Comment by geocrasher | Hacker News Reader

Comment by geocrasher | Hacker News Reader

This is what I call "empty content". It gives a promise: 1KW of DIY wind power for $30. And then it shows a bunch of pictures and some extremely basic instructions. From the page:

"Attaching [the DC generator] is mostly just a matter of stripping everything off the motor, attaching a pulley to the shaft, running a toothed timing belt around the wheel rim (with a layer of nylon strapping bolted to the wheel to protect the belt and give it something to grab onto) and attaching the motor to the pole frame as shown, with long bolts so you can easily adjust the tension on the belt."

Strip motor, attach pulley, build a tensioner. The text makes it sound trivial, but those are non-trivial steps. Attaching a pulley to a scrap motor can be quite an ordeal. Building a tensioner that works requires fabrication.

I'm not saying it's super complicated, I'm saying it's not "oh by the way make a tensioner" or "attach a pulley- done!" Glossing over details like that with a magic wand is what makes such projects appear even more unapproachable.

Yeah, this is some real /r/restofthefuckingowl content. I especially love when there is one particularly tricky bit in a build and you find a video talking about how to make it so you watch the video and they skip right over the tricky bit to cover the easy stuff in excruciating detail.

A certain irony (projection?) with you complaining by using that kind of argument but then not actually feeding back regarding the exact elements you think should be expounded on.

For those wanting to avoid complex fabrication, this [1] kind of turbine is much simpler anyway, since it requires no gearing or complex mechanical bits. Simply make that out of a big stiff plastic or metal sheet, and bolt it onto the front of a motor. Then point it in the direction of the prevailing wind and you're done. The electrical side is complex or expensive if you want to feed into the grid, but if you just hook up a car lightbulb you can see it working easily.

[1]: https://w7.pngwing.com/pngs/511/987/png-transparent-toy-toy-...

Well it is DIY after all.

I vastly prefer such content being available, with its imperfections, than it being held back unpublished because of lack of simplified IKEA style guide for less experienced/handy people.

I don't disagree with you- what I am making a point of is that it glosses over hard things without explaining that this is in fact non-trivial. It's that "magic wand" approach to DIY that I find irritating.

I know what you mean.

This is exemplified by the "How to Draw and Owl" meme: https://i.imgur.com/RadSf.jpeg

But for a skilled enough reader it can actually become reasonable to use instructions like these.

For example imagine musicians in a band writing a song, and one of them tells the other: "OK, here we need a part that goes a bit like that, and then gets darker, and then some major scales at the end, etc."

Yeah, essentially. The tutorial is in the process of being updated, which is mostly the addition of that side of things; how to attach the generation capacity. I made it as is because that's the extent, the physical turbine itself, which can be fairly standardised. Everything after that, ie what to plug it into and how, will largely depend on each individual implementation, and so is more of a conversation than a step by step, and so hence the FB forum group.

But like the next version will have more info on next steps.

I think the instructions are meant for the turbine itself and the applications such as attaching a motor are listed as ‘only a guide’ along with this:

> If and when you get to this part of the process please email us directly or check out the Facebook group, where the community can help you build what you need and you can follow what others have done already.

Indeed. And this is what makes it empty content. "1KW for $30" is the video, but that's not what's in the video, is it? It's instead some oversimplified "put metal on wheel" instructions that completely leave out how on earth this makes 1KW of power.

If you want THAT information, you need to join their group. And now you realize that this isn't a tutorial at all. It's an Advertisement.

The group is also free to join. There's no monetisation of this project.

Hi Daniel_Connell, thank you for the reply. I didn't imply it was for profit, but rather that the content is only useful for getting people to join your group.

I can appreciate the effort you've put into the project, but leaving glossing over details makes "DIY" a buzzword instead of a method. The video gives zero information as to how it can be turned into a 1KW turbine and it leaves out so many vital details.

I appreciate what you've done, but if you want to make it truly accessible then you have to give all the details. Show the different ways it can be done with parts anyone can get; Not just the windmill part, the entire generator. Show somebody how they can use that electricity. Otherwise, it is just a toy project.

I am sorry for being so critical but I hope that you can see that this is constructive. You've clearly put a lot of effort into this, but you're selling yourself short by not making it complete, and if you're truly into open source, then you're selling your project short too.

Indeed. The next iteration of the tutorial will have more info for attaching alternators/generators in various ways now that I've had more of a chance to develop options for that side of things.

The matter of what to plug it into electrically and how tho isn't really tutorialisable, at least not in a one size fits all sense, as every situation is wildly different and needs to be designed bespoke. Hence the need for a discussion forum type approach to that bit.

Yes you are correct about that. I think you could add value to such videos by explaining that part of it, even in a very general way, rather than just passing over it. I am now following your YouTube channel and look forward to seeing more. I think wind energy is fantastic at a small scale. Scaled too big, you end up with things like non-recyclable composite blades :(

yeah, i watched the whole youtube video hoping it would get to something useful, but it seems to be mostly a "how to bend sheet metal" tutorial.

that's not really the part i need a tutorial for...

I would need a tutorial for it - And I would look up "how to bend sheet metal" because I'm guessing there's 100 better tutorials that aren't specific to this one problem.

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