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RE: [TCML] "Phantom Streamer" Photographs



In addition to ozone, a coil produces NOx, which converts to nitric acid.

Adam


--- On Thu, 5/22/08, Jeff Behary <electrotherapy@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> From: Jeff Behary <electrotherapy@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: RE: [TCML] "Phantom Streamer" Photographs
> To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Thursday, May 22, 2008, 3:55 PM
> PS --
> An unusual side note.  This afternoon I was moving the
> Pancakes and noticed that the Chrome discharging balls were
> completely pitted and covered in rust.  I would expect that
> after some weeks of use, but that was with only about a 1/2
> hour of run time - just to make the other photos on the
> site!  The only thing I can think of is the ton of ozone
> when they're produced, maybe a lot more than realized. 
> I expect anything steel near a coil to rust, but not quite
> that quickly - I can remember using steel balls for a spark
> gap and they didn't look that bad after 30 minutes!
>  
> The other thing, maybe important, is that in this unit when
> only one spark gap was used very little if any phantoms
> appeared.  When 2 or 3 gaps were used they appeared from
> 6-8" or 8-12" depending on the setting.  At the
> 4th setting sparks started to race across the wax, so I try
> and limit the operation to 2 or 3 gaps only.  At 2 or 3
> gaps, the phantoms were produced well, and tended to vanish
> (or be replaced with brush and normal spark discharges) when
> more than 3 were used.
>  
> 3 updated photos at the end of:
>  
> http://www.electrotherapymuseum.com/2008/CyclonePlus3/index.htm
>  
> Jeff
> > From: electrotherapy@xxxxxxxxxxx> To:
> tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> Subject: RE: [TCML] "Phantom
> Streamer" Photographs> Date: Thu, 22 May 2008
> 09:23:53 -0400> CC: > > > Gary and Terry,>
> I'm using the unusual "Phantom" phrase from
> Tesla lectures. I don't know if that term evolved over
> the years...?> > Your example below is interesting, I
> don't know if its a Phantom exactly, but I am definately
> familiar with the phenomena and like the "stable"
> streamer name. I have seen too on coils where the brush
> goes in all directions chaotically and then suddenly takes
> a slow discharge right to something off in the distance
> normally out of reach. It seems to do it in a
> "careful" manner, slowly, as odd as that phrase
> sounds when talking about sparks! > > They are really
> fascinating to study, and confusing at the same time. At
> times they appear very slow - in circuits with low current
> and high capacity -- I have seen them as you said appear to
> form in the matter of seconds...almost like fireworks. The
> streams can dart out in a straight line, strobing quickly
> (but slower than a brush discharge), void of any branches
> or zigzags, and then "crackle" or
> "burst" at the very ends --- suddenly you'll
> get a plume (like a peacock feather) that bursts out in all
> directions, conical shape with the point at the end of the
> stream forming outward. > (As strange as it sounds, they
> appear a lot like one of the common cat toys, a bunch of
> feathers on the end of a stick...same idea here, only
> electrically..., again I'm at a loss of words to
> describe them in a proper manner...)> > They are
> similar to the effects from a Van de graaf but not
> exactly...this is what is really strange, they almost
> appear as a static discharge. At first I thought with
> Pancakes it could have been an electrophorus effect from
> the wax and rosin, but now with cylindrical coils of large
> capacity I am seeing the same effects...?> > The damn
> shame is that the "bursts" at the end of the
> streamers (which are really beautiful!) are the things I
> can't seem to capture with the camera. Cip and I are
> going to have round two with the new camera to see what
> happens on different settings. The streams show up well on
> direct contact with photographic paper and film, x-ray
> film, etc, but the whole 3-D effect is lost.> > The
> ability to charge objects is really interesting. You can
> hold a piece of wood in the streamers and once in a while
> get a nice shock from it. You can also take metal spheres
> and mount them to dry wood and take sparks from the spheres
> when the wood only is in the path of the streams. > >
> Another strange bit is that approaching the streams with
> any object (grounded or of large capacity, points, planes,
> etc.) doesn't seem to change their direction or course.
> > > The main point about the photos I UL'ed is
> that they don't capture the main parts of the
> streamers. Its only about 1/3 of them, and even still the
> photos only show a trace or blur of where they've been
> - not what they look like. I would love to get pictures of
> the various forms exact - but its not easy. They don't
> give off enough light to do a fast exposure, which is what
> needs to be done. Maybe night vision or something?> >
> The real interesting thing would be to photograph the forms
> and then vary the frequency so that the effects can be
> seen. A small change of .001 mfd or so will change the
> bursts and appearance of the streams - the zig zag patterns
> change, how many braches at the tips, the thickness of the
> streams. (I have seen them 1/8" thick on small coils
> and around 1" thick on large coils when produced
> perfectly...what is also stranger is that when
> well-produced the streams start thin at the topload and
> branch out thicker into the void around! > > Jeff>
> From: Gary.Lau@xxxxxx> To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx> Date:
> Thu, 22 May 2008 12:43:07 +0000> Subject: RE: [TCML]
> "Phantom Streamer" Photographs> CC: > >
> Hi Jeff,> > Foremost, I agree with Terry, in that
> what really counts is how pretty the picture is, and yours
> are very!> > I believe what you are seeing is what I
> had referred to as a stable streamer - see 3rd from last
> image on http://www.laushaus.com/tesla/minicoil.htm.
> I've only witnessed these on lower powered coils. Text
> from my web page:> "Above shows something that I
> rarely see on other coils. When there is a grounded target
> just out of striking distance, the usually chaotic
> streamer(s) will occasionally coalesce into a single,
> sinuous, un-branching, slowly writhing streamer, lasting
> 1-5 seconds at most. The sound generated is more stable and
> louder than normal as well. In the photo, there is a
> basement lally column 10" away from the toroid, and
> there will be a brief strike to it every 30 seconds or
> so."> > The fact that these stable streamers
> move more slowly than the normal chaotic streamers will
> naturally make them appear brighter and more evident in a
> photo.> > Regards, Gary Lau> MA, USA> > >
> -----Original Message-----> > From:
> tesla-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tesla-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx]
> On> > Behalf Of piranha> > Sent: Thursday, May
> 22, 2008 2:42 AM> > To: Tesla Coil Mailing List>
> > Subject: Re: [TCML] "Phantom Streamer"
> Photographs> >> > Hi Jeff,> >> >
> Pretty normal...> >> > The long exposure time
> "smears" things a bit. The camera has some
> "hot> > pixels" (modern cameras
> "subtract" them, but they don't
> "linearly> > account" for them. So they
> show up under "brightness" where they> >
> disappear under "simple dark")... But the corona
> and leaders are very> > well known.> >> >
> The current in them is super dependent on space charge
> capacitance> > depending on the shape and size of the
> terminal and the voltage and> > frequency as well as
> the exact driving voltage waveform. Higher> >
> frequencies have higher currents in this case, and so it
> goes...> >> > The direction matters since a
> leader going right towards the camera lens> > will be
> much brighter. All the brightness at zero degrees rather
> than> > 90 degrees....> >> > Be a bit
> careful since digital cameras worked to the ends of
> their> > capabilities can do very odd
> "ghosting" things... They seems to be> >
> happily immune to local HV fields now days though :)>
> >> > What really counts, is how pretty of a
> picture you can get out of it all :D> >> >
> Terry> >> >> >> >> > and>
> > Jeff Behary wrote:> > > Hey All,> >
> >> > > A friend of mine Cip just got a digital
> camera much better than mine. He can> > attach lenses
> and do exposures more than 1 second. I told him of my ordeal
> with> > capturing "Phantom Streamers" in
> photos and he decided to give it a shot. The> >
> results are interesting...> > >
> http://www.electrotherapymuseum.com/2008/CipPhantom2/index.htm>
> > > The violet light surrounding the brush discharge
> indicates the roots or nearer> > portions of the
> Phantoms.> > > With 4 second exposures, they
> started to appear. Their constant movement and> >
> lack of light results in a consistent blur that in the
> photo extends , but this is all I> > can manage at
> the moment with the camera and the settings I'm
> familiar with.> > >> > > The
> "Phantom Streams" are strange faint discharges
> that extend perpendicular> > from the electrode/top
> load. They can change appearance by changing the> >
> frequency of the coil, becoming straight lines that strobe
> inward and outward, or> > take on the appearance of
> faint static electric discharges, plume-like or
> slightly> > branching. With low voltage tank circuits
> (~500V - 2kV) they seem to appear best> > when large
> caps are used (1/2 - 1 mfd) and intermittent spark gaps
> (opened to the> > point where they start to sputter
> or become irregular). With higher voltage tank> >
> circuits (10 - 30kV) they seem to appear best when very
> little current is used (30mA> > or less) and a spark
> gap rather close (set to fire at only a few thousand
> volts).> > >> > > In the case of a few of
> my Pancakes, I can get them to appear from 8 - 12"
> or> > more using a 9" flat spiral of magnet wire
> heavily insulated in wax. I've been able> > to
> also produce them in cylindrical Tesla Coils, normally
> those physically large> > compared to the tank
> circuit's capacity. In large coils they can appear an
> inch or> > more in diameter, for most 8 - 10"
> Pancakes they appear as luminous threads 1/16">
> > - 1/8" in diameter or more.> > >>
> > >
> http://www.electrotherapymuseum.com/2008/CyclonePlus3/index.htm>
> > > To show some unusual proof of their existance, I
> grounded myself to one end of a> > series spark gap
> and approached the other end to the region of air
> containing the> > "Phantoms". The result
> was a consistent firing of the gap, the total section
> length> > going from 1 1/4" - 2" or
> more.> > >
> http://www.electrotherapymuseum.com/2008/CipPhantom/index.htm>
> > > In another batch of photos, they appear as a sort
> of halo around the brush> > discharge. The actual
> discharges are about twice the length of the halos that
> got> > captured. One photo, slightly blurry in
> appearance, is actually a 30 second> > exposure!>
> > >> > > Complete blueprints for a simple
> machine to make "Phantom Streamers" are> >
> currently being drawn.> > > Jeff Behary> >
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