SSTC Dangers - E Fields / Radiation

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

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <dhmccauley-at-spacecatlighting-dot-com>

I know this has been discussed before, but the question really was never
assessed too well or answered.

First the Facts:

All of us who built SSTC coils know the field generated by them is very
strong, easily producing RF currents on anything metallic in the vicinity
producing strong RF burns when contacting
any of these metallic objects.

Now the questions . . .

1.  Is the RF field generated by SSTCs much stronger (power for power) than
conventional tesla coils???  It would seem so, but then again, maybe we feel
safer around SSTCs and will more
readily approach them (closer) than when running similarily sized
conventional coils.

2.  How dangerous is this RF field??  If I can get scorching RF burns from
objects up to five feet away from my SSTC running (CW) mode, then the RF
field must be hazardous.  The question is,
how hazardous.  Will prolonged exposure (say a few minutes once a week
around these things cause significant tissue damage / cancer / etc...) over
a few years  ? ? ?

3.  Nature of the RF field?  What exactly is the nature of this RF field?
The resonant frequency of the SSTC maybe around 150kHz to 300kHz, but is
this the predominant RF generated by the coil, or are the other higher
harmonics (way up into the MHz and beyond) created by the SSTC a large
factor in this field and thereby more dangerous?

4.  I did attempt to measure my coil using a NARDA RF sniffer, but the probe
end was geared more towards 300MHz up into the GHz range.  HOWEVER, at about
6 feet distance I was getting number of 25-45 mW/cm^2 which to me is a lot.
However, this number was bounching around a bit, so I'm not sure if the
field was interfering with the probe.  But you would think the probe was
designed to withstand fields like this during measurement !


SSTCs are relatively a new thing on the block in the tesla community.  And
from just the proximity effects I'm witnessing (hair standing up, strong RF
burns off nearby objects, etc...) makes me think
these might be much more dangerous (in the terms of RF fields generated),
than conventional coils.  I think we really need to look into this much more
carefully.

Any thoughts or comments ? ? ?

The Captain