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RE: Re: Moody Bible Inst. (fwd)





---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 25 Feb 1997 00:03:46 GMT
From: Robert Michaels <robert.michaels-at-online.sme-dot-org>
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: RE: Re: Moody Bible Inst.

This message was from ROBERT MICHAELS to TOM_MCGAHEE-at-SIGMAIS.COM
and was forwarded to you by ALL MEN EVERWHERE
                    ----------------------------------------

T>Robert, that particular coil was most likely the same one I described
T>in a recent post. I saw it in 1964 at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida.

        Sorry I missed your post.

        The time frame is certainly correct (1964)
        but the Moody Bible demo had some sort of religious message
        that I never did get.  Hard to imagine that a U. S. Air Force
        Base would be used to preach the gospel.

T>It was powered by a modified Marx generator. The reason it sounded so
T>silent was that the spark gap sections were all enclosed in a double-sealed
T>case to reduce both the spark noise and the light usually emitted
T>by the apparatus.

        Interesting.  I saw this demo several times over as many
        years and never did find out the technology of the coil.

T> Besides the Tesla coil they also demonstrated a tuned-rod
T>sound detection system that allowed you to hear a person whispering
T>several hundred feet away, and a see-in-the-dark scope using a 6032 infra
T>red image tube. The person doing the demonstrations controlled many of the
T>pieces of equipment with a sort of rotary telephone dial that he had
T>attached to his belt.

        Moody had number of science/technology demos of which the
        man-on-a-coil was but one however the above is new to me.

T>The Tesla coil was the real show-stopper! They sometimes attached something
T>like
T>a cherry bomb to the top of the coil so that when they turned it on there
T>was

        Oh??  This is quite interesting!  (I have a parallel interest
        in fireworks and pyrotechnics - and the recreational use of
        explosives (none too popular a hobby, these days) ).
[ ... ]

T>from the inside of the  wood, sometimes rather startlingly. They
T>switched to the method of using an external pencil line after one
T>particular pine two-by-four literally exploded from the internal
T>steam generated by the heat.

        You've brought back memories.  Exploding moist wood with
        high-voltage discharges was a ambition of mine some long
        time ago.  I came to using branches freshly cut from trees.
        (Good moisture content).   It takes =a lot= of power, though.

T>By the way, when the two-by-four began to burn, the arc would follow
T>the path of the flame and rose sometimes as high as 20 feet due to the
T>ionization caused by the flame. I mention this because it is very
T>dangerous.

        I never saw this but you've given me a great idea. They're
        such things in physics as vortex flames.  Hard to describe,
        but the heat of a flame is used to suck in air for combustion
        thru a spiral chamber.  This creates a tornado-like effect
        which causes an initially-small flame to rise to surprising
        heights to with very little fuel.  Now, if a vortex flame
        could be made the conductive path for a high-voltage dis-
        charge...hmmm...?

T>A Tesla coil that will normally only throw a 4 foot streamer will throw
T>a much longer one vertically when the air is ionized by a flame. If you are
T>not careful, this ionized streamer can readily reach up to the ceiling of
T>an auditorium and pass excessive RF currents over the body of the
T>demonstrator.

        An occupational hazard, no doubt (!)

        This same effect is observed horizontally in a spark gap
        which may be widened =after= a discharge is once established
        to many times the maximum distance thru which the discharge
        will initially take place.  Working with several amperes at
        10-KV I've been able to open a gap to several feet before
        the discharge would stop.  This is a =big= problem in hi-v.
        circuit breakers and switchgear.

                                - - - - - - -

        Thanks - for the reverie.

                                        Stay CURRENT,

                                        Robert Michaels