Re: Racing sparks, streamer growth, coupling, etc.

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <FutureT-at-aol-dot-com>

In a message dated 3/8/01 10:16:56 AM Eastern Standard Time, tesla-at-pupman-dot-com 
writes:

> Hi John:
>  
>  I'm guessing that your observation may be more of a radius of curvature
>  issue rather than a capacitance issue?  I should think that a larger top
>  capacitance, keeping ROC the same, would only reduce the incidence of 
racing
>  sparks, as it reduces the maximum attainable voltage.  

Gary,

Yes, I agree it is more of a ROC issue.  I only have a limited batch
of toroid sizes to select from.
>  
>  I see racing sparks more often without a breakout point, when a top load is
>  barely able to break out. But then, I've seen racing sparks with breakout
>  points, so I don't think it's just an ROC issue.

I agree it is not only an ROC issue, but is affected by the ROC.
Total length of the secondary vs. bang size is an issue of course.

JOhn FReau

>  
>  Gary Lau
>  Waltham, MA USA