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Griffith Obs. coil
All,
Those who take the TCBA news will have, no doubt, read the complete
description of the coil which was in question a week or two ago on this
list serve.
It is the Griffith Observatory coil system. The coil was originally part
of a half wave (dual coil) system. constructed in the 1920s by E.L.
Ovington and used by him in Vaudeville shows. Following its Vaudeville
days, the coil was given to Dr. Frederick Finch Strong. Finally, in 1936
Strong gave the coil to the Observatory. Ken Strickfaden (Frankenstien
special effects artist) and Leon Hall, originally, set the coil up in the
Griffith obsevatory. The pair of coils gave an 8' spark! Room was at a
premium, and only one of the units was set up and it produced 4 feet of
spark on regular display until the 1980s. In the mid 1980s Dick Aurant,
John Foster, Ed Angell and others worked to modernize and restore this
aging system to a more modern operational status. It is currently not
working very well according to the article. For many more interesting
critical details on this system and its restorational history, consult
the article. All real coilers should be members of the TCBA anyway.
Also, Chip's list serve (this one) got a nice plug in the August issue.
TCBA NEWS, 3 Amy Lane, Queensbury, NY 12804 $25/year.
Member #1223, Richard Hull, TCBOR