Lightning & TCs

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Original poster: "J. B. Weazle McCreath" <weazle-at-hurontel.on.ca> 


Hello Coilers,

The recent thread on lightning and Tesla coils led me to do some web
browsing for lightning detectors.  One site caught my attention when
it was suggested that the radio-active component of a smoke detector
could be used to build a lightning detector.

With my curiosity now activated, I wondered if an un-modified smoke
detector could be made to detect an electric field.  I hooked up the
mains powered detector that I had in my junk box and fired a charge
at it using a Zero-Stat(R) static gun that I had left over from my
record album days (now I'm dating myself).  Sure enough, the charge
from the gun triggered the detector!

The next step was to solder a ten foot long wire to the metal cage
that surrounds the radio-active sensor portion of the detector and
route it out through a hole in the plastic case.  I then installed
the unit in my shop, about twenty feet from my coil, and with the
sensing wire running horizontally.  I fired up the coil, and to no
surprise the detector went off, indicating that the electric field
had triggered it.

 >From a purely safety concious standpoint I would recommend using a
battery powered detector rather than a mains one so that there is
no chance of 120 appearing on the added sense wire.  My next test
will be to hook it up outside to a longer wire and wait for the
next lightning storm to come my way.

73, Weazle, VE3EAR/VE3WZL

Details of my "Hyperbaric Gap" and Tesla coil are at:
http://www.hurontel.on.ca/~weazle