Re: Possible communications black hole.

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

Original poster: Jim Lux <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net> 

At 08:06 AM 3/22/2004 -0700, you wrote:
>Original poster: "Christopher 'CajunCoiler' Mayeux" <cajuncoiler-at-cox-dot-net>
>I know it's likely to be something else, but is it
>possible that my idle Tesla coil is causing a bit
>of a communications "black hole" in my lab?
>
>I attempted to instigate wireless networking in
>the lab (802.11b-at-2.4Ghz), and found there to be a
>sharp drop in signal strength in a 4 foot radius
>around my coil. (which is not plugged in)
>
>Is this at all possible?  Or am I imagining this?

You bet it's possible.. big metal thing, dimensions on the order of a 
wavelength or two, all kinds of weird stuff is possible.  (2.4 GHz => 12.5 
cm wavelength)  Of course, your body, and the antenna/laptop is also going 
to perturb the field.

In some (exceedingly) casual experiments over the weekend, I was mapping 
the field strength on my kitchen table, trying to understand optimum 
orientation and position of the laptop when sucking down that first cup of 
coffee in the morning.  There are 10-20 dB changes in field strength over a 
distance of a few feet, and no apparent, obvious, pattern to it. (clearly, 
it fits in the "complex multipath environment" category)