I can throw in my $0.02
Fire departments, operate based upon an abundance of caution, and
understandably, often ignorance. The last time I ran my 15/60 powered
coil
outdoors, several years ago now, was in my driveway. I had informed all
of
the neighbors on my street what I was going to do, but had neglected to
tell
old-man McNoseypants around the corner. It was maybe 5PM, I had run the
coil for maybe a total of 2 minutes, when a hook and ladder truck rolled
down my street and stopped. The guys get out and start walking up and
down
the street. I run over to them and volunteer "Um, are you here about some
sparks? A Tesla coil?" Blank stare. I point to my driveway. "That's
my
Tesla coil - it makes sparks". "What is it?" I briefly explain I built
it
for entertainment, to make electrical sparks. " Would you like to see it
run?" "OK". I turn it on, no major reaction from these two fireman, but
a
3rd fireman comes running out of the truck, waving his arms, shouting
"Shut
it down - Shut it down!!!"
Turns out old-man McNoseypants was able to see my driveway from his house,
and claims that it interfered with his TV. (I find that hard to believe -
he's on a seperate distribution xfmr, 200 ft away, and I had only run the
coil for a couple minutes) So he saw the sparks in my driveway, and
called
the fire dept.
The firemen had nothing to say about the sparks but gave me a hard time
about causing TV interference and told me to stop it. Sigh...
Regards, Gary Lau
MA, USA
On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 12:55 PM, Phil Tuck <phil@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
There are many I am sure who want to know about the fire Dept. issues,
which
were briefly mentioned as a teaser.
<snip>
Regards
Phil Tuck (an old spark gapper)
www.hvtesla.com
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