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Re: How with no RF ground?

Tesla List wrote:
> 
> >From tesla-at-america-dot-comSun Sep 15 21:26:22 1996
> Date: Sun, 15 Sep 96 08:44 EDT
> From: Bob Schumann <tesla-at-america-dot-com>
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: How with no RF ground?
> 
> My house is old and all plugs are just 2 prong with no
> 3rd plug for ground. When I remodeled my bathroom
> I hammered a ground rod out back and ran a ground
> cable into a newly placed 3 prong fixture in my
> bathroom. Recently in testing my TC before I
> dismantled it for final construction, I was getting
> 14" sparks from a 9kv-at-30ma transformer. I ran
> an extension cord/box from my bathroom and was
> using the 3rd prong of my extension box as my RF
> ground connection to my coil. Yesterday I took the
> plate off the wall in my bathroom to look at the
> wiring when I noticed that the ground cable had
> broke away from the wall socket long ago. So in
> my testing, I actually never had an RF ground
> at all! I do not understand how I could have
> gotten the output I did without this ground.
> 
> Bob Schumann


Bob,

Any chunk of metal can act as a ground counterpoise.  With the small 
transformer of your coil a relatively small metal object would act as a 
couterpoise.  When running though, you could get a nasty little RF burn 
from too small a counterpoise.  If you increase your power, you will 
eventually overcome the counterpoise and it will issue spark to air.

Richard Quick used to use one of his dads old Lincoln automobiles as an 
excellent counterpoise (insulated on tires).  He also used a metal plate 
at one time and as he up his power it arced to ground.  We have had a 
similar discussion in the recent past about a railroad track, I believe. 
 Were you on line then?  You do not need a grounded object for an RF 
ground!!!!  Just an object!

I dare say that a few hundred tons of metal on glass insulators 100' in 
the air would be a far better RF ground for high power systems than 10 
-12' ground rods hammered deep within in the earth!!

Richard Hull, TCBOR