Re: Terry's New Plane Wave Antenna

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz" <acmdq@xxxxxxxxxx>

Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "Dmitry (father dest)" <dest@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>  > Original poster: Terry Fritz <vardin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>  > Hi,
>  > It is well known that coils tend to charge up the surroundings
>  > negatively due to the fact that negative voltages arc "easier" than
>  > positive ones.  Ie, mercury arc rectifier.
> ?
> B&R "Spark discharge", page 284:
> "6.11.1. Negative leader.
> [...]
> it`s more difficult to make the breakdown by the negative voltage, we
> need higher voltages to do that."

The book is wrong. Corona really forms more easily on negatively charged
bodies. Or it appears to do so.
In an electrostatic machine producing symmetrical voltages, longer sparks
are obtained when the positive terminal ball is smaller than the negative,
so the positive side breaks down first. Otherwise the negative ball
is observed to emit corona while nothing happens in the positive, and
sparks do not form (why, I don't know). Probably, this is more related
with spark generation than with breakdown voltages, and I don't remember
seing actual measurements of breakdown voltages with positive or negative
voltages, that really don't have reasons to be different.

Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz