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Re: Grounding a TC



I've had good luck with a small coil using the third wire for a safety
ground (in case you get a primary/secondary strike, for instance), and an
RF counterpoise of copper sheet or chicken wire (the former being quite a
bit more expensive, but I happened to have a 4x8 foot sheet to try it
with).  The counterpoise made a big difference with a  small (3.5" diam
secondary)  table top unit.  

Now that I am steadily accumulating the parts for a bigger unit (10 or 12"
diam), I'm going to try to quantify the effects.


----------
> From: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: RE: Grounding a TC
> Date: Tuesday, September 14, 1999 10:51 AM
> 
> Original Poster: "Lau, Gary" <Gary.Lau-at-compaq-dot-com> 
> 
> >Original Poster: "p.c.w.r. notebaart" <p.notebaart-at-hccnet.nl> 
> >Dear Sir,
> >Is it possible to connect the ground terminal of the secundairy coil to
> >the ground wire of the electrical 230 V of my home? It is not possible
> >to drive a stake into the ground because I am living on the second
> >floor.
> >
> >Peter.
> 		
> There is a great deal of controversy over this.  I know that Ed Wingate
does
> what you suggest with enviable results.  It seems to me that there would
be
> considerable inductance between a wall  plug's ground pin and the true
earth
> ground and that a large voltage would be developed across this inductance
by
> the secondary current.  How much this voltage diminishes the streamers is
a
> matter of speculation.  However, it would also seem to me that a voltage
> developed across the building's ground wires would be extremely unhealthy
> (i.e. dangerous) for appliances plugged in elsewhere in the building.  Of
> course, this depends upon the power level of your coil, a very small one
> should have no problems at all.
> 
> Regards, Gary Lau
> Waltham, MA USA
> 
>