[sciguy125]

If you guys watch MythBusters, you may remember the solar death ray some time back. Essentially, they were making a mirror that could focus the sun and burn something. The problem that they were all having was that it had a focal point. The target had to sit still while you focus the mirror and it had to stay there.

My solution is to this is to eliminate the focal point. At the focal point of the big mirror, I intend on putting a little mirror that reflects back toward the center of the big one. There's going to be a hole there that lets the light come out the back. Now I have a death ray with a straight beam. Aiming at the target it is just a matter of using plane mirrors.

So, I don't need anything fancy. It just has to be easy and cheap. I'll be happy if it can cook a hot dog.

As for needing to be parabolic, I'm not sure that I understand why. It's been around 3 years since I've taken optics, so maybe I've forgotten something.