Re: SSTC As a transmitter.

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

Original poster: "Ed Phillips by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>

Tesla list wrote:
> 
> Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<Mddeming-at-aol-dot-com>
> 
> In a message dated 7/29/02 11:07:58 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> writes:
> 
> >
> > .  On top of all of that, the
> > resonant frequency is a function of the capacitance loading on the
> > secondary, which in turn is a function of the "conducting layer" which
> > Tesla proposed to use for one leg of his transmission circuits.  That
> > height varies by as much as 2:1 from day to night, and under differing
> > solar flux.  Since Tesla was intimately familiar with the application of
> > resonance, it's puzzling that he never mentions the tuning problem in
> > any of his publications.
> 
> However, Tesla was totally UNaware of the of the ionosphere, the existence of
> which was not established until a decade after Wardenclyffe was demolished.

	The existence of a "reflecting layer" was hypothesized as early as
around 1906, based on observations of fading and the suggestion that it
was due to interference between two waves, one of which was reflected
from the upper atmosphere.  One of the suggested explanations for that
"reflecting layer" was the influence of solar radiation on the upper
atmosphere.  It was fully appreciated and accepted by around 1915.  The
first direct ionospheric measurements were made about 1926 [Breit and
Tuve (sp?)], who used pulsed methods analogous to that used shortly
after for radio location (radar).  Of course, Tesla would have rejected
this explanation because it involved the much-hated "Hertzian waves". 

> He
> was referring to a conductive layer which he theorized existed in the upper
> troposphere (12-15 miles). 

	If he had bothered to calculate the effective capacitance of that
conductive layer he would have been able to calculate the reactive power
which would be stored in it, and have realized the utter futility of
what he proposed.  He should have known better; perhaps he did but his
mind rejected the thought.

> According to what was known at that time, the air at
> an altitude of 50 to 150 miles (the actual ionosphere) would have been
far too
> thin for his transmission needs.

	Still is, of course!

>        As for his not mentioning the resonance problem, since the devices
> mentioned in the patents 645,576, 649,621, and 1,119,732 were never
constructed
> and operated, Tesla was not aware that there was a question with atmospheric
> behavior to be answered.

	Of course!  However, popular "conventional wisdom" leads some poor
souls to believe that he actually constructed such systems and tested
them in secret.  The whole concept was then foiled by the evil "special
interests" who would have stood to lose something or other if he had
been successful.

> It is a common mistake to read later technology and understanding into an
> earlier historical period.

	True.  But the physical laws upon which they are based would have been
just as applicable in Tesla's time, and something which isn't possible
now wouldn't have been possible then either.

> Matt D.

Ed

Ed