Re: Golka, was Tesla Coil Operation

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: Golka, was Tesla Coil Operation
From: "Steve Young" <youngs-at-konnections-dot-com> (by way of Terry Fritz <twf-at-verinet-dot-com>)
Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 23:00:39 -0700
Approved: twf-at-verinet-dot-com

Ed and all,

See below:
----------
> From: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: Re: Tesla Coil Operation - was "Harmonics"
> Date: Sunday, February 07, 1999 6:00 AM
> 
> Original Poster: Ed Phillips <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net> 
> 
> "I read in Cheney's book (I know, I know -lot's of mysticism here)about
> a
> man who was working in Utah to replicate Tesla's work, but ran out of
> funding to go further - anyone know his results?"
> 
> 	Golka, per chance?  Someone here should have comments on his work.
> 
> Ed
> 
> 
RE:  Golka, I posted this some time ago, but here is some of it again ...

As many of you know, Robert K. Golka has probably invested more time and
money to generate ball lightning than any other person.  His huge tesla
coil in an airplane hanger at Wendover Air Force Base allegedly did succeed
in producing ball lightning.  Quoting from an old newspaper article Golka
generated "bead lightning inside a lightning discharge channel opening off
his large Tesla coil at Wendover.  At that time, a moving film showed the
beads, which lasted only a tenth of a second."  Then he had rental problems
with the Air Force and had to abandon the effort.  See also the June 1976
edition of Radio-Electronics magazine for another writeup and pictures.

The next attempt by Golka is really amazing, and may relate to the
Discoverer channel show.  I will quote excerpts from the newpaper article
again.  "'I was working on a high-current plasma experiment, using a diesel
locomotive from the Boston-Maine Railroad.'  The railroad let him borrow
two locomotives, a string of boxcars and a mile and a half of track.  He
used one locomotive as a giant moving generator and created ball lightning
in the cab when he threw a circuit breaker.  'From one engine I was able to
develop over a million watts of power', he said.  Golka also borrowed two
circuit breakers from a naval yard which came off a World War II submarine.
 One was mounted on the floor of the locomotive cab.  'I did form a
fireball once.'  For a second and a half, the fireball glowed before him. 
'It goes off quickly enough that it's almost like an explosion.  It was
white.  It was very bright.  It was about 10 inches across.  The circuit
breaker was on the floor of the cab of the engine, and it came up about
three feet.  It kind of spattered apart; it blew apart.  The locomotive was
reacting to this, kind of violently jumping around or moving around...the
wheels would kind of stop momentarily.'  He was able to take a picture of
the ball lightning.  His photo shows the ball lightning about to blow
apart.  Plasma is shooting out of the bottom, but the top is still
spherical and stable."

Wow!  Golka must have been one gutsy guy to throw a short across a megawatt
generator, holding onto a camera to take a picture while also being careful
to not run the train off the end of the track!  Has anyone heard of any
further experiments by Golka?

<SNIP>

If you browse the Tesla Ring sites, you can find some awesome pictures of
Golka's coil in operation in the hanger at Wendover, Utah.

--Steve Young

<<<< I have to ask that this subject concerning Robert Golka be limited to
his work and not to personal feelings about him.  I know there are persons
who don't like him but that is not a subject that is pertinent to this list
- Terry >>>>