Re: was RE: First coil built

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

Original poster: "Malcolm Watts" <m.j.watts-at-massey.ac.nz> 

Hi Mike,

On 24 Sep 2004, at 11:31, Tesla list wrote:

 > Original poster: "Day, Michael" <Michael.Day-at-USPTO.GOV>
 >
 > Greetings All,
 >
 > I will have to agree.  I have a BSEE and an MS in Physics, and I too
 > find Tesla coils fascinating, esp. the math and physics.  Kudos to
 > Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz for the solid foundation.  Still it is
 > the beauty of a brush discharge, and the amazing fact that people like
 > D.C. Cox can obtain 18 ft. sparks from a 9 ft. coil that holds me
 > spell bound.  How can this be, and why doesn't the coil always short
 > to the base or primary?  I learned long ago that RF is FM (Friggin'
 > Magic), and the importance of a good ground connection.

If the coil doesn't flashover from top to bottom, the voltage across
the coil isn't high enough to allow it to happen. TC sparks grow
through repetitive hammering and stretching of a hot air channel. Re
magnifiers and in particular the 11-E model, it has to be remembered
that a very substantial proportion of the final voltage is developed
across the driver secondary.

Malcolm
<snip>