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Re: Safety FAQ is here -- draft, asking for comments.
Richard,
You wrote in reply to me.....
> I have reviewed a number of special slow-motion segments of maggy #11 and
> Nemesis. In a number of hits, the arc channel did not rise more than
> 2-4 inches and the arc waxed and waned four or five times over 28 frames
> (28/30 of a second) while the tip of the arc contact on the aluminum
> siding (grounded) moved under 2 inches. I don't think the rising spark
> has anything to do with the final ultimate break. The bit about the
> resonator failing to store the magnetic energy as the channel heats up
> sounds good, though. This probably cuts the power back causing
> successive waxings and wanings. Still, what causes that final shutdown
> and failure to restrike along a good path that is pre-ionized? Seems
> like some charge depletion or saturation effect to me.
You are absolutely right and I am completely wrong on this. My powers
of observation have failed me badly. My photos also show a mere
modicum of streamer rise. Scrub my idea. On a positive note, I guess
we have a real mystery here. I suppose it might be that some kind of
air storage is going on while the streamer is in the process of
reaching out. It seems the medium we operate our coils in has a very
large bearing on behaviour.
Regards,
Malcolm