Original poster: Vardan <vardan01@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Hi Steve, Interesting...I don't think I have ever heard of a car really being damaged before. I spent all day pulling the engine apart in my Ford, but that was the usual spontaneous Ford breakdown thing... Normally the Radio antenna would be very vulnerable. But there is so much plastic in the bodies now there are probably large areas that really are not shielded. Even the metal parts sometimes bolt into plastic... Like the bumpers :-P
Most engine computer stuff goes to the engine area which should sort of be well protected really. Ford is one of the better companies about testing in high RF fields too... But cars now are running tail lights and stuff over a digital serial buss and things like that, so computer tentacles are spread out all over the place. Hybrids like the Prius might really be bad with its serious computers onboard:
"The forward thinking technology of the Prius doesn't end here with available features like Bluetooth® [2] wireless technology, Smart Key System [3] and backup camera [4]. And an available auxiliary audio jack provides MP3/WMA playback..."
Maybe somebody who is industrious could pick one up a squished Prius at a wreaking yard and do the Geek Group arc test on it ;-))
I have started directly grounding strike targets to the secondary base. Since streamer hits seem to be 10nS - 4000 amps giant pulse things, I have been much more careful with them around anything without nuclear blast style EMP protection. No more arcing to lights and walls...
In the case of "weak" cars, maybe we should start a "good and bad car" list ;o))
My 67 Ford 289 used "relays" for the voltage regulator. I think the only serious silicon was in the alternator diodes and the AM radio... But it broke down 100X more often than the "electronic Ford"... Best just to park the cars "away" in the long run...
At least our Fords did not burn our house up like Stork's Ford Expedition :-(I think the "Geek group" (?) was going to have a small Tesla coil on a car hood. But that was probably on old "play car" as opposed to a serious "cost a lot of cash" machine. Might not do the BMW in front of it much good though!!
Cheers,
Terry
At 03:47 PM 11/16/2006, you wrote:
I have accidentally killed the computer on our 1996 ford taurus. The car was parked outside of the garage, where a SGTC was running with about 4 foot sparks right on the inside of the main garage door. The door was wooden (and closed). Anyway, next time someone tried to drive the car, it had all sorts of problems, and the computer had to be replaced. The sparks never hit the vehicle. Be cautious, it *does* happen. Steve Ward On 11/16/06, Tesla list <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:Original poster: "David Rieben" <drieben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Hi James, That thought has crossed my mind, too, but it seems that as long as I move the vehicles well outside of the "strike zone" - say >20 ft, that there are no problems along this line. I definitely don't want an arc actually hitting any of my vehicles ;^O David Rieben ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> To: <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 9:13 AM Subject: Re: Video of Green Monster in Action > Original poster: "James Zimmerschied" <zimtesla@xxxxxxx> > > Hi David, great running coil you have there. Very fierce arcs. I > would be concerned that they might take out a nearby auto's control computer. > Jim Zimmerschied > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <mailto:tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>Tesla list > To: <mailto:tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>tesla@xxxxxxxxxx > Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 9:58 AM > Subject: Video of Green Monster in Action > > Original poster: "David Rieben" > <<mailto:drieben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>drieben@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > > Hi all, > > I was just wanting to let everyone know that I > have now finally uploaded a 27 second video > clip of my Green Monster Tesla coil throwing > sparks all over my driveway ;^) clip > David Rieben > > > >