JohnA Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Is a Plane Wave Tube extremely directional like it looks? Can I make one from PVC pipe? How long should it be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Albright.......Plane Wave tubes are very very directional & made of steel pipe. I put a mouse in one cranked it up full power. & liquified the little rat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Jon, I'm not for sure I know what this is, but was thinking that I'd seen something like this in the Bose Bass Cannon. (no joke). It is a 12 inch woofer installed in a 12 inch dia PVC tube. Is this the kind of device you are thinking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAKO Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Jon I saw a picture of one (plane wave tube) on the Altec Lansing forum site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 JAES, 1999 July/August, V47 #7/8 I have a feeling there is some very nasty math involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom3 Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 A plane wave tube is a measurement device that provides a standardized air load for testing horn drivers. The response curves shown by manufacturers for horn drivers are almost all made with such a device since most drivers can be used on many horns. It is not meant to be part of a loudspeaker system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 This is what I found via a quick Google search in "Images"... High-power plane wave tube. Paul Spranger used to tell a yarn about this contraption. . .they put a mouse in a cage at the business end, and opening it after found only a grease spot - t.u. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Klappenberger Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 John, Here's dope on plane wave tubes. AL K. Palnewt.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chops Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Kinda looks like 16 oil bath air cleaners off of an old '53 Chevy. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.4knee Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Nevermind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 A plane wave tube is a measurement device that provides a standardized air load for testing horn drivers. The response curves shown by manufacturers for horn drivers are almost all made with such a device since most drivers can be used on many horns. It is not meant to be part of a loudspeaker system. I saw one of these in the lab at the Klipsch plant in Hope. It is a very cool instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BobG Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 The plane wave tube that I know about is indeed a device used to measure the performance of compression drivers without any horn attached. As the horn modifies the mechanical impedance shown to the compression driver, testing the horn/driver combo does not provide information about the driver alone. The plane wave tube is a long piece of plex that has within it a long, skinny foam wedge. The compression driver is attached at one end and the tube provides a purely resistive load for the driver. In the ones we have, a small diameter measurement mic is placed just in front of the driver, inside the tube. Think about this something like an anechoic chamber for a compression driver. The analogy is not precise but may help convey the concept. As you can tell, I don't know a great deal about this. But there you go. I've never heard of the rodent-destroying type of plane wave tube, but a certain bearded engineer here at Klipsch must have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnA Posted March 24, 2006 Author Share Posted March 24, 2006 I did not notice the foam filling in the PWT in the lab at Hope. I was hoping I could use one to cause a threaded compresson driver to throw a laser-like beam some distance. I've noticed the narrow angle, long throw horns are long and thin. I made the leap to thinking the PWT might act like an audio laser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 Well you still need the flare for a long throw waveguide otherwise diffraction at the mouth will effectively widen the polar response. The key to high directionality is actually a very large mouth...it's the same principal as the beaming of high frequencies on larger transducers. At least that's my limited understanding of it all... What kind of application and bandwidth are you looking to achieve? Perhaps something like the parabolic wave guides are more along the lines of what you're after? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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