[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Re: Tesla coils and free energy.
to: Mike
Lighting a light bulb at a distance is possible, but the energy input
required to do so is enormous compared to the received energy. This
doesn't prove the "free energy" idea --- more power out than input power.
It's free in the sense you might not pay for it -- like positioning a large
inductor under a HV power line and drawing off the "free" energy, but you
will pay more for your transmitter energy input power than you receive at
the receiver. Standing waves can represent large amounts of peak power but
integrated over time represent small amounts of average power. This
integration over time (the area under the curve) is where most "free
energy" people get into trouble --- the average received power is always
less than the transmitted power irregardless of the medium, ie air or
earth.
The capacitor accumulation is possible but the efficiency is less than 0.1%
--- recent article in Scientific American on this concept. Such free
energy ideas do work --- they are just not practical. Solar is around 20%
and still not affordable after you pay for the the inverters and then led
acid batteries (another environmental problem).
The free energy people are always fighting the power company but they
forget that hydroelectric power at 7 cents/kw-hr is a real bargin.
Tesla never advocated "free energy" --- he did advocate the transmission of
electric power so it could be received "free, ie, without wire connections,
at great distances.
Regards,
Dr.Resonance-at-next-wave-dot-net
----------
> From: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: Re: Tesla coils and free energy.
> Date: Friday, February 05, 1999 9:37 PM
>
> Original Poster: Hollmike-at-aol-dot-com
>
> > Free energy comes
> > only
> > from natural resources and our ability to transform energy into useful
> > technology (but natural resources are not necessarily free, are they.)
> >
> > Bart
>
> Bart,
> I am not disputing what you are saying here, but there are two things
I
> can think of that may contradict what you are saying. First, Tesla did
light
> bulbs at a distance from his magnifying transmitter. In order to do it,
he
> used a huge coil grounded some distance(not known to me just how far) and
had
> a light bulb in place of the spark gap in a step down transformer setup-
I
> presume tuned to the output frequency of his transmitter. There is a
photo of
> it in his Colorado Springts Notes. He also noted in his CSN (and also in
a
> paper later) that he was able to detect standing waves in the earth
during a
> lightning storm. I think his idea for transmitting energy to the ends of
the
> earth were idealistic, but signals from spark gap transmitters certainly
can
> be received thousands of miles away. It may be that he was considering
usable
> energy as that which might run a small clock or even a fluorescent or
luminous
> tube lightbulb. You have to remember that before his introduction of AC
> power, even the output of a simple battery was considered significant to
> those not within the mile or two from Edison's power plants.
> The second thing I can think of that might contradict what you said
was
> the patent Tesla was granted for "accumulating" energy from the ether.
It was
> a simply a large sheet of metal suspended in the air that would draw
energy
> from cosmic radiation and charge a capacitor. Again, I don't believe it
was
> a practical invention, but never the less, he did get a patent for
it(This is
> definitely one for the free energy crowd).
> Please don't get the idea that I am one who believes that Tesla's
> magnifying transmitter is the way of the future. I also don't think that
> trying to run a farm or a household via a Tesla coil is anywhere near
> practical. I do believe that there are uses for Tesla coils that we all
are
> overlooking due to our fascination with the coils themselves. I am one
who
> thinks that Tesla was a genius and that he deserves a place in history
much
> more than he got. It seems that history glorifies those who used ideas
to
> make millions rather than the ones who actually had the ideas, but such
is
> life, I guess.
> Enough of this.
> Mike
>