You are presuming that the device under test is presented as a black box with the investigators unable to look for gyroscopes or other such. If you assume deceit on the part of the demonstrator then no written report will convince you.
If you aren't assuming deceit which nobody is at this stage then a pendulum is a good way of removing external influences, its simple and doesn't need calibration to look for an effect. (you would need calibration if you want to determine the magnitude of the effect)
On 07/08/14 09:46, Peter Fairbrother wrote:
On 06/08/14 23:19, Pierce Nichols wrote:That's why the pendulum should be a string.Nope, that doesn't work either. Get a gyroscope, tie a string to one end, and see ...Or better, get a gyro with a horizontal axis, tie a string to its frame, and run it up slowly. Different effect, but the string will still bend to the side while the gyro is running up or slowing down.Any pendulum is actually pretty easy to fake, sorry about that folks. -- Peter Fairbrother-p On Aug 6, 2014 3:04 PM, "Peter Fairbrother" <zenadsl6186@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:zenadsl6186@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote: On 04/08/14 13:18, Aplin Alexander T wrote: Classification: UK OFFICIAL Handling Instruction: /DISCLAIMER - this is a personal e-mail and only represents only the views of the sender/ Jake Anderson: I do like the idea of the test being done in basically a clear bell jar inside a (large) Faraday cage. I also like the pendulum, however I'm less keen on the piezo pressure sensor. I suggest a laser interferometer aimed at the pendulum. If you want to verify thrust in a direction put 2 test devices on it, have the oppose each other, turn one on you should get a displacement in one direction, turn it off you should return to zero, >turn the other ondisplacement in the opposite direction, you don't need to make any changes inside the test device to perform the test which is nice.FWIW Jerry Pournelle (SF author and former aerospace engineer whopreviously encountered the ‘Dean Drive’) is also pro the ‘pendulum in vacuum’ test method: I don't think that's enough - at the least you need two joints, one at the top and one at the bottom of the pendulum arm. Otherwise a clever fraudster could simply move the center of mass of the drive/bob to one side, and the arm would tilt. Worse, even a two-joint arm would not be enough - a suitably oriented attitude control gyroscope could still cause the main arm to tilt. I'm not sure even three joints is enough, though I'm not certain of that - spinning up a gyroscope might cause a tilt for long enough -- Peter Fairbrotherhttp://www.jerrypournelle.com/__chaosmanor/dean-drive-and-__nasa/ <http://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/dean-drive-and-nasa/>And http://www.jerrypournelle.com/__chaosmanor/dean-drive-and-__many-other-matters-a-mixed-__mail-bag/ <http://www.jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/dean-drive-and-many-other-matters-a-mixed-mail-bag/> ** *Alex Aplin* "This e-mail and any attachment(s) is intended for the recipient only. Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not permitted.Communications with Dstl are monitored and/or recorded for systemefficiency and other lawful purposes, including business intelligence, business metrics and training. Any views or opinions expressed in this e-mail do not necessarily reflect Dstl policy.""If you are not the intended recipient, please remove it from yoursystem and notify the author of the email and centralenq@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:centralenq@xxxxxxxxxxx><mailto:centralenq@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:centralenq@xxxxxxxxxxx>__>"