Re: Ion Motors / Electrostatic Pendulum

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Mddeming-at-aol-dot-com>


>
> Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" < 
> Hollmike-at-aol-dot-com> 
>
> In a message dated 7/20/01 9:13:30 PM Mountain Daylight Time, 
> tesla-at-pupman-dot-com writes: 
>
> << Wasn't his idea to use the earth (essentially) like a 
> giant capacitor? 
>
> Ben McMillen 
>  >> 
> Basically yes, that was his idea.  I have heard speculations that he was 
> planning to excite the globe via one of the Schumann Resonance 
> frequencies(or 
> maybe a harmonic of one?).  One  person suggested also that it would be 
> possible extract energy from the ionosphere through an electron avalanche 
> effect - enhancing the strength of the signal(don't know where I read this. 
> too long ago).   I guess someone would have to try it out on a large scale 
> to 
> ever find out if it would work.  Could be similar to what they are 
> experimenting with up in Alaska.   
>   Just for fun, I once set up a spreadsheet to calculate the odd multiples 
> of all the Schumann resonance frequencies.   Once up in the kHz range(say 
> between 100 and 200 kHz), there were a fair number of frequencies that 
> would 
> be an odd multiple of several of the Schumann fundamental frequencies 
> simultaneously.  Don't know if there would be any advantage to designing a 
> coil to operate at one of those frequencies, but I thought I'd try making a 
> coil to try it out once - just to see.  I can't think of any better 
> frequency 
> to target a coil to run at.  Of course this could entail tweaking the 
> secondary by raising/lowering or adjusting the size of the toroid, which 
> might be a pain, but if some advantage could be gained by doing it, it 
> would 
> be nice to find out. Even if no advantage exists,  the coil might possibly 
> wind up making a lightning detector, since lightning strikes are what 
> causes 
> the earth/ionosphere to ring at those Schumann frequencies.  Who Knows??   
> If 
> someone can tell me what flaws exist in these musings, I'd like to hear 
> what 
> they are.  I will put on my asbestos underwear and wait.... 
> Mike 



Hi Mike, Ben, All, 
      Since Lightning is a phenomenon of the troposphere BELOW the 
tropopause (below 50,000ft ~15-18 km) and since the ionosphere begins ABOVE 
the mesopause (above 260,000ft ~80-85 km) what is the transport mechanism for 
the forty or so miles ~60-65 km) in between the two? 
      (The existance of the ionosphere had not even been established until a 
decade after Wardenclyffe was demolished; highly unlikely that Tesla was 
going to utilize it.) 

Matt D.