Re: Spark Leader? was Re: Can I touch my Tesla ?

["Robin Copini" <rcopini-at-merlin-dot-net.au> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

Hi Bart,

 Yes, I can see this effect from my ground rod if I set it
up within strike distance but with no 'arc' director on the
toroid. I never noticed it before until one of my kids who stands
facing the coil from a different direction than me asked me why
there were purple 'sprays' coming from the tip of the ground rod.
 I took a look myself and there is definitely a fine 1 to 2 inch spray
coming from the tip of the rod while the coil is operating. I will try
to take some pics when I set it back up again and will post on my
site.

 Best Regards

 Robin




Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "Barton B. Anderson" <tesla123-at-pacbell-dot-net>
>
> Hi Malcolm, All,
>
> In lightning storms (you aught to be plenty familiar with) the charged cloud
> builds and draws leaders from objects (trees, poles, golf clubs, etc.). Have
> you ever seen a spark leader coming from objects to a TC? It would be
> interesting to see a photo of a TC spark leader. Anyone ever captured one on
> film? I would expect these to exist even for our coils.
>
> Bart
>
> Tesla list wrote:
> >
> > Original poster: "Malcolm Watts" <M.J.Watts-at-massey.ac.nz>
> >
> > Hi Chris,
> >
> > On 25 Jul 00, at 12:01, Tesla list wrote:
> >
> > > Original poster: "Christopher Boden" <chrisboden-at-hotmail-dot-com>
> > >
> > > Watch closely (preferably in total darkness) and you will see
> > > streamers eminateing FROM the tips of the tree if it's close
> > > enough.
> > >
> > > Could someone explain this phenomena? It happens with held objects as
well.
> >
> >
> > The obvious question is why shouldn't it happen? There is a
> > strong electric field in the vicinity which induces opposite
> > charge on surrounding objects and the concentration of charge
> > on those objects will be at the most pointed parts (for want
> > of better wording). This is observed routinely in
> > thunderstorms. Obviously the induction is AC in the case of a
> > Tesla Coil but the situation is otherwise similar. I see this
> > all the time when running coils. As a streamer from the coil
> > approaches one of these points the emission from the point
> > will increase which wil encourage the TC streamer to connect
> > with the object.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Malcolm
> > <snip>