Original poster: "Peter Terren" <pterren@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Two days ago I had a 15 hour day doing video for a Discovery Channel
Canada segment. They shot 3 hours of tape during that time and it
will go to one (possibly more) 5 minute segments to be edited on May
10 and to play on within a few weeks to Canada. It was shot using a
local crew of 3 and telephone interview from Canada.
I spent a long time doing storyboards and planning shots in the weeks before.
We shot the following:
1 Opener with my shed and sparks and smoke coming out, then big bang
and sparks shower out from my cap bank and I walk out. 'I always
wanted to do that'.
2 Smoke ring generator at home and in a huge gymnasium. My best
shots ever with slow vivid smoke rings going the length of the hall
at walking pace and hitting the wall.
3 Interview for about 1/2 hour.
4 Electric shock demonstration with small shocks to my arm with
first my Candybox HV 30kV then with a medical pacer going up to
about 20mA if I recall to show my hand contracting forcefully. The
retakes for the closeup were the a bit stressfull.
5 Can crushing and shooting cans into the air. (no time for magneforming)
6 Set up of Tesla coil car thief protection. I tried about 5 car
firms and the local motor club. No-one wanted to donate a car
(surprise) so back to the car rental for yet another Hyundai Getz.
7 Set up and construction of my 18 inch coil including new things
like the toroid. Double truck tubes covered with chicken wire plus a
central motor/battery for the rotating rod. Pretty resilient stuff
particularly since it fell off at one stage but was undamaged. Try
doing that with an Al spun toroid. Also had a series blower gap in
series with my ARSG to improve quenching. Power of 16kV from two
potential transformers of a 240V 32A line. 0.09uF Tank cap.
8 Capacitor bank firing at 3-4 kJ into steel wool and aluminium
showering me with sparks. (I had high efficiency ear muffs) This was
a night shot.
9 Running the Tesla coil car thief protection. They will do a post
production job on it so it should look more like the photos but in real time.
10 Pool shots with a TC sparking into the pool. I get in (in a hired
wetsuit) and have sparks jump onto my chain mail gloved hand while I
am in the water. I then put on an "tin foil hat" that I made up on
camera. Actually on an aluminium frame also using Al tape. Big wires
on each side dangle into the water. Fine wire loops project and
protect my face. I could feel absolutely nothing when the sparks
were hitting my head.
11 Some concern here as to whether to proceed. Nearly 11pm and the
biggest noise yet to come. Budget for the crew was becoming an issue
too I gather. Press on, I said, I have sent letters to all the
neighbours within a few hundred yards warning them. Out of wetsuit
and back into white shirt and tie and scramble to get the big TC
wired. Ran OK for 3 foot sparks to check. Push out to 5 ft then 7
foot. Only just at 7 foot with 13 turns on the primary. Push to 8
foot. No sparks reached the grounded ladder. Tune another turn out
to 14 turns and 8 foot spark caught on video. Next run the rotating
rod and leave it running for a while with filming with lights on and
off. After a few shots everything dies. Not sure what the problem is
but the video is in the bag. Another hour packing up and off to bed.
A lot of that 3 hours is going to end up on the cutting room floor
(97% by my calculation). Possibly 100% if someone sends some NIB
magnets through the mail at the same time.
I am working at getting some of the pics the kids took on my camera
to the website in the next day or so.
Peter http://tesladownunder.com