I was waiting to see when someone would figure out it would be impossible to take a photo of the radio frequency electromagnetic spectra output from a Tesla coil. Very good Mr Atomic! What you can do is observe the frequency spectra and amplitude of the electromagnetic output with a spectrum analyzer that measures down into the audio range, a few Hertz, to hundreds of Megahertz. For the infrared through UV CCD's should be capable but to separate the wavelengths you will have to use filters to tell what wavelengths you are observing. Into the X-ray spectrum you will have to realize that to get a picture you would have to have film or detector diode arrays viewing the source though a thin lead shield with a pin hole to "focus" the X-rays. The same type of diode arrays are used in CAT scan X-ray systems.
Allen Bishop
Principal Device Physics Tech
Cobham Semiconductor Solutions
Sent from my iPad
On May 19, 2015, at 6:30 AM, Atomic <atomicrox@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I don't think that's possible at all. Radio waves have very long
> wavelengths, unless you have a really huge "camera sensor" (the size of a
> building or something) you'll never be able to form an actual image.
>
> On Mon, May 18, 2015 at 11:06 PM, David Thomson <
> tcbuilder@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Ray,
>>
>> I am loosely quoting FCC bands, but I'm also using it just as a generic
>> term to signify a range of frequencies used by a particular Tesla coil.
>> Since Tesla coils are basically radio transmitters that can be tuned to any
>> frequency there really is not a specific output frequency range to focus
>> on.
>>
>> The idea of using CCD cameras that operate in the frequency range of the
>> coil output seems like a good place to start. I can imagine a camera and
>> processor that converts radio waves into visible frequencies for display on
>> a monitor. The system could allow for color assignment to be "tunable" and
>> "compressable" within the limits of the CCD. By compressable I mean having
>> the ability to assign the visible spectrum to an adjustable bandwidth. By
>> tunable I mean having the ability to assign the red spectrum to any
>> specific radio frequency (within the limits of the CCD).
>>
>> Although I can imagine Hertz and others wanting to be able to visualize
>> radio waves, I am not aware of any progress on this from 100 or more years
>> ago. If you know of something, I would like to read about it.
>>
>> I imagine that if radio waves of a Tesla coil were observed, the Tesla coil
>> itself would look like a light bulb with brightness and colors emanating
>> from different parts. We would still need a "white" screen or other
>> reflective surfaces in the background to see the effects of the light.
>> After all, light is not actually visible, it just illuminates opaque
>> objects. It would be similar to an x-ray machine or a flashlight.
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>> On Mon, May 18, 2015 at 4:41 PM, R. E. von Postel <vonpostel@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Dave:
>>> To save confusion please define what you mean by a "band". Are you
>>> referring to the the bands allocated by international treaty and
>>> administered by the FCC or "bands" which might be defined by other
>>> authority?
>>>
>>> I would imagine that work along the lines you suggest, for "radio
>>> frequencies", is available dating from the "spark and arc" days or
>>> preceding it. Resurrecting it would make an interesting project. Did
>> Hertz
>>> write a paper on the subject?
>>> Ray
>>>
>>>
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