Re: 600kV voltmeter

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: FIFTYGUY@xxxxxxx 

In a message dated 3/15/05 2:26:11 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes:
This spark length is measured from the toroid to a 7-12 inch ground
terminal.


    Does the ground terminal HAVE to be of 3-6" radius?
It may then be compared with the peak DC potential charts in the
Handbook of Chemistry & Physics.  Use the standard impulse generator chart
for best accuracy.

This method has long been overlooked by experimenters but is possible
because the sparklength in a single shot mode is completely independent of
the waveform (Abbdulah's book on HV Engineering).

[snip]

It is a bit disappointing to discover your 4 ft. long continuous spark
shrinks to only 7 inches in the pulsed mode and gives a true output of
approx 160 kV.  It's hard on the ego after you have told all your friends
your coil is running at 1/2 a million volts!!

    FWIW, I had this epiphany a few months back. What happens every 10mS 
that makes the spark channel dissipate?
    Or as Richard Hull posed, why does the streamer *go out* at all?
    Why don't all streamers follow the same channel? I suppose the same 
goes for non-TC sparks...

-Phil LaBudde