Re: big coil history

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Terry Fritz <teslalist@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi Ed,

Take a nice lumped theory Tesla coil model like this:

http://www.hot-streamer.com/TeslaCoils/MyPapers/modact/Image160.gif

And try and work through it with pencil and paper ;-))

Today with computers and MicroSim like programs, "anyone" can do it!!  But 
if one tries to do it the hard way (and many many have tried!!), you just 
can't do it....  Much like transmission line theory in 80's, the tools were 
not there to workout the details....  Today, Antonio has many papers where 
those details "have" been worked to a very high degree!

Also, today we can measure things with high confidence. In the 30's and 
40's, they just did not have the test tools to "know" what was going 
on.  It is always far easier to know what the system is doing with real 
measurements and "then" fit the theory ;-))

In the old days I am sure many worked things and found the terminal voltage 
of a coil with say 10 foot streamers to be 300kV...  Well, that was 
obviously "wrong" !! :o))  10 feet at 10kV/inch is 1,200,000 
volts...  Tesla always gave coils super high voltages too...  If the 
physics did not agree with Tesla then the physics was obviously wrong 
because Tesla certainly was not...  I think a lot of the mess got started 
just that way...

Of course, we all know who started the 1/4 wavelength of wire idea ;-)))

http://www.pbs.org/tesla/tt/images/tt_main.jpg

"Probably through misinterpretation of something Tesla said?"  Actually, 
direct and accurate interpretations of what Tesla said...

If he would have had a good scope, think of how different it would all be 
now!!!!  If anyone gets that time machine working, we gotta send Tesla a 
scope!!!  If Tesla had a scope, maybe we would have time machines now!! ;o))

Cheers,

        Terry


At 01:02 PM 3/31/2005, you wrote:
> "Given that folks in the 30s and 40s were using the lumped LC analysis
> approach (and it had certainly been around before that), it would be
> interesting to see where, when, and why, the 1/4 wavelength of wire idea
> started to be used."
>
>         Probably through misinterpretation of something Tesla said?
>
> Ed