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Re: Tesla Coil Operation - was "Harmonics"
Hi Bob,
> Original Poster: Robert Volk <smrtmny2-at-earthlink-dot-net>
>
> > Actually, once you get the wave propagating, the loss is pretty low.
The ELF
> > systems for sub communications run around 15 kHz carrier frequency and
have
> > remarkably low path loss. However, they put a megawatt into the antenna to
> > radiate about a milliwatt..
>
>
> But according to everything I've read, his spark at the Springs began to
> grow exponentially with the standing waves to the 135' mark before it
> blew the generators. Hardly sounds like a milliwatt of energy here...
>
> Bob V
Unfortunately the 135' is regarded as a popular bit of mythology. If
you read the CSN in detail, you'll see that Tesla never claimed such
a distance. He did claim that if he stretched the sparks out so that
the kinks were straightened, he would have hit around 100' *from the
tip of a spark issuing from one side of the coil to the tip of a
spark issuing from the other*!!! NB - you do not get such sparks
issuing simultaneously except when recorded time lapse on a photo!
Richard Hull did a sterling bit of detective work in measuring
Tesla's peak point-point spark lengths (which is the standard claim
here) and recorded it in the Guide to The CSN. I don't remember the
exact figure but it is around the 30 - 35' mark at most.
Of additional note is the fact that some coilers on this list
(I am not one of them) run at far higher power levels than Tesla ever
did. Moreover, they have the benefits of modern low loss insulation
and modern engineering for gap construction.
Malcolm