Re: 'true" spark length was Re: Desktop Bipolar Coil

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

Original poster: "Dr. Resonance by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <resonance-at-jvlnet-dot-com>


The concept of "controlled spark" is essentially firing the spark once every
4-5 seconds or even once every 10 seconds.  A high resistance is used so the
cap charges slowly on rectified DC and then fires one time so you can check
the waveform on a storage scope.

The true potential is the same if the unit fires once every 10 seconds or
500 times per second.  The spark length is much longer with the higher rep
rate due to "spark growth" and this can be seen on high speed film.

Firing the spark once every 10 sec. will allow you to take true measurements
of potential and current.

Most TC'ers could care less about this procedure.  They just want a nice
long spark but unfortunately this has lead to some strange claims from
different coil builders, ie, a coil with a 16 ft. spark has 4 million Volts,
etc.  This, of course, isn't true but makes for great advertising.

At the power level of approx. 8 kW a coil runnig around 400 PPS and
producing a 9 ft. spark is hitting a true 1 million Volts.

Best regards,

Dr. Resonance
 >
 > What is the controlled spark? I haven't heard this term before
 >
 > Steve C.
 >