Ancient Web: Mike Davis Made His Homepage an Off-Grid Invention Workshop

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.

Mike Davis bought remote land in Arizona for the dark skies, discovered the wind was almost always blowing, and decided to make his own electricity. He documented the job with the kind of detail that turns a personal homepage into a workshop manual.

Visit Mike's World.

The website introduces Davis as a maker, amateur astronomer, traveler, and habitual experimenter. Sections cover telescope construction, gold prospecting, homemade solar panels, CNC routers, biomass gasifiers, wind power, and electronics. The dated homepage spans material from the 2000s through 2026, while the footer claims copyright from 2006.

This is not an old page abandoned in a drawer. It is a living collection that retained its project-by-project, photograph-heavy character even as later video and blog entries were added.

Five pieces of a wind turbine

The homebuilt turbine account starts with an immediate practical problem: power lines do not reach the property, but astronomy benefits from the absence of city lights. Davis divides the solution into five parts—generator, blades, wind-facing mounting, tower, and battery-and-control system.

He explains choosing a surplus permanent-magnet DC motor rather than building a generator from scratch, and why a car alternator would be a poor match for a slow-spinning turbine. The page documents finding an Ametek motor, testing its output, and adapting the design as the work progressed.

The original article states that reader emails overwhelmed his ability to provide individual help, so he added a frequently asked questions page. The popular response is described by Davis himself; the archive does not independently establish its traffic numbers.

The electronics section links later projects, including a breadboard Z80 machine called JAZ80 and an attempt to repurpose a NABU cable-network computer without its original network. The same tinkering spirit appears whether the equipment is decades old or newly built from salvaged parts.

Electrical fabrication and battery systems entail real hazards; these historical accounts are not substitutes for current safety standards or professional guidance.

What makes the site distinctive is how much experimental process remains visible. The author explains failures, design choices, costs, component limitations, and why he tried something in the first place.

Explore the wind turbine build and the wider project index.

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.