Re: 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>

 >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.
 >
 > Think of it as a ~300kHz RF transmitter and start from there.  At close
 > range, that is about what you have and there should really be "real"
 > information on that.  However, the field current is far far weaker and I
 > think the RF current does the real damage.  The current (NOT the voltage)
 > is what get's "into" you.  That current is small...  What you really need
 > to do is measure the current flowing in the body when standing close to
the
 > coil.  The voltage just does not count.
 >
 > Cheers,
 >
 >          Terry


Good replies.  I guess operating my SSTC tesla coil pulling 1 inch flaming
arcs when I accidently touch objects up to five feet away does make me
concerned a bit.

What are the actual physics to what is happening when local metallic objects
starting shocking the heck out of me.  Is the radiated RF generating RF
currents on the surface of these objects,
thereby inducing high voltages.

It sometimes feels like i have RF burns (like sunburn) on my arms when I'm
operating near the coil (like pulling arcs with a insulative grounding
stick), but then again, I could just be imagining
that too.

Cool stuff!

Dan