the diagrams appear, as much od the text might be redundant.

I thought it was "good", interesting and obscure, therefore enlightening. I made no comment originally, but I thought the cooling part was especially interesting. Science is not my strong point. Is 10 degrees Kelvin about minus 440 Farenheit?

according to the conversion site I used, it is indeed about that. Which is rather cold it must be said! I imagine it'd need one HUGE heat sink!

As for piccies, well, that's a problem. I'm no artist. At all. And the community artists wont do owt till after peer review. I might try and do a few piccies but I wouldn't hold my breath. They prob. wouldn't be good enough anyway.

Oh, got another bit to possibly add as well. Dunno if anyone here has followed the recent space elevator competition in the states (like the x prize kinda idea) but one of the entrants was a stirling engine powered device working off the heat from the light source at the base of the elevator. Kinda cool, although I doubt it could ever be a commercial success.

Well, give it a go. It can't be too difficult to draw a heat exchanger with a cylinder at either end, can it?

I think that may fall under the heading of 'tempting fate'!

It doesn't need to be complicated. All you need is a schematic showing the four cycles: heating, expansion, transfer and cooling. No pulleys and cranckshafts, just two pistons sliding in a pair of connected cylinders.

I'll offer to do it myself if it makes it easier.

How's this entry coming along?

slowly
I'll admit I had a fairly major attack of apathy.

Current status, to my mind, is this:

We need a consensus of opinion as to whether this potential entry needs its own diagrams, or if it can work as it is, perhaps with external links to piccies. We have one or two opinions but I would like to hear more so that we can get a decent idea of what people think. Is it too complex for a words only treatment?

If it does, under general opinion, need diagrams then I will not be doing them. I would like to take FM up on their offer if it is still open, if not (due to my aforementioned apathy and lack of good manners, or any other reason!) then anyone who would like to is welcome to, and will obviously get co-credits on the entry!

On the other hand, if it doesn't need diagrams of its own, and the provided links are good enough, and the owner of those pages is happy for the Beeb to link, then good! Or even, if it is decided that no diagrams, even linked ones, are required then that makes life even better!

Also, I'm not too sure about the (possibly) commercial link at the bottom?

But, inbetween all that, hows about some people poking a few holes in the style, grammar and syntax?

Sorry for the delay replying.

one thing I noticed, in the lower half, there are spaces between words and footnotes. Footnotes should go straight after the words.

Ta! Fixed now...

I don't see why you need to produce diagrams...the external links to diagrams do a better job than you could reasonably be expected to do....why don't you just say that you agree with that and you're done now?

because it isn't up to me, it's up to the community and scouts and so forth.
I'm not sure whether it works like this or not.
Can I count your post as a vote that it does work as it is?
Any more who think it does/doesn't work as stands?

It works perfectly well for me.