Re: Grounding in the desert

To: "'Tesla List'" <tesla-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com>
Subject: Re: Grounding in the desert
From: Tesla List <tesla-at-stic-dot-net>
Date: Sat, 26 Jul 1997 01:09:22 -0500
Approved: tesla-at-stic-dot-net

From: 	Robert W. Stephens[SMTP:rwstephens-at-headwaters-dot-com]
Reply To: 	rwstephens-at-headwaters-dot-com
Sent: 	Thursday, July 24, 1997 9:33 PM
To: 	Tesla List
Subject: 	Re: Grounding in the desert

> From: 	Brandon Doughan[SMTP:fiveht-at-well-dot-com]
> Reply To: 	Brandon Doughan
> Sent: 	Monday, July 21, 1997 10:28 AM
> To: 	tesla
> Subject: 	Grounding in the desert
> 
> Hey you HV freaks-
> 
> 	Well, The High Voltage Camp is shaping up for burningman next 
> month.  (What is Burningman??  www.burningman-dot-com)  So far, Ive wrapped 
> an 11" X 40" coilform with 10 gauge (yes, that's 10 gauge...) enamaled 
> Cu, have a few torrids made and am finishing up the base.  Being in a 
> small apartment in San Francisco, I've no opportunity to test run it.  
> This leads me to a few questions for you all:
> 
> 	If you don't know, the Buringman event takes place on a playa, an 
> ancient dried lake bed that stretches for miles and is almost perfectly 
> flat.  I'm worried about grounding out there.  My plan is to take the 
> bottom lead of my secondary to a piece of rebar that I've dug down and 
> pounded in as far as I can.  I also plan to soak the area with salt water.
> Think that will be good enough?  I also plan to have a second grounding 
> rod for the center tap of the NST and casing of the gas-powered generator 
> Im planning on luggin out there.  Thoughts?  **I'm also worried theres a 
> chance the metal stakes that the thousands of other people will also be 
> pounding into the ground for their tents and camps could somehow draw 
> some current**  Thinks there's any chance of that?  I remember Tesla 
> mentioning being able to draw sparks off of water pipes miles away.  I 
> certainly do not want to injury someone 100 yards away.
> 
> 	Second question:  Im not familiar with portable generators.  How 
> big of one do I want?  I'm using a 12KV NST having 60ma through a 1/4" Cu 
> tubing flat spiral primary.  
> 
> 
> Thanks for any help!  Brandon
> 
> 
Brandon,

I have a portable coil that puts out in the 40-50 inch range from a 15 
kV -at- 60 mA neon transformer.  I've run it successfully outdoors off a 
portable 1400 watt Honda generator (115 v-at- 60 Hz) and have used the 
metal body of a pickup truck as a ground (counterpoise).  Forget 
about driving a rod into the desert, just connect to your vehicle's 
chassis with fifteen to twenty feet of #10 or heavier copper wire.

rwstephens