Re: Tesla Coil RF Transmitter

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Paul Nicholson <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Dan (DUllfig) wrote:

> ...everyone keeps talking about near and far field effects, EM,
> electrostatics, etc. But in a cable, power is transmitted quite
> effectively by a current, without the need of any other effect.

That's the bit you've got wrong.   The power isn't carried by
the current, but by the EM field associated with the current.
The wire serves to guide the field to where you want it.

> no one has actually DISPROVEN that currents cannot
> be conducted through the earth.

True, because currents can and are conducted through the earth.

The issue is that Tesla thought currents would flow through the
earth without being impelled to do so by the EM field from the
transmitter, which we know is wrong.

I made some notes on this a while back,

 http://www.abelian.demon.co.uk/tesla-notes/030802.html

> There is a lot of talk of why we THINK it cannot be done,

We know how currents, fields, and charges behave, with about the
same degree of certainty as we 'know' the earth is roughly a sphere.
So if someone says they THINK the earth is flat, we don't rush out
enthusiastically to test their hypothesis.  Instead, we just remind
them of the evidence for a non-flat earth and leave the ball in
their court.

> Don't forget that all throughout history there have been things
> that we "knew couldn't be done" until we tried them :)

Ah, you're thinking only of those ideas that actually worked.
If you count those against the vastly greater number of wild ideas
that didn't pan out, you find the odds of any particular idea
turning out a success are pretty slim.   So the argument that
'other long shots have worked, therefore this one is worth
trying' doesn't carry much weight.
--
Paul Nicholson
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