Re: Win tesla

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

Original poster: "Malcolm Watts by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <m.j.watts-at-massey.ac.nz>

Hi Antonio,

On 18 Oct 2002, at 16:27, Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <acmq-at-compuland-dot-com.br>
> 
> Tesla list wrote:
> > 
> > Original poster: "D.C. Cox by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
> <resonance-at-jvlnet-dot-com>
> > 
> > The WinTesla program is correct.  RF currents in the 50 to 300 KHZ range
> > breakdown around 8.7 kV/in.
> 
> Hummm. All my references say that breakdown voltages are not affected
> by frequency until at least 300 MHz. And really, what would be the
> physical mechanism that changes the breakdown voltage of millimetric
> spark gaps in the kHz range, where wavelengths are in the km range? 
> 
> Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz

Some time ago I came to the conclusion that the 8.7kV/inch figure is 
based on a misunderstanding of how sparks propagate when running a 
TC. Given that TC sparklength has a breakrate dependency, I still 
think that conclusion is valid.

Regards,
Malcolm