RE: TC Secondary Currents - was ( Experimental Help - Terry?)

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

Original poster: "John H. Couture by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <couturejh-at-mgte-dot-com>


I agree the incandescent lamp is an excelent way to measure the TC secondary
current. The test is easy and accurate enough for coiler's use. Contrary to
what some coilers have said the non linearity of the lamp is not a
consideration if the test is done properly. The brightness of the lamp is
exactly the same for both AC(RMS) and DC. The lamp has the advantage that
with AC the frequency and waveform do not affect the measurement.

I have done this test many times and often wondered just exactly what kind
of current I was measuring. Was the current a reactive current charging the
toroid and self capacitance of the coil or was it an ohmic current that was
producing corona and the streamers? And how about the Maxwell displacement
currents?

John Couture

------------------------------------


-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2002 6:17 PM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: Experimental Help - Terry?


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

Tesla list wrote:
>
> Original poster: "Jim Lux by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net>
>
> very carefully <grin>
>
> If what you want to do is measure RF current, (rather than power), then, a
> bolometric scheme in the base of the secondary might be a practical
scheme.
> I'd use the brightness of a filament lamp, calibrated with DC.

	Remember, though, that the current is at a maximum when the coil isn't
delivering ANY power (no streamers).

Ed