Re: tesla's colorado lab

["Gomez ADDams" <gomez-at-netherworld-dot-com> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

on that fateful day 8/10/00 12:12 PM, Tesla list uttered:

> Original poster: "acmnovak" <acmnovak-at-email.msn-dot-com>
> 
> Hello All,
> Today I uploaded a picture to my xoom-dot-com account that might interest you.
> Sorry but I don't have a webpage or anything to go with it... Maybe someday.
> Anyhow, here it is:
> <http://members.xoom-dot-com/mpn54601/csnlab.jpg>http://members.xoom-dot-com/mpn546
> 01/csnlab.jpg 
> It is from a book called "The Fantastic Inventions Of Nikola Tesla". the
> picture shows a small part of the colorado springs facility.

 This picture (the top one on your Xoom page) was originally taken as part
of Tesla's notes, and appears in "Colorado Springs Notes 1899-1900"
published by Nolit, Beograd, Yugoslavia, 1978.

 The caption in my copy reads, "Phot. V.  View of interior showing a number
of coils differently attuned and responding to vibration transmitted to them
from an electrical oscillator".

 Note that the large coil in the right of the photo is his 'extra' coil.

 The descriptive notes which accompany this photo are very interesting,
especially the part where he suggests something that could have led to color
photography!  They read:

"View of interior much the same as in (photo -bill) II.  The secondary and
various coils placed inside, particularly the central "extra coil", are
resonating.  The latter is connected to a point of the first secondary turn
about 3/4 turns from the grounding connection, nevertheless the streamers
are powerful.  Other coils are connected to the same point while a ball 30"
on a stand and a coil on a stand are connected to the last turn of the
secondary.  Strong sparks were passing from top to bottom of extra coil and
the secondary last turn shows strong streamers.  About 100 short flashes of
throws of switch (controlling coil power -bill) and afterwards an exposure
of 15 minutes to ordinary arc lamp placed in corner of building for the
purpose of photography.  The arc light is much preferable to (pyrotechnic
-bill) flash light as the time can be closely determined in each case.  The
isochromatic plate is _decidedly_better_.  In this plate there is a red dye
used in coloring the plate, otherwise it is the same as the Cramer "Crown".
The plate used was "instantaneous Cramer isochromatic", same size as before.
This observation suggests a line of experiment which might lead to useful
results.  It would consist in using plates each dyed with a different color
to bring out specific effects.  The vibrations of the system was the normal
or nearly so as recorded in previous notes."




As for the lower photo, the description reads:

 "Phot. III.  View of interior, chiefly showing condensers, break motor and
regulating coil in primary of oscillator.  Westinghouse high tension
transformer, supply transformers and arrestors in background.  Plates same
as before, the photograph was taken at the same time, practically as that
described under II.  The diuffused daylight was very feeble.  Both of these
plates are excellent."

 The Westinghouse transformer he mentions was normally used at 45,000 volts,
but was capable (by leaving out part of the primary winding) of 60,000
volts!

 The extra coil in the photo is 8' high, 8' 3" in diameter, and wound with
100 turns of "No.6 wire".  I do know which gauge system he was using, but it
may be elsewhere in the Notes.

> One thing that
> cought my eye in the photo is the large wire size used on his coils.

Keep in mind that most of the wire he used was insulated with natural rubber
and had very thick insulation- the wire gauge is not as thick as you would
think, if you're judging by more modern wire with which we are all familiar.

> In the
> original photo, you can see the large wire much more easily than in the scan.
> It appears as if he used 6 guage wire on a twelve inch form. Also, Tesla once
> said "...the builder will find that hundreds of turns are not necessary for
> the
> secondary to achive high voltages..." This was quite a shock to me seeing as
> most of use use upwards of 800 turns on our coils.

Well yeah, but in that big magnifier, there were only two turns on the
primary, and he often used only one of them!  He still had a lot of turns
ratio...

- Gomez

.........................................................................
"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our
fellow men; and along these fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions
run as causes, and they come back to us as effects." -Herman Melville