Re: How far away is safe

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: How far away is safe
From: Bert Hickman <bert.hickman-at-aquila-dot-com>
Date: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 06:50:43 -0800

Tesla List wrote:
> 
> >From tesla-at-america-dot-comTue Nov 12 21:43:38 1996
> Date: Tue, 12 Nov 96 06:46 EST
> From: Bob Schumann <tesla-at-america-dot-com>
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: How far away is safe
> 
> First off, let me state I am using a good dedicated RF ground now!
> 
> I have been wondering about an effect that happenes during my coil
> runs and believe it is attributed to human charge/capacitance but
> don't know for sure; hence this post.
> 
> I can be 6 feet away from my coil during operation and get nippy
> shocks when I touch certain objects. I have a friend who was 8
> feet away and decided to turn off a table lamp and said he was shocked
> be the plastic on/off knob. When within the system's field, does a
> human aquire a charge or potential?
> 
> thanks,
> Bob Schumann
> 
> P.S. Got to meet one of the list members, Richard Wall, at a recent
> hamfest. A unique individual and the first I have met face to face from
> the group. (He pointed out a good variac sale :)

Bob,

If you are wearing rubber soled shoes and are close enough to the coil,
you can be "charged" through electostatic induction. I find that I often
pick up a charge after firing the coil. I can walk over to the coil
after powering down, and get a spark to jump to the grounded (through
the secondary) toroid. For a lot of reasons this effect is much more
observable with disruptive TC's than with tube or solid state coils,
probably because of the larger voltage excursions and rapid damping
after the first peak. 

-- Bert --