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Comment by xenonite | Hacker News Reader

Hi! Maybe you know of any oven that is using [2] or similar? I would like to buy one. Thank you.

That was the bigger wishlist item, because there aren't any out there at the moment. Unfortunately, the kitchen appliance biz is really conservative in this sector, and even with NXP having introduced the transistors a few years ago, there still aren't any on the consumer market. Freescale showed off the Sage last July [1] to try to encourage companies to move away from magnetrons, but unfortunately, everything on the market at the moment is still oldschool.

[1] http://www.nxp.com/products/rf/rf-sage:RF-SAGE-PG

It doesn't look there are any available, although there are a multitude of press releases from the last couple of years [0].

[0] https://www.google.com/search?q=solid+state+microwave+oven

There are some fascinating things you could do with one of those. You could, for example, make a "stick boiler"—like a "stick blender"—that you stick inside a cup of liquid to heat it up, without any part of the stick itself getting hot. (Presumably there'd be a waffle-grid cross-guard to block reflected RF.)

But, in the wrong hands, that's a directed-energy weapon, isn't it? (Hell, stick one of these in the right kind of tube and you've now got a coherent RF beam—a maser pointer. You could probably burn your name into a wooden building from across a football field with one.)

You can do plenty of damage with a normal microwave oven in the wrong hands, I remember reading a book from the library a few years back that detailed making an EMP from one.

Thinking of that book, I don't think it's likely that libraries would carry that kind of book any more, sadly.

Which book was that? A portable EMP could be really useful....

If I remember correctly, I think it was this one

http://www.amazon.com/Build-Laser-Phaser-Working-Projects/dp...

The 250W transistors cost £100 each. You probably need a few of them for a microwave. A microwave with these in would cost at least £1k. Probably more, so I think it will be a while.

It will be a while, yes. The price will plummet as soon as a heavy starts selling products with these components.

Looking at NXP's "RF Cooking" page, it appears they're pushing this stuff with some optimism... (http://www.nxp.com/video/sage-freescales-vision-of-an-intell...)

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