[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: What IS special about a Tesla coil?



<SNIP>
Noah, If terry and Bob would digress, and let me, a fellow lurker attempt to
answer this question, (even though I am NO Nikola Tesla, I feel somewhat
qualified to answer THIS question.) :)

I believe that Tesla might be dismissive of the Tesla group, period. Oh yes.
he *might* find some inner fascination with a bunch of guys trying to better
his genius at building coils, but Tesla's personality was to not look back.
I think  that making the tesla coil was mostly a means to an end for him.
(Yes, I do remember that he did find lightning fascinating.) However, in
today's world, I suspect that he would find everything changed enough to go
into a whole new line of research.

Gene


> Dear Terry and Bob,
> Following your e-conversations is a great educational experience for a
novice
> coiler, but it's like sneaking into a lecture on tensor calculus when
you've
> only just completed algebra one! I want to assure you that I, at least one
of
> your gallant fellow coilers here on the list, am not an electrical (nor
any
> other) engineer - and if I did have  a functional Tek scope at this stage
of my
> coiling - oh, coiling were Paradise enow! (Pardon my inexcusable literary
> allusion - it's my poor defense against the swarming masses of you-all
> engineering geniuses). But a central and pivotal question jumped out at me
in
> the most recent cited interchange; I think Bob asks: "WHAT IS SPECIAL
ABOUT A
> TESLA COIL?"  Yes!  Isn't that what all coiling is about, after you get
through
> the cow manure, the horse manure, and the rabbit tracks through it?
[Credit for
> that colorful reference to an old desert rat (who died several years later
> searching for the Lost Dutchman gold mine - his life's dream; some search
for
> lost gold mines, others dream of building the perfect coil!) with whom I
was
> lucky enough to share a campfire and some beans in the high desert country
> outside of San Berdoo many (many!) years ago.] But, a parenthetical
digression
> is as annoying as any other, so let me continue: And since the question is
put
> so succinctly now, what is the answer - in the broadest terms? I make the
> following proposal, introducing a new acronym into the already bewildering
maze
> of abbreviations, initials, jargon, and other shorthand that I have read
here
> on the site. The acronym was born out of Bob's question and a small flight
of
> fancy. I imagine myself sitting in a lecture hall, all dark brown wood and
> uncomfortable pews, the afternoon sun lighting motes of dust that glint,
> hovering like tiny diamonds in the air. (I know you engineers need some of
this
> - so read on!) At the chalkboard in the front of the room is a dark-eyed.
> fierce man, furiously scrawling symbols and equations, stirring up even
more
> clouds of dust. The swirling white lines and bizarre symbols he creates on
the
> board are dazzling, but their meanings are, to my unlearned mind,
recondite,
> occult, overwhelming. I impulsively raise my hand - and now it is too late
to
> withdraw it back to comfortable anonymity - the movement has already
caught the
> lecturer's eye!  He stops, and with obvious pique, curtly nods his head at
my
> raised, now almost trembling, hand as he puts down his chalk and takes
two,
> slow, measured steps to the edge of the podium. He is not a large man, but
he
> looms over me, a giant.  He is terrifying.  But his face changes, becomes
> gentle, concerned. He actually smiles. He speaks, a soft, well-modulated
> baritone, "Yes?" This one simple word projects interest, compassion,
focus. I
> swallow hard and try to avoid looking directly into the bright
intelligence
> that streams from his eyes. Again I swallow once, twice, and then manage
to
> croak, "Dr. Tesla, what is SPECIAL about a Tesla coil?"
> My acronym: WWTS - What Would Tesla Say?
> Well, guys, please help me here, what WOULD he say? WWTS?
>
> Your non-Ngineer fellow coiler (you guys hang around with some strange
> people),  ;.)>  Noah
>
> P.S. My better half says that if I don't learn to behave, you guys are
going to
> kick me off the list! Maybe Tesla would have kicked me out of his lecture!
> WWTS?
>
>
>