I will start -Im in the process of completing a Hobo Rail Wind Turbine Generator. On the rails you have access to tons of wind but (of course) no power for a Techy Hobo to charge his/her gadgets so I decided to build a compact, rugged, lightweight and reliable portable wind turbine generator. I am still in the process of getting it perfected with my current supplies but thought I would share thge basic idea and set up to get the thread started, to get the idea out there and to inspire others to start a similar project. I will upload the complete plans when finished and good enough to charge at least an mp3 player with hopes to charge a 4g smartphone on demand. I started with a magnetic base (an old cab antenna mount), old Erector set metal pieces and bolts/nuts for the small tower that's collapsible to fold away for easy storage, permanent magnet motor from a hard drive, small Erector set pulley (one small and one big, an old charger cord as and fitting for most smart phones, USB double female end extension cut in half to charge two USB devices, 4 recharable AA batteries, old RC car rechargable battery pack, strong O-ring to connect the big and small pulleys (to gear up the rpms so the motor spins much faster than the propeller), an old RC airplane propeller, misc wires to hook it all up, large altoides tin to keep the electronics circuit, 555 timer, misc capacitors; resistors and other parts, small breadboard to mount the circuit and a few misc things I'm trying to make the altoids tin water/weather proof. Mount the motor with the SMALL pulley on the shaft and then find away to mount the propeller to the large pulley that you can attach to the top of the tower with the motor to the side enough to keep the O-ring tight enough to spil the motor well. Build a base tall enough to keep the propeller from hitting what you have the base sitting on, plus atleast a couple inches. Build a top section that will accomadate the motor and propeller... you can add a long back piece with a tail/Rutter to keep it in the wind if you want but it shouldn't be necessary since it will easily be placed and positioned in the wind. The electronics part is more complicated and is what I'm figuring out now but basic all you need to regulate the voltage and either have two battery storage banks or one battery bank and a dummy load for if/when it generates more than your desired voltage. You can try to just hook up a cord from the motor to an electrical devise and it may work fine. I don't think the motor will generate enough peak power to damage most electronics but there is a possibility so do so at your own risk. So far it weighs about 18 ounces (a little more than a pounnd) and can fit in a hair trimmer case for sturdy, neat and compact portability. The best motors to use are ones that have a voltage of about twice as much as you want to generate (about 5v for smart phones) and ones that have the lowest rpm at rated voltages. I am researching better motors and bigger, more proper blades (you can make your own blades from cans or bottles) blades to use but so far this show a lot of promise and practicality. This hasn't cost me a dime because I had all of the parts but with using common dumpster treasures you should be able to build this for no more than $15 so long as you can find an old hard drive or other motor. Electronic parts at radio shack will be less than $10. If anyone else has a similar project or ideas, feel free to share them.-Tonkor
