Golka's Magnifier

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "S&JY" <youngsters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

An article in the 20 Apr 1976 edition of EDN describes Robert Golka's
project Tesla Magnifier thusly:  it has a 51 foot diameter 2-turn primary
below the secondary that resonates at 50 kHz.  Here are the interesting
parts:

1)  The article states "The ring of purple corona atop the outer secondary
is a one-turn reservoir."  Does anyone know what that means and how it would
improve performance?  If it is a closed loop, I would think it would reduce
performance.  (Or maybe it's just a grounded strike rail?).  Seems like a
"reservoir" winding could be simulated to see if there is any configuration
that would boost performance (higher terminal voltage).

2) The 8 ft 3 inch diameter extra coil resonates at the first harmonic (100
kHz).  Why the 1st harmonic, or was that just a coincidence?  If the 100 kHz
is the powered-off resonant frequency, I would think the massive discharges
during operation would pull down considerably the extra coil resonant
frequency.

The claimed output was 20 MV with peak current of 2200 A.  I suspect the
voltage was not that high as the discharges appear to be "only" 25 feet or
so.

--Steve Y.