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Tesla at first thought X-Rays and hard UV might be medically
beneficial. He deliberately exposed himself to the output of his
high-energy bulbs. The slow-healing ulcerated burns he sustained
convinced him that these rays were harmful. He is on record as
one of the first people to recommend limiting high energy
radiation exposure. 

 DK> ...Yes, except in Tesla's plan, there were "beams"           
 DK> apparently to be pointed out toward space? 

Yes, the shortest path to the stratosphere is straight up.

 DK> Now, to get the maximum benefit of that with "radio," the    
 DK> launch angle is very low...in the order of ten degrees off   
 DK> the horizon or such. That would mean his transmission system 
 DK> would be radiating pretty hazardous stuff at low angles.   

But this system is not "radio" as todays radio engineers
understand it. It is a direct conduction system, closer in many
aspects to high voltage 60 cycle transmission, than radio
broadcast.

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-08-94  07:46
  From: Terry Smith                                 
    To: Richard Quick                              
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 RQ> Anyway, Terry Smith and Don Kimberlin were commenting on     
 RQ> some info I dug up on Tesla's Colorado Springs Magnifier....

TS> Interesting, yes, but nothing like what would be 
TS> characteristic of any height insulated vertical radiator, TS>
TS> with or without typical loading.  

 DK>...How about it, Terry? Can you figure what the field would   
 DK> be like off a 94 kHz loading coil with a top hat? It sure    

TS> Based on 209 ohms and 420 kV, we might expect over 2,000 A at
TS> the base. Extrapolating with the ratio of 31.5 and assuming
TS> minimal losses, the arc might be around 60 A.  That's 
TS> approaching a gigawatt.  

TS> As to radiation efficiency, I'd be curious if any data 
TS> comparable to present day units existed.  A 200 ohm base is
TS> typical of a 120 degree or so tower. Loading of normal 

TS> number to compare with equivalent transmitting power into an
TS> efficient radiator, I'd guess this might be similar to around
TS> a megawatt, though low duty cycle.  Is there any historical
TS> field data?  

 RQ> The whole idea of the Colorado Springs Experimental Station  
 RQ> was to verify Tesla's previously discovered methods of       
 RQ> transmitting communications and electrical power without     
 RQ> wires. The system was not designed, built, or operated at as 
 RQ> radiating transmitter. 

 RQ> References to radiation efficiency completely miss the point 
 RQ> of the experiment. Tesla stated over and over that his goal  
 RQ> was to supress radiation and increase conductivity. This is  
 RQ> why the

Don and I were simply trying to compare apples and oranges, or
place the secondary characteristics of this coil in the realm of
references we consider when looking at RF devices of substantial
fractional wavelengths.  It's normal to look at induced and
radiated fields of a broadcast antenna, coupling efficiency to
the earth, and the earth resistance in conducting that signal. 
Tesla's signals obviously have some overlap, though it does
appear to be a much different balance of parameters than in
intentional RF radiators.  

You must realize how most components or circuits for one nominal
purpose can usually be analyzed as to the (albeit, somtimes
minute) elements of other types. For example, you can measure
series inductance of many resistors, shunt and series resistance
of capacitors, inter winding capacitance and series resistance of
inductors, etc.  

 RQ> The famous spark photos from the Colorado Springs lab were   
 RQ> taken solely to publicize to power processing ability of the 
 RQ> machine, and does not document the primary function of the   
 RQ> oscillator/coil system. It could also be surmised that spark 
 RQ> length gave a good relative indication of system tune given  
 RQ> the absence of any reliable commercial diagnostic equipment  
 RQ> in 1899-1900.

Ahh, you're just jealous that with modern technology, you haven't
been able to build something twice as large.   <<g>> Terry
 (203)732-0575 BBS (1:141/1275)

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  Date: 11 Sep 94  23:53:47
  From: Richard Quick                                
    To: Terry Smith                                  
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

 RQ> Anyway, Terry Smith and Don Kimberlin were commenting on     
   > some info I dug up on Tesla's Colorado Springs Magnifier....
 
 TS> Don and I were simply trying to compare apples and oranges,  
 TS> or place the secondary characteristics of this coil in the   
 TS> realm of references we consider when looking at RF devices   
 TS> of substantial fractional wavelengths.  It's normal to look  
 TS> at induced and radiated fields of a broadcast antenna,       
 TS> coupling efficiency to the earth, and the earth resistance   
 TS> in conducting that signal.  Tesla's signals obviously have
 TS> some overlap, though it does appear to be a much different   
 TS> balance of parameters than in intentional RF radiators. 

OK, It is just strange for me to see you analyze the system
looking through the "front end" of the telescope... At least from
the way I look at these systems. They are lousy radiators... 
  
 TS> You must realize how most components or circuits for one     
 TS> nominal purpose can usually be analyzed as to the elements   
 TS> of other types. 

Oh yes, but often times I see such tasks as, er, well, tasks...
 
 RQ> The famous spark photos from the Colorado Springs lab were   
 RQ> taken solely to publicize to power processing ability of the 
 RQ> machine, and does not document the primary function of the   
 RQ> oscillator/coil system. It could also be surmised that spark 
 RQ> length gave a good relative indication of system tune given  
 RQ> the absence of any reliable commercial diagnostic equipment  
 RQ> in 1899-1900.

 TS> Ahh, you're just jealous that with modern technology, you    
 TS> haven't been able to build something twice as large.   <<g>> 

Ahh, the true test is to use modern technology to build something
twice as powerful, and half the size!    <<g>>

BTW, did you happen to pick up a few weeks back on the thread
concerning antenna matching and transmission line efficiencies?
It started out with questions about VSWR meters, and what they
really read, but it ended up with explanations about VSWR, loss-
less transmission line theory, and why systems with high VSWR do
not radiate efficiently. It was quite appropriate in explaining 
why Tesla Coils are poor radiators.

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-07-94  20:55
  From: James Meyer                                
    To: Richard Quick                              
  Subj: Tesla Capacitors
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
On 09-06-94, RICHARD QUICK wrote to JAMES MEYER and said:

RQ> Please tell me more. What slight modifications would be 
RQ> required, and how do those modifications reduce or eliminate
RQ> self- inductance?

RQ> I am not at all trying to detract from the viability of your
RQ> suggestion, which I would like to hear in more detail, but I
RQ> am simply trying to outline and clarify some of the problems
RQ> and design limitations I have encountered in the course of my
RQ> experimentation.

  An extended foil cap is wound with the foil extended over the
  edge of the dielectric so that the connection to the foil can
  be made continuously along the entire edge of the foil.  This
  means that the charging currents are distributed over the
  foil much more evenly and the effective series inductance is
  the same as a piece of wire the same length as the cap.

  Perhaps a picture right now would be worth a thousand more
  words.

                 "A"                                "B"
                   -------------------------------          ^
                  |   dielectric                  |         |  r
               ---|   --------------------------------      |  o
              | f |  |                 foil 2         |     |  l
              | o |  |                                |     |  l
              | i |  |                                |     |
              | l |  |                                |     |  t
              |   |  |                                |     |  h
              | 1 |  |                                |     |  i
              |   |  |                                |     |  s
               ---|   --------------------------------      |
                  | "D"                           |         |  w
                   -------------------------------   "C"    -  a
                                                               y

     "A" to "B" is the length of the finished cap.  (One foot?)
     "B" to "C" is the length of the foil before rolling.
      (Several yards?)

    The cap is made by laying down one sheet of dielectric of the
    proper size.  Next goes one foil plate placed so that one
    edge extends past the edge of the dielectric by about a
    quarter to a half inch.

    The second dielectric sheet is exactly the same size as the
    first, and it gets laid down so the corners match the corners
    of the first.

    The second foil is the same size as the first and it goes on
    next, but it is extended to the opposite side as the first
    foil.

    Of course you want the dielectric sheets larger than the foil
    by enough to get the arc-over voltage high enough.

    Then the cap is rolled up.  The two foils will be extended
    from opposite ends of the cap.  It's then only a matter of
    attaching the two terminals to the foils.  Since the entire
    edge of both foils is available, a good high current
    connection can be made.  If you use a hammer to pound the
    turns of each foil into contact, you could then solder a real
    heavy piece of copper strap or a threaded brass rod to the
    foil at each end.

    This is how physically small caps with low inductance are
    made.  It's also how the large, pulse discharge, caps in the
    modulator for the linear particle accelerator at the lab are
    made.  I know.  I've dissected a couple after they "blew".

    You could take apart a few old small caps to get an idea
    about how they're made.  The "orange drop"  Sprague caps are
    usually extended foil.    Jim (1:3641/1)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 12 Sep 94  00:44:06
  From: Richard Quick                                
    To: James Meyer                                  
  Subj: Tesla Capacitors
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 RQ> Please tell me more. What slight modifications would be      
 RQ> required, and how do those modifications reduce or eliminate 
 RQ> self-inductance?

 JM> An extended foil cap is wound with the foil extended over    
 JM> the edge of the dielectric so that the connection to the     
 JM> foil can be made continuously along the entire edge of the   
 JM> foil. This means that the charging currents are distributed  
 JM> over the foil much more evenly and the effective series      
 JM> inductance is the same as a piece of wire the same length as 
 JM> the cap.

....

 JM> This is how physically small caps with low inductance are
 JM> made.  It's also how the large, pulse discharge, caps in the
 JM> modulator for the linear particle accelerator at the lab are
 JM> made.  I know.  I've dissected a couple after they "blew".


Got it. I saved to post and added it to new TESLA?.ZIP file. You
input is greatly appreciated. I will need to think about how it
can be applied with the materials I have stocked up (60 mil low
density poly and aluminum flashing) which are somewhat stiff.

BTW, Do you every come across any working or salvageable surplus
capacitors from the accelerator work?

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-08-94  21:12
  From: Mark Conway                             
    To: Richard Quick                             
  Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
TID: FastEcho 1.40 15032
Hi Richard, Remember me?- 

I asked you ages ago about advice on how to improve the discharge
from my solid state coil. You told me to get rid of the overlaps
in the winding of my coil. I ended up rewinding the coil- without
any overlaps this time but it seemed to only improve the brush
discarge from the terminal slightly. I think now that the problem
is that when I made it I had to substitute the core of a tv
flyback transformer instead of some fancy ferrite core that you
cant get in this part of the world (thats the problem when you
live in the middle of nowhere!)- and I think that the frequency
response of the tv core is not as good.

Anyway I decided to make a tesla coil from a 15 kV 30 mA neon
instead- I used beer bottles as you suggested (12 of them) in a
tank of salt water. The coil I am using is #24 wire (swg gauge)
wound on a 3 inch piece of plastic downpipe. The windings are
about 20 inches in length. For the primary I use 5mm braid wire 
(I wound this wire on an old plastic flower pot). The spark gap I
am using consists of 2 brass doorknobs facing together. I havent
fine tuned it yet but so far I am getting spark about 9 inches
long - Im really pleased with it. Boy dont those spark gaps make
a noise when they are firing!

I would like to have a go at making a bigger coil next. I have
read all your files on capacitors but I dont know if I am yet
ready to make one of your polythene caps. What I am thinking of
doing is having a go at making a glass cap with glass and
aluminium foil cap. To get a capacitance of 0.2 mf I figure
I will need 11 square metres of 3 mm thick glass. I was wandering
if you have any experience or design hints for making glass plate
caps - do you think that 3 mm glass will be thick enough? I tried
making a plate glass test cap but I kept getting sparking from
one aluminium plate to another even though I had them over an
inch from the ends of the glass plate - maybe I didnt have the
plates dry enough?

By the way- what kind of discharge do you get with plate glass
caps? With the salt water caps the spark I get is purplish and
spindly as you said it would be. Would I get sparks like in your
video If I use glass plate caps?

     Any advice would be really appreciated!
 
P.S I have watched both your videos several times now-brilliant
videos! Best Regards, Mark  64-9-489-6750 (3:772/195)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 12 Sep 94  00:36:24
  From: Richard Quick                                
    To: Mark Conway                                  
  Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 -=> Sez Mark Conway to Richard Quick <=-

 MC> Anyway I decided to make a Tesla coil from a 15 kV
 MC> 30 mA neon instead- I used beer bottles as you suggested (12 
 MC> of them) in a tank of salt water. The coil I am using is #24 
 MC> wire (swg gauge) wound on a 3 inch piece of plastic          
 MC> downpipe. The windings are about 20 inches in length. For    
 MC> the primary I use 5mm braid wire ( I wound this wire on an   
 MC> old plastic flower pot). The spark gap I am using consists
 MC> of 2 brass doorknobs facing together. I havent fine tuned it 
 MC> yet but so far I am getting spark about 9 inches long - I'm  
 MC> really pleased with it. 

You should be! Excellent project!

 MC> Boy dont those spark gaps make a noise when they are firing!

WHAT DID YOU SAY????   <<Grinning ear to ear>>

 MC> I would like to have a go at making a bigger coil next. 

Boy do I know this feeling!!!

 MC> I have read all your files on capacitors but I dont know if  
 MC> I am yet ready to make one of your polythene caps. 

I would advise experimenting with poly (plastic) dielectric
capacitors next. 

 MC> What I am thinking of doing is having a go at making a glass 
 MC> cap with glass and aluminium foil cap. To get a capacitance  
 MC> of 0.2 mf I figure I will need 11 square metres of 3 mm      
 MC> thick glass. I was wandering if you have any experience or   
 MC> design hints for making glass plate caps - do you think that 
 MC> 3 mm glass will be thick enough? 

I hate to do this to you but... All of my figures are in United
States of America values (inches, pounds, etc...) 

Common plate or window glass has a DC breakdown voltage
(dielectric strength) of 200 volts per mil. One "mil" equals .001
inches. In the Tesla Tank circuit the working dielectric strength
must be divided by three. Figure the glass will hold up to 70
volts AC pulse (Tesla tank circuit specs require AC Pulse ratings
which equals about one third of a standard DC rating). The
dielectric constant for most glass is between 6 - 8 with most
common window (plate) glass running about 7.6...
 
 MC> I tried making a plate glass test cap but I kept getting     
 MC> sparking from one aluminium plate to another even though I   
 MC> had them over an inch from the ends of the glass plate -     
 MC> maybe I didnt have the plates dry enough? 

Most likely they were not clean enough. The plates and dielectric
must be absolutely clean. It also helps to submerge the plates
and dielectric in clean mineral oil to supress corona and
flashover.

 MC> BTW - what kind of discharge do you get with plate glass     
 MC> caps? With the salt water caps the spark I get is purplish   
 MC> and spindly as you said it would be. Would I get sparks like 
 MC> in your video If I use glass plate caps? 

Glass has a high RF dissapation factor. This means it is not as
efficient as plastic for use as a Tesla primary capacitor di-
electric. Go with plastic. Plastic capacitors are the only way to
get rid of the "violet spindlies". No you would not get sparks
like mine with plate glass capacitors. I use plastic dielectrics
submerged in mineral oil.

 MC> Any advice would be really appreciated!

I hope I was of some help.
 
 MC> P.S I have watched both your videos several times            
 MC> now. Brilliant videos!  

Thank you very much for the complement!!!! Sounds like you have
really advanced in this field! Keep up the good work!
 
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-09-94  11:19
  From: DON KIMBERLIN                               
    To: RICHARD QUICK                               
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
<Terry Smith posted:>

TS> I'd be curious, but afraid to even guess.  I would speculate
TS> that fields from some of the coils might cancel, but that
TS> there'd be some radiation from both the long coil, and the
TS> arc path.  How much I'd guess would depend a lot on
TS> construction practices, not shown here.  If I had to pick a
TS> number to compare with equivalent transmitting power into an
TS> efficient radiator, I'd guess this might be similar to around
TS> a megawatt, though low duty cycle.  Is there any historical
TS> field data?

RQ>The whole idea of the Colorado Springs Experimental Station
RQ>was to verify Tesla's previously discovered methods of
RQ>transmitting communications and electrical power without
RQ>wires. The system was not designed, built, or operated at as
RQ>radiating transmitter. The Magnifer circuit was operated at
RQ>industrial power levels to perfect a method of wireless global
RQ>transmission thru conduction.

SET MENTAL_BLOCK.SYS /on

...Oh, boy, do I have trouble with that, Richard.  As you note,
"radiation" does imply propagation of magnetic or static fields
through space.  But "conduction" implies propagation of induction
fields through the earth.  Then, we have some sort of Tesla
experiments involving what has to be radiating X-rays and such
toward the ionosphere.

...Please sort out my feeble mind.  While I have no problem with
understanding Tesla could have been working on both radiation and
conduction as I know them, it seems like the descriptions don't
separate the two...unless there is some higher plane of
understanding I need to get to.  (Yes, the two are related, but
usually we're concentrating on one and trying to suppress the
other...)

RQ>References to radiation efficiency completely miss the point
RQ>of the experiment. Tesla stated over and over that his goal
RQ>was to supress radiation and increase conductivity. This is
RQ>why the system was required to produce such high voltages.

...Again, when it's conduction, the emphasis is on current,
not voltage...at least for ordinary mentalities...can you help
get my perspective right for this understanding? (1:379/37)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 12 Sep 94  01:35:56
  From: Richard Quick                                
    To: DON KIMBERLIN                                
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

 RQ>The whole idea of the Colorado Springs Experimental Station   
 RQ>was to verify Tesla's previously discovered methods of        
 RQ>transmitting communications and electrical power without      
 RQ>wires. The system was not designed, built, or operated at as  
 RQ>radiating transmitter. The Magnifier circuit was operated at  
 RQ>industrial power levels to perfect a method of wireless       
 RQ>global transmission thru conduction.

 DK> SET MENTAL_BLOCK.SYS /on

 DK> ...Oh, boy, do I have trouble with that, Richard.  As you    
 DK> note, "radiation" does imply propagation of magnetic or      
 DK> static fields through space.  But "conduction" implies       
 DK> propagation of induction fields through the earth. 

Well to be fair I will say it took me years to get this. I have
had some sucess in duplicating Tesla's coil experiments to help
my mind over some of the "theory" roadblocks. Nothing clears the
head like few experiments. The problem is not that it is so
complex; it is that it is so easy it goes over one's head.

First, look at this like a power company engineer. Conduction to
a power engineer means that you have conductors. If you need to
step voltages up or down then you use inductors (transformers).

 DK> Then, we have some sort of Tesla experiments involving what  
 DK> has to be radiating X-rays and such toward the ionosphere.

Start by dropping this, and substitute a wire instead of a
radiation beam. Tesla implied that the system will work with a
lighter than air balloon floating in the stratosphere. The
balloon would be tethered by a wire connected to the top of the
voltage producing coil. The system requirement is that the
oscillator output be electrically directly electrically connected
to the low pressure gas in the stratosphere. Wire or beam ionized
channel makes no difference, we simply need a connection.

 RQ>References to radiation efficiency completely miss the point  
 RQ>of the experiment. Tesla stated over and over that his goal   
 RQ>was to supress radiation and increase conductivity. This is   
 RQ>why the system was required to produce such high voltages.

 DK> ...Again, when it's conduction, the emphasis is on current,
 DK> not voltage...at least for ordinary mentalities...can you    
 DK> help get my perspective right for this understanding?

Long distance 60 cycle transmission uses voltage, not current, to
transmit the power. The problem has to be looked at from an
electrical engineering view (raw power transmission by
conductor), not a strictly radio engineering view.

Voltage transmits substantial power. Current is transformed into
voltage near the generators. It is transmitted by conductor and
stepped back down at the receiving end to obtain the current. 

In Tesla's more modern system he is using advanced coil
configurations; but he is still doing the same thing. The tank
circuit and coil make up a RF transformer. The only difference
really between this and his early 60 cycle work is that the coil
transmformers are tuned and resonate. Current fed into the
transformer is stepped up. Because the tank circuit produces a
higher oscillation than 60 cycle, the resultant high voltage will
conduct in low pressure gas... a wire is not always needed to
conduct this high voltage; in fact if you ionize high pressure
gas (sea level) with a radiation beam... no wires are needed at
all....

The high voltage and RF frequencies means that large amounts of
energy can be conducted freely through low pressure gas (a-la
waveguide) where there is no radiating wave propagation.

Low voltage, low frequency, electricity does not conduct well
through low pressure gas; but when you raise the voltage and
frequency up (from 60 cycle), the conductivity goes up as well.
Over 4 megavolts at these frequencies, and the upper stratosphere
looks like a 30,000 foot thick copper buss bar over our heads; at
least if you are putting Tesla's Magnifier output through it. In
order to globally conduct electricity: first you have to be able
to produce a sufficient voltage and frequency to allow conduction
(in the upper atmosphere); then you need to make a good, direct,
electrical connection to get your energy to this conductor.

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-15-94  09:30
  From: Don Kimberlin                             
    To: Richard Quick                              
  Subj: Tesla/Marconi Compared
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
RQ> -=> Sez Don Kimberlin to Richard Quick <=-

RQ> DK> ...There's no doubt that Tesla was a genius in his own
RQ> DK> right and did lots of pioneering work.  However, we also
RQ> DK> find that *many* principles of the physical sciences and
RQ> DK> applications of them occurred to people almost
RQ> DK> simultaneously

RQ>True without argument.   ....

[...long response giving corrected info about the effect and
timing of Tesla's demonstrations, experiments and patents deleted
for space] ...

RQ> DK> During the 1895 to 1901 period, Marconi worked on
RQ> DK> improving his new-found "wireless telegraph,"

RQ>That should read "worked on his new-stolen wireless telegraph"

...So it would seem, now having the date information you
supplied.

DK> However, a number of English opportunists attempted to steal
DK> his ideas and competed with Marconi for the Navy business.

RQ>Can you really steal from a thief? I wonder...

...Let's then say it was a "den of thieves" over there at the
time.  (Side story"  I am at the moment working on an article for
publication about the electric telegraph, and the number of
"wanna-bes" that popped up once the picture of what would work
cleared up, was incredible....everybody wanted to get on the
bandwagon.  Seems true with every step function in
technology....)

DK> He <Marconi> finally received British patent 12,039
DK> on July 2, 1897. Patent 7,777 (delayed in issue till 1901)
DK> covered a selective tuning device to resonate the antenna
DK> circuit of a spark transmitter.

RQ>False. These Marconi patents went to the United States Supreme
RQ>Court... and were overturned. ....

...OK, great.  Problem may be that those were British patents,
which, of course, the US court has no jurisdiction over. I have
to find the words to rationalize that, and make it clear Marconi
got different treatment in the two countries...

[...]

RQ> The original case: "Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of 
RQ> America v. Atlantic Communication Company, et al" was filed
RQ> in the New York Circuit Court in 1915. ...

...Was Atlantic Communications Company Tesla's company, or that
of a Tesla licensee or such?  I'm working on transatlantic and
intercontinental communications in general as part of other
writings here.  Over the years, a lot of "paper tigers" popped up
at every turn, and Atlantic Communications was not one I'd heard
of yet.  I'd like to know if it was Tesla's, or an affiliate's,
or one of the many companies floated to try to get off the
ground...can you provide any references that focus on that
company and its business?  (Hopefully digested ones and not thge
entire court proceedings...)

[...]

RQ>When will your friends see to it that the errors propagated in
RQ>their text books are corrected???

...Regrettably, as you already well know, the "textbooks" are
full of the Marconi-biased history.  I have copied all your
remarks, and do have the opportunity to submit changes to the
material you commented on, where it can be published in at least
one small corner some of the industry will read.

...It's going to take a bit of work to rewrite it and condense it
down to the short form you saw the original in, but it can be
done.  I think, in all fairness, we have to say that Tesla saw
the technology more as a means of power transmission than as a
communications medium, however.   Now, at the outset, he may have
seen both.  After all, the textbooks on electrical communications
start out saying the process amounts to transmitting power from
one point to another, albeit in miniscule amounts compared to
electrical power work.  However, it seems Tesla's focus veered
toward power transmission rather than communications...whether
the reason was competition in communications or not...again,
thanks for condensing it a good bit and helping me hopefully help
others with a clearer understanding of where Tesla fits into the
parallel streams of power and communications development!
(704)792-9241  (1:379/37.0)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-18-94  18:06
  From: Richard Quick                              
    To: Brett Lilley                               
  Subj: Tesla Capacitors
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 -=> Sez Brett Lilley to Richard Quick <=-

 BL> Hi Richard, I have followed the Teslar thread here with      
 BL> interest even to the cost of obtaining copies of your videos 
 BL> via Jim Oliver. They are most impressive although I make a   
 BL> plea no doubt endorsed by other viewers, PLEASE INVEST IN A  
 BL> TRIPOD FOR YOUR CAMERA. I get sea sick watching them :-(

This is the first complaint I have heard. As for a tripod...
These act as both antennas, and direct conductors picking up
inteference and ground currents and delivering them directly to
the camcorder chassis. The video quality becomes so poor with the
camcorder mounted on the tripod that the tape is worthless.
 
 >  RQ> Flat plate caps have no inductance.

 BL> Wrong! all capacitors have inductance as well as series and  
 BL> shunt resistance and of course capacitance. It is just that  
 BL> flat plate caps have much less inductance and at LF          
 BL> frequencies it provides insignificant reactance. However     
 BL> even at LF frequencies an effect known as Skin effect can    
 BL> result in a significant effective series resistance, more    
 BL> about that later. 

OK, I guess I should have said, "In this use flat plate caps have
negligible inductance." 

BL quoting RQ
 > The second design limitation I have encountered is a lowering  
 > of the tank circuit Q factor when larger rolled caps are used  
 > in the oscillator. I attribute part of this to destructive     
 > self-resonance, but this can be controlled/reduced by          
 > operating the oscillator at lower frequencies, and maintaining 
 > a suitable spread between the self-resonate frequency of the   
 > cap, and the normal operating frequency of the oscillator. The 
 > destructive interference does not seem to account for the      
 > large drop in Q factor I read on my scope.

 BL> You are encountering skin effect. 

True, there is skin effect, but it would not account for this.
Skin effect is something that I have covered extensively here
about a year ago. 

 BL> At frequencies higher than about 100khz current flow in a    
 BL> conductor only occurs near the surface thus reducing the     
 BL> effective cross sectional area and increasing the effective  
 BL> series resistance. This effect will occur in all parts of
 BL> your primary tank circuits and in the secondary coil. The    
 BL> usual method of countering this is to use conductors with a  
 BL> large surface area for a given cross section. 

Exactly as I wrote about last year. The tank circuit designs have
been scaled to take advantage of skin effect. Thin wall copper
tubing, large strap and multi-strand DC transmission wire for
buss wiring. Litz wire offers no advantage in these particular
circuits as far as I can see. Cheaper, heavy duty battery type
cable (sometimes doubled or tripled up) works quite well it
seems.

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-18-94  18:12
  From: Richard Quick                             
    To: James Meyer                               
  Subj: Tesla Capacitors
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 RQ> BTW, Do you every come across any working or salvageable     
 RQ> surplus capacitors  from the accelerator work?

 JM> We use things until they're used up... We are experiencing a 
 JM> number of failures in the .05 uF, 50KV, caps that make up    
 JM> the banks that we use for generating pulses.  I've dissected 
 JM> a couple of the ones that have failed "gracefully".  Some of 
 JM> them dissect themselves into pieces  too small to do         
 JM> *anybody* any good.  8-)

Yeah, I've seen that!

 JM> Anyway, the caps are made up of four physically smaller,
 JM> electrically larger, sections in series.  Usually only one
 JM> section is defective.  We wouldn't consider rebuilding them,
 JM> but the next time I get my hands on one that has failed and
 JM> is still in one piece, I'll trade you one slightly tired cap
 JM> for one spectacular video tape.

 JM> If you can't actually use any of the sections, at least
 JM> you'll be able to tear it apart to see how they go together.

Oh, no! This would be perfect. I am quite familiar with this
construction, and even if I could salvage one or two good
sections I will put it in Tupperware, cover it with oil, and put
it into service. Would not be the first time...

Just let me know when you get one or two.

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-18-94  19:05
  From: Richard Quick                               
    To: Mark Conway                                 
  Subj: Tesla coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 -=> Sez Mark Conway to Richard Quick <=-

 MC> Hi Richard, Got a couple more questions to ask you. 

Please, go right ahead.

 MC> I have been running my tesla coil without a safety gap or    
 MC> bypass capacitor in the circuit as I just wanted to see if   
 MC> it worked. I have stopped running it now as I dont want to   
 MC> blow the neon. 

Yes, you can run without a safety gap, bypass filters, and RF
choking. But you are correct, if you keep it up your neon will
fail prematurely.

 MC> Looking thru your postings I cannot find much info on how to 
 MC> build the safety gap. I notice in your circuit diagram that  
 MC> the middle of the safety gap is grounded. How do you do
 MC> this when you make the safety gap? Do you have a sheet of    
 MC> metal or something between the two elctrodes of the gap and  
 MC> the sparks jump to this? 

The safety gap need not be complex, precision, or expensive. A
couple of ajustable screws or bolts mounted on some insulators
with a grounded brass or copper plate between them works just
fine. I like to use threaded (adjustable) brass or copper
electrodes for added conductivity, but it is not really
necessary. The xfmr core, safety gap center post, and the base of
the Tesla secondary coil all connect with heavy strap to a heavy,
dedicated, RF grounding system. Your coil won't need anything
massive for a ground... yet!

 MC> Also I am unable to find any of those doorknob caps that you
 MC> use for your bypass capacitor. Since the capacitance of      
 MC> these caps is so small do you think it would be ok if I made 
 MC> a small capacitor out of aluminium foil and glass? 

Glass has a very high RF dissipation factor. Since we are
attempting to dissipate kickback energy at this end of the
circuit, glass and aluminum capacitors will work beautifully
here!

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-16-94  17:11
  From: Bruce Kingsbury                           
    To: Don Kimberlin                             
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
DK> ...Oh, boy, do I have trouble with that, Richard.

It would seem you're being deliberately obtuse. As I understand
it (without having done any research myself) Tesla's objective
was to create an ionised and conductive channel from the ground
to the already-conveniently-ionised ionosphere so that he could
use the ionosphere to _conduct_ relatively low-frequency AC.

DK> ...Again, when it's conduction, the emphasis is on current,
DK> not voltage...at least for ordinary mentalities...can you
DK> help get my perspective right for this understanding?

So why don't the power companies run 110v cables all the way from
the power station to the consumer? After all, those big trans-
formers are not cheap!

The ground and ionosphere may be good conductors, but neither are
superconductors. To move power efficiently, you use the highest
practical voltage and thus the lowest possible current.
64-7 847-5513 * (3:774/1300)
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-17-94  21:52
  From: Mark Conway                              
    To: Richard Quick                              
  Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
TID: FastEcho 1.40 15032
Hi Richard,

RQ> I would advise experimenting with poly (plastic) dielectric
RQ> capacitors next. 

Thanks for the advice on the capacitors. I am looking around for
polythene and aluminium flashing at the moment. One thing I'm not
sure of is what mineral oil is- is it used for lubricating
machines or what? Would clean motor oil have the same insulating
properties as mineral oil or would the additives in it mean that
it would not be suitable for high voltage insulation?
Best Regards, Mark 64-9-489-6750 (3:772/195)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-13-94  10:07
  From: Terry Smith                               
    To: Richard Quick                              
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 TS> of substantial fractional wavelengths.  It's normal to look  
 TS> at induced and radiated fields of a broadcast antenna,       
 TS> coupling efficiency to the earth, and the earth resistance   
 TS> in conducting that signal.  Tesla's signals obviously have

RQ> OK, It is just strange for me to see you analyze the system
RQ> looking through the "front end" of the telescope... At least
RQ> from the way I look at these systems. They are lousy 
RQ> radiators... 

In addition to (dramatic) spark generation, didn't Tesla pursue
the angle of ground conduction for power transmission?  The local
signal from an AM broadcast antenna relies on ground conduction
rather than free space radiation.  Do you know of any significant
changes he may have made between the sparkers and power
transmission coils?  

 TS> Ahh, you're just jealous that with modern technology, you    
 TS> haven't been able to build something twice as large.   <<g>> 

 RQ> Ahh, the true test is to use modern technology to build      
 RQ> something twice as powerful, and half the size!    <<g>>

Let's see:  rectangular wire as developed for speaker voice
coils, combined with high dielectric strength modern insulators
and coil forms, perhaps would make it possible?  I hate that
black dielectric epoxy coat that is sometimes used to dope
transformers built too small to meet leakage specs with
environmental exposure, though.  Looks ugly.  

 RQ> BTW, did you happen to pick up a few weeks back on the       
 RQ> thread concerning antenna matching and transmission line     
 RQ> efficiencies? It started out with questions about VSWR       
 RQ> meters, and what they really read, but it ended up with      
 RQ> explanations about VSWR, loss-less transmission line theory, 
 RQ> and why systems with high VSWR do not radiate efficiently.  

Tesla coils do appear to have a lot of inductive elements with
high mutuals, but they have to be coupled efficiently to the load
(ionized impure air) at some moments in time to transfer huge
sparks.  

I'm not sure which thread you mean, and it may have been one I
missed. Most Fido threads on coax matching are at their zenith
when someone figures out there are peak and null points due to
transformer effect in some lengths of coax, which are significant
when pinning some other CBer's antenna lead in.  I don't pursue
those too actively.  If they seemed to be under discussion by
folks who knew the differences among vector voltmeters, network
analyzers, "hot" and cold impedance bridges, and who had the
basic math and physics to discuss complex impedances in their
real (R) and imaginary (j) components, I'd try a little harder to
notice them.  It's pretty difficult to discuss real matching and
power transfer with someone who can't measure complex impedance
elements and power accurately at the Tx out and antenna in.  
(203)732-0575 BBS (1:141/1275)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-19-94  16:12
  From: Richard Quick                               
    To: Don Kimberlin                              
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

RQ>The whole idea of the Colorado Springs Experimental Station
RQ>was to verify Tesla's previously discovered methods of
RQ>transmitting communications and electrical power without
RQ>wires. The system was not designed, built, or operated at as
RQ>radiating transmitter. The Magnifier circuit was operated at
RQ>industrial power levels to perfect a method of wireless
RQ>global transmission thru conduction....
...
RQ>The high voltage and RF frequencies means that large amounts
RQ>of energy can be conducted freely through low pressure gas 
RQ>(a-la waveguide) where there is no radiating wave propagation.

DK> ...Hmmm...I'm right with you fine up to this point, but it
DK> sure seems that "conduction channel" would have to be focused
DK> toward the ionosphere somehow...

I am not sure that Tesla was aware of the existance of the
ionosphere, nor that it matters much. Practical lab experiments 
of scale test systems can be performed by any coiler worth his
salt. A four inch diameter coil (transmitter) and a six inch
diameter coil (receiver) can be set up in transmitter/receiver
configuration. The four inch coil is heavily top loaded with
capacitive air terminal (toroid) to prevent spark breakout. Top
loading the four inch coil will also reduce to coil resonate
frequency to the point where a frequency match can be made with
the unloaded, or slightly loaded, six inch coil. I connect the
base of the two coils to a common ground, and run an 8 foot long
florescent tube, or two tubes with the ends pressed and taped
together, between the two air terminals of the coils. Real power
can be transmitted through the tube. I have no problems pumping
through a killowatt or two. At a threshold voltage, which depends
on gas pressure and composition, the low pressure gas becomes
self ionizing, and conducting.   

 DK> ... and I don't know of any focusing devices Tesla used for  
 DK> that...otherwise, I'm right here with you -- I think...

I am afraid I cannot give a precise answer to this question of
beam focusing devices. Alas there are acknowledged holes in the
documentation of Tesla's advanced work. Many of these gaps were
deliberate on Tesla's part to throw off the competition. Yet we
get closer and closer every year. Serious study, and experi-
mentation, leads us to bridges over these gaps. In all of the
work I have personally conducted, I have found no flaws in
Tesla's basic logic. 
 
 DK> ...Was the Magnifier a focusing device for the conductive    
 DK> beam?

No, the Magnifier is a name for a specific three coil arrangement
which represents a power processing efficiency breakthrough.
Tesla always strove for high efficiency, and the Magnifier gave
it to him in a RF resonate tuned transformer of enormous power.

 DK> ...But, now that we have it going up, how do we tap into it  
 DK> to get it down?

I would have to assume that the receiver plugged in the same way
as the transmitter. 

An interesting thing about this system is that it uses a
resonator for the final stage to deliver the high EMF output. 
In the same simplified scale experiment I briefly described
above, the receiving coil is still processing energy even if the
conductive channel (low pressure tube) is not connecting the air
terminals. A "free" (not inductively coupled to the transmitter
system) resonator will pick up and resonate on ground current
alone. No air terminal conductive channel is required for the
system to deliver some considerable energy to the receiver
through ground conduction alone. Enough voltage is present on the
air terminal of the receiving coil to cause it to spark freely,
light bulbs, etc.. I have gotten bulbs to light on a tuned
receiving coil 1/4 mile away from a shielded transmitter. The
input energy to the transmitter was only one killowatt, there was
no raditaion: the "pickup" or receiving coil was connected to 
a 50' length of aluminum flashing sunk in creek bottom. There are
some interesting properties to Tesla's open ended resonators.

It appears that a large scale system would deliver enough energy
from the ground connection alone to open up a conductive channel
to the stratosphere (via X-Ray, UV bulbs on the air terminal of
the receiver).

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-19-94  16:31
  From: Richard Quick                              
    To: Don Kimberlin                             
  Subj: Tesla/Marconi Compared
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 RQ> DK> During the 1895 to 1901 period, Marconi worked on
 RQ> DK> improving his new-found "wireless telegraph,"
 
 RQ>That should read "worked on his new-stolen wireless           
 RQ>telegraph"

 DK> ...So it would seem, now having the date information you
 DK> supplied.
 
 DK> He <Marconi> finally received British patent 12,039
 DK> on July 2, 1897. Patent 7,777 (delayed in issue till 1901)
 DK> covered a selective tuning device to resonate the antenna
 DK> circuit of a spark transmitter.
 
 RQ>False. These Marconi patents went to the United States        
 RQ>Supreme Court... and were overturned. ....

 DK> ...OK, great.  Problem may be that those were British        
 DK> patents, which, of course, the US court has no jurisdiction  
 DK> over. 

Yes, this is unfortunate, and correct. The U.S. Supreme Court
decision was not binding overseas.

 RQ>The original case: "Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of     
 RQ>America v. Atlantic Communication Company, et al" was filed   
 RQ>in the New York Circuit Court in 1915. ...

 DK> ...Was Atlantic Communications Company Tesla's company, or   
 DK> that of a Tesla licensee or such? 

Alas, but by the time this case was filed, Tesla was for all
purposes bankrupt. I end up picking bones on this, but the truth
is simply that Tesla was an inept business manager. He was
suspicious, and he would not trust anyone else to handle his
business negotiations for him. The combination prevented many new
ideas, inventions, and techniques from comming into general use.

Tesla started a company, Tesla Electric, which soon fell
hopelessly into debt. Tesla sold his patents for a one-time fee,
and lost control over the patents, and any future royalties. The
particular patents were transfered by sale and takeover to
Atlantic Communications.

 DK> I think, in all fairness, we have to say that Tesla saw
 DK> the technology more as a means of power transmission than as 
 DK> a communications medium, however.   Now, at the outset, he   
 DK> may have seen both.  After all, the textbooks on electrical  
 DK> communications start out saying the process amounts to       
 DK> transmitting power from one point to another, albeit in      
 DK> miniscule amounts compared to electrical power work.         
 DK> However, it seems Tesla's focus veered toward power          
 DK> transmission rather than communications...

I would disagree. I think there was clearly balance between the
two.

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-19-94  20:18
  From: Richard Quick                              
    To: Mark Conway                               
  Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 MC> Thanks for the advice on the capacitors. 

No problem at all!

 MC> One thing I'm not sure of is what mineral oil is - is it     
 MC> used for lubricating machines or what?

Well in this country, mineral oil is a pharmaceutical (medical)
grade of pure petroleum oil. It is sold in drugstores as an
intestinal lubricant (laxative), and for skin care (women use it
to remove makeup). It is heavy, clear, and has little or no smell
(odorless). Another use for this product is to oil down baby
bottoms to prevent diaper rash. 

 MC> Would clean motor oil have the same insulating properties as
 MC> mineral oil or would the additives in it mean that it would  
 MC> not be suitable for high voltage insulation? 

I have used cheap, clean, motor to cover the salt water in salt
water capacitors; but for the plastic capacitors I spend the
extra money and go with the higher quality, pure, mineral oil.
It is a sure bet that mineral oil is the base of most cheap motor
oils. If you use motor oil use a non-detergent oil of a single
grade (not a multi-viscosity) which generally contain fewer
additives. 

A good alternative would be high grade, PCB free, transformer
oil, which is sometimes available from oil companies in large
pails. Another petroleum product that I have looked at, but never
used, is hydraulic fluid.

Regardless of which specific oil you choose, try to buy it in
pails or drums if you plan to build a sizeable capacitor.

Did I get you right when you said you wanted to build a .2
microfarad capacitor?

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-18-94  00:43
  From: Andre Dault                              
    To: Richard Quick                              
  Subj: Re: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 -=> Quoting Richard Quick to Mark Conway <=-
 
 MC> P.S I have watched both your videos several times            
 MC> now. Brilliant videos!  

Videos????? Videos on what exactly.. Telsa coils?????  
Andre Dault   (1:163/572)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-21-94  16:07
  From: Richard Quick                               
    To: Andre Dault                                 
  Subj: Re: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 -=> Quoting Andre Dault quoting Mark Conway to Richard Quick <=-
 
 MC> P.S I have watched both your videos several times            
 MC> now. Brilliant videos!  

 AD> Videos????? Videos on what exactly.. Telsa coils?????  

Yes, Tesla coils. I have a two (or four) hour VHS video tape that
has made the rounds around the world. It features my 10" diameter
Tesla coil powered by a 10KVA pole pig (power distribution
transformer) run backwards ( 20,000 volts at 1/2 amp ) into the
coil tank circuit. Needless to say the spark production from the
coil's homemade discharge terminal was worthy of recording, and
as there has been a lot of interest I have traded and sold a few
copies.

The three part post that includes my collection of Tesla
references has the tape info, disclaimer, and my mailing address.

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-19-94  20:58
  From: Stan Phillips                              
    To: Don Kimberlin                              
  Subj: Tesla, Col.sprng     1/ 2
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
DK> ...Oh, boy, do I have trouble with that, Richard.  As you
DK> note, "radiation" does imply propagation of magnetic or
DK> static fields through space.  But "conduction" implies
DK> propagation of induction fields through the earth.

Hi there, from what I have read, Tesla was aware that the
ionosphere was conductive and was attmepting to use it as a kind
of universal high voltage feed.  Feed power into the ionospere
and recover it the same way. Apparenly, when he died, he was
initiating experiments with powerful UV lights to provide a
conducting path from the ground to the ionosphere. While in this
day and age, it would be VERY dangerous to use it for power, it
may be a means of world wide radio communications. (Not very
efficient when you consider the power needed and the fact that
all aircraft would have to keep out of the way.  It would be a
major hazard)

RQ>Well to be fair I will say it took me years to get this. ...

RQ>First, look at this like a power company engineer. Conduction
RQ>to a power engineer means that you have conductors.   ...
 
DK> Then, we have some sort of Tesla experiments involving what
DK> has to be radiating X-rays and such toward the ionosphere.
 
RQ>Start by dropping this, and substitute a wire instead of a
RQ>radiation beam. Tesla implied that the system will work with a
RQ>lighter than air balloon floating in the stratosphere. The
RQ>balloon would be tethered by a wire connected to the top of
RQ>the voltage producing coil. The system requirement is that the
RQ>oscillator output be electrically directly electrically
RQ>connected to the low pressure gas in the stratosphere. Wire or
RQ>beam ionized channel makes no difference, we simply need a
RQ>connection.

DK> [...]
 
DK> ...Again, when it's conduction, the emphasis is on current,
DK> not voltage...at least for ordinary mentalities...can you
DK> help get my perspective right for this understanding?
 
RQ> Long distance 60 cycle transmission uses voltage, not
RQ> current, to transmit the power. The problem has to be looked
RQ> at from an electrical engineering view (raw power 
RQ> transmission by conductor), not a strictly radio engineering
RQ> view.
 
RQ> Voltage transmits substantial power. Current is transformed
RQ> into voltage near the generators. It is transmitted by
RQ> conductor and stepped back down at the receiving end to 
RQ> obtain the current.

RQ> In Tesla's more modern system he is using advanced coil
RQ> configurations; but he is still doing the same thing. The
RQ> tank circuit and coil make up a RF transformer. The only
RQ> difference really between this and his early 60 cycle work is
RQ> that the coil transformers are tuned and resonate.  ...
 
RQ> The high voltage and RF frequencies means that large
RQ> amounts of energy can be conducted freely through low 
RQ> pressure gas (a-la waveguide) where there is no radiating 
RQ> wave propagation.

DK> ...Hmmm...I'm right with you fine up to this point, but it
DK> sure seems that "conduction channel" would have to be focused
DK> toward the ionosphere somehow...and I don't know of any 
DK> focusing devices Tesla used for that...otherwise, I'm right
DK> here with you -- I think...
 
RQ> Low voltage, low frequency, electricity does not conduct
RQ> well through low pressure gas; but when you raise the voltage
RQ> and frequency up (from 60 cycle), the conductivity goes up as
RQ> well. Over 4 megavolts at these frequencies, and the upper
RQ> stratosphere looks like a 30,000 foot thick copper buss bar
RQ> over our heads; at least if you are putting Tesla's Magnifier
RQ> output through it. ...
 
DK> ...Was the Magnifier a focusing device for the conductive
DK> beam?
 
RQ> In order to globally conduct electricity: first you have to
RQ> be able to produce a sufficient voltage and frequency to 
RQ> allow conduction (in the upper atmosphere); then you need to
RQ> make a good, direct, electrical connection to get your energy
RQ> to this conductor.

DK> ...Ok, no problem. I'm sure you will explain how the beam was
DK> focused in your reply.
 
DK> ...But, now that we have it going up, how do we tap into it
DK> to get it down?

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-21-94  17:42
  From: Richard Quick                               
    To: Terry Smith                                
  Subj: Tesla, Col.sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 -=> Sez Terry Smith to Richard Quick <=-

 TS> of substantial fractional wavelengths.  It's normal to look  
 TS> at induced and radiated fields of a broadcast antenna,       
 TS> coupling efficiency to the earth, and the earth resistance   
 TS> in conducting that signal.  Tesla's signals obviously have
 
RQ> OK, It is just strange for me to see you analyze the system
RQ> looking through the "front end" of the telescope... At least
RQ> from the way I look at these systems. They are lousy 
RQ> radiators... 

 TS> In addition to (dramatic) spark generation, didn't Tesla     
 TS> pursue the angle of ground conduction for power              
 TS> transmission?  

Yes, and I have conducted several sucessful duplications of
Tesla's experiments in this area. Ground conduction is most
definately half of Tesla's global circuit.

 TS> The local signal from an AM broadcast antenna relies on      
 TS> ground conduction rather than free space radiation.

Interesting. Does this apply to ungrounded battery powered
receivers?

 TS> Do you know of any significant changes he may have made      
 TS> between the sparkers and power transmission coils? 

The configurations were basically the same. The power supply and
tank circuits connections were changed around and around, and
around if you read his notes. Basically the sparker (for
photographs, tank circuit tuning) was set up with a damped wave 
signal. For power transmission Tesla used CW exclusively. Photos 
of the outside of the lab show several sets of wires servicing
the building; telephone, low voltage AC, and DC from a local
streetcar system. For sparks he would hook his low voltage AC to
the custom Westinghouse transformer, throw a large rotary gap
across this capacitor bank, and fire away. CW was available from
a DC motor/generator set. DC in, high frequency CW
(isosynchronous) AC out.  

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-21-94  15:48
  From: Richard Quick                            
    To: Andre Dault                              
  Subj: Tesla Coil Project
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 -=> Sez Andre Dault to Richard Quick <=-

 AD> Did you ever here of a rotating spark gap were you have      
 AD> about three contacts being spun by a motor???  i have one    
 AD> schematic that implies using one of these.

Yes, I am very familiar with rotating spark gaps. These gaps are
commonly used with step up transformers that do not have current
limiting shunts in the core. They usually have six or more
electrodes mounted around a disk, which is spun by a high speed
(fixed or variable rate) electric motor. Rotary gaps are not
usually used on coils powered with neon sign transformers.

A neon sign transformer {xfrmr or xfmr} has built in current
limiting of the secondary windings. This current limiting is done
by placing plates of soft iron (core material) between the
primary coil and secondary coil on the step up xfmr core. These
plates are usually stacked into a block about 1 inch square. By
placing the square block in the core between the windings, a
magnetic "short circuit" or shunt is formed. This shunt diverts
field flux away from the secondary coil, and pratically limits
the current the secondary winding can produce under load. These
type xfrmrs are often called "magnetic leakage" type.

When you place a large high voltage pulse discharging capacitor
across a step up xfmr, as in the Tesla tank circuit, the xfmr
"sees" a dead short. Some type of current limiting is recommended
(but not always necessary) to protect the xfmr. In the case of
the neon, the xfmr is internally load protected. 

Plate, potential, or power distribution type xfmrs are also used
in Tesla work. These type xfmrs have no internal current
limiting, and are designed for efficient energy throughput. In
coiling work these type xfmrs are usually run with external
current limiting or "ballast"... Regardless, once the main system
spark gap fires, these type xfmrs do not want to "let go". The
xfmr output voltage drops under the high current load of the
Tesla tank circuit spark gap; but the xfmr output current will
increase. This makes the arc at the main system gap difficult to
break. If the gap does not break, the pulse discharge capacitor
is not allowed to recharge. A mechanical break, or rotary spark
gap, is a common solution when using plate, potential, or power
distribution type ("pole pig") xfmrs for producing high voltages
for Tesla work.

I run a small rotary gap on my coil in all of the really high
powered work documented on the video.

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-22-94  06:02
  From: Terry Smith                                
    To: Richard Quick                              
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 DK> ...Again, when it's conduction, the emphasis is on current,
 DK> not voltage...at least for ordinary mentalities...can you    
 DK> help get my perspective right for this understanding?

 RQ> Long distance 60 cycle transmission uses voltage, not
 RQ> current, to transmit the power. The problem has to be looked 
 RQ> at from an electrical power engineering point of view.

That's highly inaccurate.  Power is quite simply the product of
both voltage and current, assuming no phase difference.  In long
distance power transmission, I^2R losses are minimized by using
high E, low I. When the ratios are transformed, power stays
constant with ideal matching. Other than the techniques used,
this is the same whether 60 Hz or RF.  


 RQ> Voltage transmits substantial power. Current is transformed
 RQ> into voltage near the generators. It is transmitted by       
 RQ> conductor and stepped back down at the receiving end to      
 RQ> obtain the current. 

 RQ> In Tesla's more modern system he is using advanced coil
 RQ> configurations; but he is still doing the same thing. The
 RQ> tank circuit and coil make up a RF transformer. The only
 RQ> difference is the two coils are tuned and resonate.

Again, neither voltage nor current results in power.  If some
characteristic impedance exists in the transmission media,
whether coax, the ionosphere, or transformer source and load Z's,
the ratio of E to I must match that impedance to avoid losses,
and transfer all available power.  In some cases, we can choose a
convenient impedance, and operate a ratio of E/I to match it,
while in other cases nature tells us what we must match in order
to avoid losses.  The product of E*I remains constant, minus
matching and transmission losses (which may yield heat, or reduce
circuit input power).  

Using the ionosphere as a conductor would simply require
measuring its natural impedance, much as broadcasters measure
earth surface impedance and losses at various frequencies.  Even
human bodies have known electrical characteristics.  One typical
average is used as the basis for leakage detectors (1500 ohms,
with a small cap shunt).  Even the ionized air receiving a coil's
spark output has some measurable Z.  That's a momentary dynamic
condition, but your tuned coils match it at that moment when
they're working their best.  The matching is a RATIO of E/I, not
one or the other (there may also be complex phase angle factors
present).  Terry (203)732-0575 BBS (1:141/1275)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-22-94  06:25
  From: Terry Smith                                
    To: Bruce Kingsbury                            
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 BK> So why don't the power companies run 110v cables all 
 BK> the way from the power station to the consumer? After 
 BK> all, those big transformers are not cheap!

 BK> The ground and ionosphere may be good conductors, but 
 BK> neither are superconductors. To move power 
 BK> efficiently, you use the highest practical voltage and 
 BK> thus the lowest possible current.

Nope.  It's an economic balancing act, of three primary factors.  

High voltage reduces current for a given power, reducing I^2R
losses for a given conductor size.  


Higher voltage increases insulation, spacing, and transformer and
other insulation and protection based costs.  

Higher current increases need for larger conductors, terminals,
and heavier transformer windings, within safe thermal limits, or
for an acceptable level of losses.

Higher losses, to heat, decrease transmission efficiency, losing
marketable product (power over time).  

Each of these has some cost, which varies relatively with
distance and power, and nature of the area (175 KV is awkward in
a city). Reduce them to an algebraic cost relationship for a
given type of installation, differentiate, and you have an
optimized overall COST system.  

In some cases, throw in other practical limits of technology or
safety, by which the calculus theory would be bounded.  
TERRY (203)732-0575 (1:141/1275)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-21-94  16:29
  From: Don Kimberlin                              
    To: Richard Quick                               
  Subj: Tesla Capacitors
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
BL> At frequencies higher than about 100khz current flow in a
BL> conductor only occurs near the surface thus reducing the
BL> effective cross sectional area and increasing the
BL> effective series resistance. This effect will occur in all
BL> parts of your primary tank circuits and in the secondary 
BL> coil. The usual method of countering this is to use 
BL> conductors with a large surface area for a given cross 
BL> section.

RQ> Exactly as I wrote about last year. The tank circuit designs
RQ> have been scaled to take advantage of skin effect. Thin wall
RQ> copper tubing, large strap, and multi-strand DC transmission
RQ> wire for buss wiring. Litz wire offers no advantage in these
RQ> particular circuits, at these particular frequencies, as far
RQ> as I can see. Cheaper, heavy duty battery type cable (some-
RQ> times doubled or tripled up) works quite well it seems.

SET PULL_QUICK'S_LEG.SYS /on /whispering_in_the_ear_mode

...Pssst!  Let me know next time you get ready to purchase.  I
want to buy a bunch of copper mine futures.  Tell me and I'll
split the profits with you!  Heheheeee.... (704)792-9241 
(1:379/37.0)
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-21-94  14:04
  From: Don Kimberlin                             
    To: Bruce Kingsbury                             
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
BK>DK> ...Oh, boy, do I have trouble with that, Richard.

BK> It would seem you're being deliberately obtuse. As I
BK> understand it (without having done any research myself) 
BK> Tesla's objective was to create an ionized and conductive 
BK> channel from the ground to the already-conveniently-ionized
BK> ionosphere so that he could use the ionosphere to _conduct_
BK> relatively low-frequency AC.

...Just trying to get the picture in simple terms and words.  The
thing I'm having trouble with now is how to get it back *down,*
once you have it up there...

DK> ...Again, when it's conduction, the emphasis is on current,
DK> not voltage...at least for ordinary mentalities...can you
DK> help get my perspective right for this understanding?

BK> So why don't the power companies run 110v cables all the way
BK> from the power station to the consumer? After all, those big
BK> transformers are not cheap!

BK> The ground and ionosphere may be good conductors, but neither
BK> are superconductors. To move power efficiently, you use the
BK> highest practical voltage and thus the lowest possible 
BK> current.

...That's my concern:  The current-carrying capability of the
ionosphere can't be much; thus the voltage would have to be
something absolutely incredible in order to transmit any
meaningful amount of power.  Let's try to quantify it a bit.
Suppose you cold generate a megavolt - one million volts.  To get
it to transmit meaningfully useful power, disregarding all losses
at the moment, you've have to get one ampere of beam current,
which is an *awful* lot for an ionized gas to conduct..and you'd
wind up with only one megawatt, not a lot of power from the
viewpoint of electrical power people.

...And, I still haven't heard how to get it back down once it's
up there.  Any notion of whether Tesla ever solved that end of
the link problem? (704)792-9241 (1:379/37.0)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-19-94  21:04
  From: John Waalkes                                
    To: Joel Gray                                  
  Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
JG> the info you seem to have access  to and I would like to
JG> explore further. The Biography was a paperback and light 
JG> reading with not much in depth stuff. I'd like to know more.
JG> Thanks for the assistance.

You could try the Tesla museum in Colorado Springs Colo. They
have a good selection of books concerning him and his inventions.
As an aside, he did some of his high-energy experiments in the
Springs, one of which resulted in blowing up the city's only
dyno. 913-897-6667 (1:280/35)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-25-94  16:15
  From: Don Kimberlin                              
    To: Terry Smith                                
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
TS> DK> ...Again, when it's conduction, the emphasis is on
TS> DK> current, not voltage...at least for ordinary 
TS> DK> mentalities...can you 
  
TS> DK> help get my perspective right for this understanding?

TS> RQ> Long distance 60 cycle transmission uses voltage, not
TS> RQ> current, to transmit the power. 

TS>...  Power is quite simply the product of both
TS> voltage and current, assuming no phase difference.  In long
TS> distance power transmission, I^2R losses are minimized by 
TS> using high E, low I. When the ratios are transformed, power
TS> stays constant with ideal matching.  Other than the 
TS> techniques used, this is the same whether 60 Hz or RF.

...Phew! Thanks for jumping in.  I was concerned there's some
form of Transcendental Impedance Matching yet to be revealed to
me. <smirkle> (704)792-9241 (1:379/37.0)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-25-94  16:23
  From: Don Kimberlin                              
    To: Richard Quick                              
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
RQ> TS> Do you know of any significant changes he may have made   
RQ> TS> between the sparkers and power transmission coils? 

RQ> The configurations were basically the same. The power supply
RQ> and tank circuits connections were changed around and around,
RQ> and around if you read his notes. Basically the sparker (for
RQ> photographs, tank circuit tuning) was set up with a damped
RQ> wave signal. For power transmission Tesla used CW 
RQ> exclusively. Photos of the outside of the lab show several
RQ> sets of wires servicing the building; telephone, low voltage
RQ> AC, and DC from a local streetcar system. For sparks he would
RQ> hook his low voltage AC to the custom Westinghouse trans-
RQ> former, throw a large rotary gap across this capacitor bank,
RQ> and fire away. CW was available from a DC motor/generator 
RQ> set. DC in, high frequency CW (isosynchronous) AC out.  

...Now that could be yet another interesting aside.  What you
just described is what the radio people called an "alternator,"
for which Alexanderson at GE in the US and Goldschmidt in Germany
are generally credited. Now, don't get me wrong. I can find
Ferranti-made AC power generators from early English electric
power history.  It took a time before people could get a nice
uniform sinusoidal waveform out of the earliest alternators (so
the first ones couldn't be paralleled), but the matter of higher
frequency AC and a pure waveform came along later.  Any notion
where Tesla fit into that path? (704)792-9241 (1:379/37.0)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-25-94  22:30
  From: Terry Smith                                
    To: Richard Quick                              
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 TS> of substantial fractional wavelengths.  It's normal to look  
 TS> at induced and radiated fields of a broadcast antenna,       
 TS> coupling efficiency to the earth, and the earth resistance   
 TS> in conducting that signal.  Tesla's signals obviously have

 RQ> Tesla's experiments in this area. Ground conduction is most
 RQ> definately half of Tesla's global circuit.

Would you believe you may be about to get tempted to find a copy
of the Code of Federal Regulations?  They're available to
purchase from the Government Printing Office (or more expensive
update services), and for review at all Federal Depository
Libraries (commonly at several larger universities in each state,
which get free documents in exchange for agreeing to support
public access), and sometimes at other larger libraries.  You're
about to become interested in several Paragraphs in Title 47,
Section 73.  (FCC R&R)  

 TS> The local signal from an AM broadcast antenna relies on      
 TS> ground conduction rather than free space radiation.

 RQ> Interesting. Does this apply to ungrounded battery powered
 RQ> receivers?

Yes, but now it's my turn to suggest you flip the telescope
around.  This topic alone could become a 2 year thread.  To use
an overly simplified model, consider the size of a quarter to
half wavelength across the frequency range of Tesla's projects
through AM broadcast.  (1 wavelength at 1 MHz is 985')  Consider
the size of an AM receiver's antenna.  Can you picture the
receiving antenna sampling a small area of the field surrounding
the Earth's surface, which is acting as an RF conductor?  

 TS> Do you know of any significant changes he may have made      
 TS> between the sparkers and power transmission coils? 

 RQ> The configurations were basically the same. The power supply
 RQ> and tank circuits connections were changed around and        
 RQ> around, and around if you read his notes. Basically the      
 RQ> sparker (for photographs, tank circuit tuning) was set up    
 RQ> with a damped wave signal. For power transmission Tesla used 
 RQ> CW exclusively.

In the CW power transmission experiments, are there any lab notes
or published comments on phase angles or coupling methods to or
from the earth?  What frequencies were used?  

47CFR73.184(f) Graph 1-20 show relative field intensity versus
distance for different ranges of medium frequency signals,
"unattenuated", and as attenuated by salt water and various soil
types.  47CFR73.190 Figure R3 is a reduced scale (to fit a bound
book) version of the FCC M3 soil conductivity map.  This shows
estimated conduvities for land around the US.  47CFR73.190
Figures 5 & 8 might be more confusing without some RF background,
but would probably also interest you, regarding vertical patterns
and radiation efficiency for various wavelength radiators.  

There's also a fair amount of text and math formula if you look
in nearby Paragraphs, which cross reference these figures.  Parts
of it might interest you, but parts of it are math related to
theoretical interference protection models which might not mean
much without some background study (and aren't as relevant to
Tesla).  

The research and development of these RF conduction Earth models
hadn't been done yet in Telsa's era.  If you compare geographic
regions from the R3 map, with losses over distance in Graph 1
(low end of the AM band), I suspect you'll rapidly build a
picture in your head as to relative efficiency of Tesla's
proposed system over distance (or, the level of losses it might
accrue), for possible comparison with the basic Ohms Law I^2R
losses in the "Westinghouse" power grid using wire conductors. 
What soil conductivity do you see around Tesla's lab locations?  

Try to picture (based on R3) how much variation there'd be among
areas like Eastern CO, Kansas, and Nebraska, inland New England,
coastal New England, and Gulf Coast Texas.  (upon return from
library...)  Do you think Tesla had any idea how this would vary? 
Terry (203)732-0575 (1:141/1275)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-25-94  12:43
  From: Don Kimberlin                               
    To: Stan Phillips                               
  Subj: Tesla, Col.sprng     1 / 2
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
SP>DK> ...Oh, boy, do I have trouble with that, Richard.  As you
SP>DK> note, "radiation" does imply propagation of magnetic or
SP>DK> static fields through space.  But "conduction" implies
SP>DK> propagation of induction fields through the earth.

SP> Hi there, from what I have read, Tesla was aware that the
SP> ionosphere was conductive and was attempting to use it as a
SP> kind of universal high voltage feed.  Feed power into the 
SP> ionospere and recover it the same way. Apparenly, when he 
SP> died, he was initiating experiments with powerful UV lights
SP> to provide a conducting path from the ground to the 
SP> ionosphere. ...

...Hmmm...wonder how the UV lights would provide a "downlink" as
well as an "uplink?"

SP> While in this day and age, it would be VERY dangerous
SP> to use it for power, it may be a means of world wide radio
SP> communications. (Not very efficient when you consider the
SP> power needed and the fact that all aircraft would have to 
SP> keep out of the way.  It would be a major hazard)

...That's for sure.  About worldwide radio, I have some (to me,
anyway) rather fascinating views of what was done to build radio
systems in that time of quite insensitive receivers and
detectors, and no particular amplification available.  One can
see why early radio gravitated to VLF, and immense power levels,
all for the purpose of providing stable, large received signals. 
Believe it or not, the Last of the Dinosaurs of Radio seems to
bave been built as late as 1927 -- running a megawatt on SIXTEEN
KILOhertz!  I've got enough data on it now to write up an article
in the next several months.  That stuff purely fascinates me,
since it is so completely foreign to today's notion of
microelectronics as "telecommunications"....
 (704)792-9241 (1:379/37.0)
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-22-94  20:09
  From: Brett Lilley                                
    To: James Meyer                                
  Subj: Tesla Capacitors
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 > On 09-11-94, BRETT LILLEY wrote to RICHARD QUICK and said:

BL> You are encountering skin effect. At frequencies higher than
BL> about 100khz current flow in a conductor only occurs near the
BL> surface thus reducing the effective cross sectional area and
BL> increasing the effective series resistance.

 > Your argument would benefit from at least an equation that
 > showed "skin depth" verses frequency. For thin wires or foils, 
 > the percentage of increase in AC resistance at 100 Khz is      
 > *much* less than for thicker wires.

Yes I agree, putting it simply if current only flowing in a
conductor to depth X and conductor is 2X in dia then Rac/Rdc = 1
If dia is 4X then Rac/Rdc will be about 2. NOTE this is
simplified to make my point the exact figures will be different!

 > I'll post the equation later when I can find the proper
 > reference book at work.  Jim


If you can post this as a single simple equation then you're a
far better man than me. If you are short of a reference then one
source is: RADIO ENGINEERS' HANDBOOK by F.E.Terman Sc.D around
page 28 in my edition. Bye.  (64 7 3575355) (3:774/600.4)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 09-25-94  09:27
  From: Mark Conway                                
    To: Richard Quick                              
  Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
TID: FastEcho 1.40 15032
Hi Richard,

RQ> U.S.P. mineral oil is a pharmacuetical (medical) grade of 
RQ> pure petroleum oil. It is sold in drugstores as an intestinal
RQ> lubricant (laxative), and for skin care (women use it to 
RQ>  remove makeup). It is heavy, clear, and has little or no
RQ> smell (odorless). Another use for this product is to oil down
RQ> baby bottoms to prevent diaper rash. 

Ok - this should be enough info for me to find the same sort of
stuff over here. By the way - when you say laxative- do people
actually drink the oil!? or is it used in a more "sinister"
fashion?

RQ> Did I get you right when you said you wanted to build a .2
RQ> microfarad capacitor?

No, I made a typo. I am going to try and make a 0.02 mfd
capacitor.

Richard - I sent you another fido post a few days ago but it
looks like its gotten lost in the system again. In the post I
asked you about your safety gaps. The tesla coil I have been
using has not had a safety gap as I was in a hurry to see if it
would work.(By the way- in your first video when you are testing
one of your coils by driving it wity two 15kv, 30 mA neons I
cannot see a safety gap either). I cannot find much info in
your postings about the safety gap- is it just two doorknobs with
a grounded piece of flat metal sheet between the electrodes? In
your first video when you show your power box it is not easy to
see what the safety gap looks like.

Another thing I asked about was the bypass capacitors. You use
doorknob caps which we cant seem to get over here. I was
wandering if I could just make a plate glass cap and use this for
the bypass capacitor as the required capacitance is quite low. Do
you think that this type of capacitor would have the required
properties for a bypass cap. Or do you think that I would be
better to get a whole lot of 3 kv disc capacitors which are
available over here and connect them up to make the required
capacitance? Best Regards, Mark, 64-9-489-6750 (3:772/195)


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  Date: 09-28-94  13:24
  From: Terry Smith                               
    To: Don Kimberlin                              
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
DK> ...Again, when it's conduction, the emphasis is on current, 
DK> not voltage...at least for ordinary mentalities...    

RQ> Long distance 60 cycle transmission uses voltage, not 
RQ> current, to transmit the power. 

TS>...  Power is quite simply the product of both voltage and 
TS> current, assuming no phase difference.  

TS> When the ratios are transformed, power stays constant with
TS> ideal matching.  Other than the techniques used, this is the
TS> same whether 60 Hz or RF.

 DK> ...Phew! Thanks for jumping in.  I was concerned there's
 DK> some form of Transcendental Impedance Matching yet to be     
 DK> revealed to me. <smirkle>

If there were some better means of ratio transformation than
motor-generators, or oscillatory converters, DC could be added to
the list too. As to that TIM, would we then be competing with the
transient intermod audio dynamics folks?  

=======

New branching topic which you had no idea would come off a Tesla
discusion:

I spent last weekend at a campground in upper NY state, near a
couple of quartz crystal mines.  One of the people I met was a US
educated Jamaican lady, with interests in Wicca, Rastafari, and
healing through the Chakras (sp?).  The latter is a philosophy
which defines body function into seven physical and spiritual
centers, and associates each with mineral crystals of certain
colors.  One who is weak in one or more of the 7 centers of
human function is cured by holding or wearing crystals of a
suitable color to match whatever the individual deficiency might
be.  The healing is acheived by matching the frequency of the
crystals to weakened body patterns.  

I've heard of this a number of times before, and have generally
thought of it as a ritualistic practice of drug induced 3rd
worlders, acting a bit crazy.  After a couple of extended
discussions with this well spoken, educated, modern day medicine
lady of sorts, I spent a significant amount of the driving time
heading home speculating how much of this belief in crystals
would impact human function purely through a placebo effect, or
whether there might be some more direct link too subtle for us to
have spotted through traditional medical-electronic scientific
research.  

In electronics, we do use some of the same crystal materials to
regulate the frequency of vibrations.  Brain wave patterns are
recognized mostly in the 4-17 Hz range, from what I can recall of
studies years ago. Some patterns I seem to recall being slower
than that.  Crystal natural resonant frequencies tend to be in
the 20 kHz to 100 MHz range, well above human audio or light
sensitivities, and quite separate from EEG recognized brain
wave patterns as I recall learning about them.  

Thinking back and trying to recall pieces of biochemical
physiology, it's obvious there are many electrochemical reactions
taking place in a human, at speeds faster than what I recall
being defined by medically recognized functional pattern speeds. 
Is there any reason such internal electrochemical patterns aren't
widely recognized, such as scrambled mixes not readily identi-
fiable due to changes under various human conditions or among
individuals, or such low levels as to be difficult to isolate
from "noise"?  

Could there be a physical link between such biochemical function
within humans and physical vibratory resonant frequencies in
natural mineral crystals?  If so, why isn't a connection widely
recognized outside of what might be called faith healers?  How
would one prove a hypothesis that there is a connection, but on a
subtle enough level to not show up in most medical research to as 
valid?  Conversely, how would one show that there is no
connection other than an emotional placebo effect?  

Do you know of any research documentation on this subject?  
Terry (203)732-0575 (1:141/1275)
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  Date: 09-28-94  19:04
  From: Stan Phillips                               
    To: Don Kimberlin                               
  Subj: Tesla, Col.sprng     1/ 2
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DK> ...Hmmm...wonder how the UV lights would provide a "downlink"
DK> as well as an "uplink?"

The same way that normal phone conversations go both ways on the
same telephone line?

DK> Believe it or not, the Last of the Dinosaurs of RAdio seems
DK> to bave been built as late as 1927 -- running a megawatt on
DK> SIXTEEN KILOhertz! 

Not so much a Dinosaur as a means of very long range communi-
cations, and about the only means of communcating with submarines
(below water).  From Gibraltar, one could key to sub's in the
med, using the transmitter in Rugby (England). The keying relays
at Rugby were massive and very noisy circuit breakers that could
not operate very fast.  

Another thing was that people living local to Rugby had many
built-in recievers such as knives and forks in the kitchen draw. 
These would sing at 16Khz.  Some claimed that the fillings in
their teeth detected the signal.  All drainpipes and plumbing had
to be bonded or they would sing too.  While one could light a
bulb off a simple loop, it was not too good as the bulb went on
and off, and in anycase, one could always light a bulb with the
200Khz transmitter at Droitwich (if you lived near enough). 

As an aside from this, it was not uncommon in the early days of
Transistors to wind a loop tuned to the local AM station to power
a small transistor radio!!!!! (1:229/15)

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  Date: 09-30-94  18:04
  From: James Meyer                                
    To: Brett Lilley                               
  Subj: Tesla Capacitors
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On 09-22-94, BRETT LILLEY wrote to JAMES MEYER and said:

BL> You are encountering skin effect. At frequencies higher than
BL> about 100khz current flow in a conductor only occurs near
BL> the surface thus reducing the effective cross sectional area
BL> and increasing the effective series resistance.


  The skin effect starts at *any* AC frequency.  The higher the
  frequency the greater the effect.  At 60 Hertz, the powerline
  frequency, the skin effect is already doing its thing. 

        Guess what the skin depth is at 60 Hz?

  Give up?  It's about a half inch.  Believe it or not! Making a  
  60 Hz conductor larger in diameter than about one inch wastes a 
  lot of copper near the center of the wire because it's not      
  carrying much current at all.  If you need a really hefty       
  conductor for 60 Hz, you'd be better off making it a pipe with  
  half inch thick walls.

  The skin depth is the distance from the surface of a conductor  
  to the point where the AC current density has dropped off to    
  63.2% of the value at the surface.  To figure the skin depth in 
  inches and in copper, divide the constant 2.6 by the square     
  root of the frequency in Hertz. Jim, 919-286-4542 (1:3641/1)

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  Date: 09-29-94  07:50
  From: Bruce Kingsbury                             
    To: Don Kimberlin                              
  Subj: Tesla, Col.Sprng
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
DK> ...That's my concern:  The current-carrying capability of
DK> the ionosphere can't be much; thus the voltage would have to
DK> be something absolutely incredible in order to transmit any
DK> meaningful amount of power.

No, because at high frequency and voltage, ionised gasses conduct
very well. 64-7 847-5513 * (3:774/1300)