Minecraft: Sending a redstone signal without wire

Question

Is there any way to carry a redstone signal vertically downwards without using redstone dust, and the signal carrying system to have the dimensions of 1×n blocks?

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EDIT:

The reason that I can't use redstone dust is because I need to place multiple columns side-by-side, and each will stop at different levels. If the signals intersect at some point, the wrong machine would be activated.

Answer 1

Solution without redstone dust

You can use non-sticky pistons and observers to get a relatively quick transmission.

You would use a non-sticky piston that faces down, one air block, and an observer facing up in a repeating pattern. I tested it against a pillar of observers, this was my setup:

The output at the end will always be a 1-tick redstone pulse, if you want the connection to permanently stay "on" (until switched off), I recommend replacing the last non-sticky piston with a sticky piston and the last observer with a redstone block. This was considerably faster compared to the pillar of observers.

Solution with redstone dust

This is for people who may find this question, but don't mind using redstone dust.

This setup is about as fast with transmitting the signal "on" as the setup above, but it is instantaneous when transmitting the signal "off" and the output will be solid (not a pulse), mirroring the input at the top, do not turn it off before the signal has traveled all the way to the bottom! _{it basically fixes itself after breaking though when you continue using it}

Answer 2

Blocks called observers will be useful for this. If you have a pillar of observers facing up, if the one on top sees a redstone signal, they will transmit a signal down. They way observers work is if they detect a change in the block on front of them, they will transmit a signal behind them. Observers becoming powered counts as a block change, so a chain of observers should do the trick. If you need to know more, read the page I linked.

Answer 3

My favorite is using a comparator to detect the items in a furnace and then use a piston to extend a block between a full (not running) furnace. The comparator reads output and you can send from there.