Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
Bug zapper "tennis racket"
Johnboy:
There is enough room on a piece of excrement to support as many flies as will fit. I wonder how many flies actually die as a result of starvation because the ecosystem cannot support them.
An unpleasant thought, perhaps, but there do not seem to be a shortage of maggot candidates for flyhood.
As a child on family vacations in the bush, my cousins and I applied flyswatters with gusto so that our family could picnick in peace without flies setting up shop on every plate and brazenly planting their flag in the potato salad. It was futile. No matter how many we killed, there were always more to take their place at the table.
So I am wondering about the use of electricity as a deterrent to flies, as opposed to merely using the rackets to execute them. There seems to be a tiny possibility that some flies could be less sensitive to it, and that once you cull those individuals from the herd, this problem becomes more manageable. Whereas swinging at them with conventional perforated plastic flyswatters just weeds out the slow and/or the aged.
How could one use a fly as a NCV test subject? There used to be electric "Bug zappers" in people's backyards in the 1980's in the US... These often sported purple "UV" bulbs to attract insects. I don't recall them killing houseflies by the thousands, so could it be possible that flies (and some other insects) know to give them a wide berth?
james_s:
I still have an old bug zapper, however I don't bring it out often. They don't work for flies for the simple reason that flies are not attracted to light. They do a nice job on moths, gnats and other fairly harmless but irritating bugs though, and they do kill some mosquitoes too.
floobydust:
Does UV LED light attract mosquitoes and flies? They sell a night stand and most racquets have UV LEDs in them. I have not tried it.
UV fluorescent tubes are still used in the food industry for this.
Johnboy:
UV frequency light doesn't seem to attract houseflies (unlike mosquitoes?), but light does, generally. That seems to be how a flybottle prevents them from escaping. I suppose one could try smearing a light film of potato salad on the interior portion of the ring of the racket. IME they seem to enjoy that stuff. There are other substances that might draw them more readily, but I'm leaving that one to the imagination.
Didn't mean to hijack the thread. I was looking around and saw that many people have posted a schematic and DIY tutorial for one of these devices. I could do without the homily that precedes the instructions in this one, but at least I was able to follow it:
https://www.brighthubengineering.com/diy-electronics-devices/107500-indoor-mosquito-bats-explained/
richnormand:
I have two of these tennis racket type HV zapers. Overall they work great.
However two caveats:
1) abound the barbie (BBQ) or around food keep in mind that the critter very often will partially "explode" or shed various parts that will land on your food.....
2) around electronics I saw my TV remote actually reset the system from the emp when used within about 10cm. So swatting a fly that landed on the remote is probably not a good idea...
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