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Re: Very COOL AVI

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> From: Tesla List <tesla-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com>
> To: Tesla-list-subscribers-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com
> Subject: Re: Very COOL AVI
> Date: Tuesday, January 21, 1997 12:25 AM
> 
> > Subject: Very COOL AVI
> 
> Subscriber: bert.hickman-at-aquila-dot-com Mon Jan 20 21:57:59 1997
> Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 19:50:13 -0800
> From: Bert Hickman <bert.hickman-at-aquila-dot-com>
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: Re: Very COOL AVI
> 
> Tesla List wrote:
> > 
> > Subscriber: knardell-at-mailhost.accesscom-dot-net Sun Jan 19 10:30:42 1997
> > Date: Sun, 19 Jan 1997 04:12:24 -0600
> > From: Kevin Nardelle <knardell-at-mailhost.accesscom-dot-net>
> > To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> > Subject: Very COOL AVI
> > 
> > I put an AVI of my coil blasting sparks at a movie screen from an arrow
tip
> > placed at  the base os the sphere up on my web site. I would send it
here
> > but it is not to small, it is worth it to see what happens to the movie
> > screen, the color of the sparks on the screen is also interesting. I
think
> > it is worth the wait to see it, let me know if anyone has tried this
before
> > please. I edited the avi for length, I took out the empty shots because
I
> > pulsed the power to the coil.
> > 
> > NOTE: Notice the RFI in the camera, both the camera and computer are in
the
> > same room as the coil { Y e O w }, this will give you an idea of the
RFI my
> > coil produces. Pulsing the power to the coil is the only I can keep the
> > computer from locking up, short blasts are ok but long durations seem
to
> > affect the mouse and video in bad ways.
> > 
> > Another point is this is only at 90VAC on the variac, higher voltages
also
> > seem to mess up the computer. After I put the new gaps in the RFI is
way
> > down from where it was before, I could not even think of operating the
> > computer with the old gaps. Still I have the capacitors shunt across
the
> > transformer and gaps in series, I put a safety gap across the HV
secondary
> > outputs as to not blow them, I hope.
> > 
> > The distance from the arrow tip to the movie screen is 15 inches, the
only
> > way to get the sphere to break out is with a point somewhere on it. If
there
> > is nothing placed on the sphere I get sparks out the top winding going
to
> > the terminal.
> > 
> >                                        Regards,
> >                                             Kevin Nardelle
> > 
> >    ********************************************
> >    * T   E   S   L   A      C   O   I   L   S *
> >    ********************************************
> > Kevin Nardelle   knardell-at-accesscom-dot-net
> > My main web page IS UP all TESLA
> > related with lotsa pictures and links.
> > http://www.icorp-dot-net/users/kev/tesla
> > http://www.accesscom-dot-net/nardell
> > Non related sites I have
> > The Louisiana Swamps Online (Under construction)
> > http://www.icorp-dot-net/users/kev
> > **********************************************
> 
> Kevin, 
> 
> You're approaching the point where the power level and efficiency of
> your coil will cause permanent damage to the computer in your room. The
> MOS devices used in your computer are very sensitive, and unforgiving,
> to over-voltage. The cables going to your mouse, keyboard, and monitor
> are acting as antennas and are picking up the RF radiating from your
> coil and piping it into your machine. 
> 
> The lock-ups you're seeing are a warning. You need to provide more
> physical separation between the coil and the computer, or any to other
> sensitive electronic equipment. Experienced coilers never keep any solid
> state electronic equipment in the same room with an operating Tesla
> Coil. Simply turning off the computer will _not_ protect it. 
> 
> Safe coilin' and, hopefully, continued computin' to ya!
> 
> -- Bert --

Bert is correct. Even if the solid state equipment is OFF and UNPLUGGED, it
can get damaged. Understand that you are generating a combination of
Magnetic, RF, and Electrostatic Fields. These can get especially strong
when the Tesla Coil is PULSED. (Ever notice that the FIRST spark you get is
a white/blue sucker with LOTS of ENERGY packed into that ONE Pulse?) 

If you absolutely have to have delicate equipment in the same room as an
Operating Tesla Coil, consider putting the Delicate Equipment into its own
private Faraday Cage. This can be as simple as wrapping the thing in
Aluminum foil and making sure the foil is well grounded. By the way, this
works for Delicate Electronic Cameras and Camcorders, too! You can put the
camera in a shoe box or other enclosure if the thought of wrapping your
camera in aluminum foil offends your pride. Cover the box with aluminum
foil, and give it a reasonable earth ground. You have to make cutouts for
the lens and viewfinder, of course. But you get the idea... if you can't
enclose the Tesla Coil in a Faraday Cage, then enclose the OTHER STUFF in a
Faraday Cage. 

Some people blithely go around saying things like "I have been ignoring
this or that warning for years, and I have never had a problem with
(whatever)" They are telling the ABSOLUTE TRUTH. But that doesn't mean that
the laws of physics are suspended by their mere presence in the room. It
just means that they have been Very Lucky SO FAR, and that SO FAR they
haven't had anything Important WASTED. Then One Day it DOES happen to THEM,
and they can't believe it. BELIEVE IT!

Sometimes when I am running one of my coils and have it tuned just right I
can get other coils located 50 feet away to throw off sparks that are
BIGGER than the sparks coming out of the Tesla Secondary. (It is something
like the Magnifying Tesla Coil's Extra Coil). The interesting thing is that
I may have five or six coils laying around, and ONLY ONE IS DOING THIS (It
has to have the Bottom Grounded, by the way). But of COURSE! Only ONE of
them Happens to have ALL the Factors Just Right. This is not as mysterious
as it all looks at first sight.

Do you know that even the traces on a Printed Circuit Board can act like
turns of a coil? Is it any wonder that some device that is rated at 5 Volts
and a couple of microamps will turn Belly Up when you are crashing
Lightning Bolts all over the place?

If you have a High Powered Tesla Coil operating, and you are standing 10
Feet away from it on an insulator such as a wooden chair, and someone Taps
you on the shoulder, You Can Get an RF Burn or a Spark. Ever notice sparks
jumping from one piece of junk in your garage to another when your Monster
Coil is operating? All of this Should Be Telling Us Something.

When all else fails, try something else.
Fr. Tom McGahee