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Best sparks




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From:  Kevin Wahila [SMTP:kevinw-at-stny.lrun-dot-com]
Sent:  Tuesday, June 30, 1998 12:55 PM
To:  Tesla List
Subject:  Re: Best sparks

i have a tin foil covered ball as one top terminal and also and aluminum
sphere from a Van De Graaf,  with the foil, i get bunches of sparks, with
the sphere i get one long spark that roams around and occasionally
straightens right out and gets really long, it has no side branches and
seems to flow....actually it looks pretty damn cool....


>Hi All,
>        I have been playing with secondary arcs and such.  The data, both by
>measurement and modeling, suggests that secondary arcs benefit greatly by
>having very fast discharges.  In other words, the top terminal should be
>large, smooth, and have low RF resistance.  The ground path should also
>present low resistance.  The arcs need low resistance to RF currents in the
>range of 5 to 20 MHz. 
>        I was wondering if anyone has noticed that smooth top terminals,
>perhaps made of other materials besides aluminum, seem to give better arcs,
>or that rough terminals give worse arcs.  I realize that this is very
>subjective at best but I thought I would ask.
>
>        Terry Fritz
>
>        terryf-at-verinet-dot-com
>