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Re: 100 meter sparks




From: 	richard hull[SMTP:rhull-at-richmond.infi-dot-net]
Sent: 	Wednesday, October 22, 1997 6:39 PM
To: 	Tesla List
Subject: 	Re: 100 meter sparks  

At 09:28 PM 10/21/97 -0600, you wrote:
>
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 10:47:16 +1200
>From: Malcolm Watts <MALCOLM-at-directorate.wnp.ac.nz>
>To: Tesla List <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
>Subject: Re: 100 meter sparks 
>
>Hello All,
>           I have an observation to make on this post that *does* 
>relate to Tesla Coils (note to moderator ;).

>I had a think about this. 7.5MV (DC essentially) = 300+ feet????  And 
>according to lumped calcs our TCs are struggling to get to 1MV in the 
>medium power range yet throw sparks (repetitively I hasten to add) at 
>least up to 9.5 feet at this voltage (if the X-ray measurements of DR 
>R are correct).  Now, we know that TCs throw sparks far longer in 
>repetitive mode than single shot but the voltages as far as the 
>terminal go are no higher than single shot (for very good reasons). 
>We also know there are very good reasons why the sparks actively 
>reach a lot further in TC repetitive operation. 
>      Elsewhere we read that Tesla was generating (supposedly) 10MV+ 
>yet his machine was throwing sparks a mere, perhaps, 50 feet or so
>point to point *****in repetitive operation****. Does anyone else see 
>a serious discrepancy between these observations and figures?
>      A lot of my observation of length vs single shot voltage in 
>TCs is based on the Marx banks I built and use for comparison. There 
>is a very definite upper limit on the voltage a Marx bank can produce 
>because it does not incorporate resonant artifacts. I may have more 
>on this after a five day break as I am planning to stack the two 
>banks together to up the output.
>
>Malcolm
>
>
Malcolm,

Tesla never threw a 50 foot spark!  His longest point to point arc in a
photo is 21 feet.  He wrote about possible 30 footers point to point just
once in the CSN.

He never ran his final nov/dec 1899 coil at full power continuously!  In the
CSN he is most specific, especially as regards the photographic firings.  He
notes that the machine was just pulsed once with a quick throw and immediate
opening of the power transformer knife switch!  MANUALLY!  He notes that
some of the photos are the composite work of over 100 of these slam on and
rip open pulses.

Tesla was most paranoid about fire hazard, especially after a couple of
earlier incidents in Coloardo with the much weaker "summer" coil system with
conical secondary.

Richard Hull, TCBOR