Tesla Attempt

[Bodkins]

mircowave diodes are good for understanding the direction of the movement
YouTube - Singlewire lightbulb Singlewire charging

[rave154]

for Bod

Thanks for the video Bod, more chowder for me to munch on mentally speaking........however..... when i said....the "bulb" is lit and the "bulb" is brighter.....i wasnt talking about a CFL......im tlking about a standard 12V light bulb...ya know..the kind you put in a torch or whatever

[rave154]

hi folks, see attatched circuit,

basically, 2 spark gaps, one to each leg of the 12v light bulb,

lights to about 75% brightness... then i replaced that bulb with a 240V 60 watt standard light bulb ( not a CFL )....get a teeny lil greeny bluey purply plasma like discharge at the corners of the filament, i didnt see it at first its so small, only when i looked closer...

[rave154]

video

heres the video of the 240V bulb..

YouTube - Movie33

[Inquorate]

Tesla on the ether

i think this is the thread that i was going to post my summary of user's posts and my thoughts on the ether.

however, i've just come across this link by the man himself, nikola tesla, who is much more affluent than I.

Experiments with Alternate Currents of Very High Frequency and Their Application to Methods of Artificial Illumination

recommended reading, and nice to know i was / am on the right track.

&

[Inquorate]

Tesla Quote

"There is no subject more captivating, more worthy of study, than nature. To understand this great mechanism, to discover the forces which are active, and the laws which govern them, is the highest aim of the intellect of man.

Nature has stored up in the universe infinite energy. The eternal recipient and transmitter of this infinite energy is the ether. The recognition of the existence of ether, and of the functions it performs, is one of the most important results of modern scientific research. The mere abandoning of the idea of action at a distance, the assumption of a medium pervading all space and connecting all gross matter, has freed the minds of thinkers of an ever present doubt, and, by opening a new horizon—new and unforeseen possibilities—has given fresh interest to phenomena with which we are familiar of old. It has been a great step towards the understanding of the forces of nature and their multifold manifestations to our senses. It has been for the enlightened student of physics what the understanding of the mechanism of the firearm or of the steam engine is for the barbarian. Phenomena upon which we used to look as wonders baffling explanation, we now see in a different light. The spark of an induction coil, the glow of an incandescent lamp, the manifestations of the mechanical forces of currents and magnets are no longer beyond our grasp; instead of the incomprehensible, as before, their observation suggests now in our minds a simple mechanism, and although as to its precise nature all is still conjecture, yet we know that the truth cannot be much longer hidden, and instinctively we feel that the understanding is dawning upon us. We still admire these beautiful phenomena, these strange forces, but we are helpless no longer; we can in a certain measure explain them, account for them, and we are hopeful of finally succeeding in unraveling the mystery which surrounds them.

In how far we can understand the world around us is the ultimate thought of every student of nature. The coarseness of our senses prevents us from recognizing the ulterior construction of matter, and astronomy, this grandest and most positive of natural sciences, can only teach us something that happens, as it were, in our immediate neighborhood; of the remoter portions of the boundless universe, with its numberless stars and suns, we know nothing, But far beyond the limit of perception of our senses the spirit still can guide us, and so we may hope that even these unknown worlds—infinitely small and great—may in a measure became known to us. Still, even if this knowledge should reach us, the searching mind will find a barrier, perhaps forever unsurpassable, to the true recognition of that which seems to be, the mere appearance of which is the only and slender basis of all our philosophy.

Of all the forms of nature's immeasurable, all-pervading energy, which ever and ever changing and moving; like a soul animates the inert universe, electricity and magnetism are perhaps the most fascinating. The effects of gravitation, of heat and light we observe daily, and soon we get accustomed to them, and soon they lose for us the character of the marvelous and wonderful; but electricity and magnetism, with their singular relationship, with their seemingly dual character, unique among the forces in nature, with their phenomena of attractions, repulsions and rotations, strange manifestations of mysterious agents; stimulate and excite the mind to thought and research. What is electricity, and what is magnetism? These questions have been asked again and again. The most able intellects have ceaselessly wrestled with the problem; still the question has not as yet been fully answered. But while we cannot even to-day state what these singular forces are, we have made good headway towards the solution of the problem. We are now confident that electric and magnetic phenomena are attributable to ether, and we are perhaps justified in saying that the effects of static electricity are effects of ether under strain, and those of dynamic electricity and electro-magnetism effects of ether in motion. But this still leaves the question, as to what electricity and magnetism are, unanswered.

First, we naturally inquire, What is electricity, and is there such a thing as electricity? In interpreting electric phenomena: we may speak of electricity or of an electric condition, state or effect. If we speak of electric effects we must distinguish two such effects, opposite in character and neutralizing each other, as observation shows that two such opposite effects exist. This is unavoidable, for in a medium of the properties of ether, we cannot possibly exert a strain, or produce a displacement or motion of any kind, without causing in the surrounding medium an equivalent and opposite effect. But if we speak of electricity, meaning a thing, we must, I think, abandon the idea of two electricities, as tie existence of two such things is highly improbable. For how can we imagine that there should be two things, equivalent in amount, alike in their properties, but of opposite character, both clinging to matter, both attracting and completely neutralizing each other? Such an assumption, though suggested by many phenomena, though most convenient for explaining them, has little to commend it. If there is such a thing as electricity, there can be only one such thing, and; excess and want of that one thin, possibly; but more probably its condition determines the positive and negative character. The old theory of Franklin, though falling short in some respects; is, from a certain point of view, after all, the most plausible one. Still, in spite of this, the theory of the two electricities is generally accepted, as it apparently explains electric phenomena in a more satisfactory manner. But a theory which better explains the facts is not necessarily true. Ingenious minds will invent theories to suit observation, and almost every independent thinker has his own views on the subject.

It is not with the, object of advancing an opinion; but with the desire of acquainting you better with some of the results, which I will describe, to show you the reasoning I have followed, the departures I have made—that I venture to express, in a few words, the views and convictions which have led me to these results.

I adhere to the idea that there is a thing which we have been in the habit of calling electricity. The question is, What is that thing? or, What, of all things, the existence of which we know, have we the best reason to call electricity? We know that it acts like an incompressible fluid; that there must be a constant quantity of it in nature; that it can be neither produced nor destroyed; and, what is more important, the electro-magnetic theory of light and all facts observed teach us that electric and ether phenomena are identical. The idea at once suggests itself, therefore, that electricity might be called ether. In fact, this view has in a certain sense been advanced by Dr. Lodge. His interesting work has been read by everyone and many have been convinced by his arguments. Isis great ability and the interesting nature of the subject, keep the reader spelbound; but when the impressions fade, one realizes that he has to deal only with ingenious explanations. I must confess, that I cannot believe in two electricities, much less in a doubly-constituted ether. The puzzling behavior of tile ether as a solid waves of light anti heat, and as a fluid to the motion of bodies through it, is certainly explained in the most natural and satisfactory manner by assuming it to be in motion, as Sir William Thomson has suggested; but regardless of this, there is nothing which would enable us to conclude with certainty that, while a fluid is not capable of transmitting transverse vibrations of a few hundred or thousand per second, it might not be capable of transmitting such vibrations when they range into hundreds of million millions per second. Nor can anyone prove that there are transverse ether waves emitted from an alternate current machine, giving a small number of alternations per second; to such slow disturbances, the ether, if at rest, may behave as a true fluid.

Returning to the subject, and bearing in mind that the existence of two electricities is, to say the least, highly improbable, we must remember, that we have no evidence of electricity, nor can we hope to get it, unless gross matter is present. Electricity, therefore, cannot be called ether in the broad sense of the term; but nothing would seem to stand in the way of calling electricity ether associated with matter, or bound other; or, in other words, that the so-called static charge of the molecule is ether associated in some way with the molecule. Looking at it in that light, we would be justified in saying, that electricity is concerned in all molecular actions.

Now, precisely what the ether surrounding tine molecules is, wherein it differs from ether in general, can only be conjectured. It cannot differ in density, ether being incompressible; it must, therefore, be under some strain or is motion, and the latter is the` most probable: To understand its functions, it would be necessary to have an exact idea of the physical construction of matter, of which, of course, we can only form a mental picture.

But of all the views on nature, the one which assumes one matter and one force, and a perfect uniformity throughout, is the most scientific.and most likely to be true. An infinitesimal world, with the molecules and their atoms spinning and moving in orbits, in much the same manner as celestial bodies, carrying with them and probably spinning with them ether, or in other words; carrying with them static charges, seems to my mind the most probable view, and one which; in a plausible manner, accounts for most of the phenomena observed. The spinning of the molecules and their ether sets up the ether tensions or electrostatic strains; the equalization of ether tensions sets up ether motions or electric currents, and the orbital movements produce the effects of electro and permanent magnetism.

About fifteen, years ago, Prof. Rowland demonstrated a most interesting and important fact; namely, that a static charge carried around produces the effects of an electric current. Leaving out of consideration the precise nature of the mechanism, which produces the attraction and repulsion of currents, and conceiving the electrostatically charged molecules in motion, this experimental fact gives us a fair idea of magnetism. We can conceive lines or tubes of force which physically exist, being formed of rows of directed moving molecules; we can see that these lines must be closed, that they must tend to shorten and expand, etc. It likewise explains in a reasonable way, the most puzzling phenomenon. of all, permanent magnetism, and, in general, has all the beauties of the Ampere theory without possessing the vital defect of the same, namely, the assumption of molecular currents. Without enlarging further upon the subject, I would say, that I look upon all electrostatic, current and magnetic phenomena as being due to electrostatic molecular forces."

[Inquorate]

streaming discharge

i really want to see this, and once i've conquered the mechanical switch issue, will be heading for it.

"In operating an induction coil with very rapidly alternating currents, among the first luminous phenomena noticed are naturally those, presented by the high-tension discharge. As the number of alternations per second is increased, or as—the number being high—the current through the primary is varied, the discharge gradually changes in appearance. It would be difficult to describe the minor changes which occur, and the conditions which bring them about, but one may note five distinct forms of the discharge.

First, one may observe a weak, sensitive discharge in the form of a thin, feeble-colored thread (Fig. 4a). It always occurs when, the number of alternations per second being high, the current through the primary is very small. In spite of the excessively small current, the rate of change is great, and the difference of potential at the terminals of the secondary is therefore considerable, so that the arc is established at great distances; but the quantity of "electricity" set in motion is insignificant, barely sufficient to maintain a thin, threadlike arc. It is excessively, sensitive and may be made so to such a degree that the mere act of breathing near the coil will affect it, and unless it is perfectly well protected from currents of air, it wriggles around constantly. Nevertheless, it is in this form excessively persistent, and when the terminals are approached to, say, one-third of the striking distance, it can be blown out only with difficulty. This exceptional persistency, when short, is largely due to the arc being excessively thin; presenting, therefore, a very small surface to the blast. Its great sensitiveness, when very long, is probably due to the motion of the particles of dust suspended in the air.

When the current through the primary is increased, the discharge gets broader and stronger, and the effect of the capacity of the coil becomes visible until, finally, under proper conditions, a white flaming arc, Fig. 4b, often as thick as one's finger, and striking across the whole coil, is produce. It develops remarkable heat, and may be further characterized by the absence of the high note which accompanies the less powerful discharges. To take a shock from .the coil under these conditions would not be advisable, although under different conditions the potential being much higher; a shock from the coil may be taken with impunity. To produce this kind of discharge the number of alternations per second must not be too great for the coil used; and, generally speaking, certain relations between capacity, self-induction and frequency must be observed.

The importance of these elements in an alternate current circuit is now well-known, and under ordinary conditions, the general rules are applicable. But in an induction coil exceptional conditions prevail. First, the self-induction is of little importance before the arc is established, when it asserts itself, but perhaps never as prominently as in ordinary alternate current circuits, because the capacity is distributed all along the coil, and by reason of the fact that the coil usually discharges through very great resistances; hence the currents are exceptionally small. Secondly, the capacity goes on increasing continually as the potential rises, in consequence of absorption which takes place to a considerable extent. Owing to this there exists no critical relationship between these quantities, and ordinary rules would not seem: to be applicable: As the potential is increased either in consequence of the increased frequency or of the increased current through the primary, the amount of the energy stored becomes greater and greater, and the capacity gains more and more in importance. Up to a certain point the capacity is beneficial, but after that it begins to be an enormous drawback. It follows from this that each coil gives the best result with a given frequency and primary current. A very large coil, when operated with currents of very high frequency, may not give as much as 1/8 inch spark. By adding capacity to the terminals, the condition may be improved, but what the coil really wants is a lower frequency.

When the flaming discharge occurs, the conditions are evidently such that the greatest current is made to flow through the circuit. These conditions may be attained by varying the frequency within wide limits, but the highest frequency at which the flaming arc can still be produced, determines, for a given primary current, the maximum striking distance of the coil. In the flaming discharge the eclat effect of the capacity is not perceptible; the rate at which the energy is being stored then just equals the rate at which it can be disposed of through the circuit. This kind of discharge is the severest test for a coil; the break, when it occurs, is of the nature of that in an overcharged Leyden jar. To give a rough approximation I would state that, with an ordinary coil of, say, 10,000 ohms resistance, the most powerful arc would be produced with about 12,000 alternations per second.

When the frequency is increased beyond that rate, the potential, of course, rises, but the striking distance may, nevertheless, diminish, paradoxical as it may seem. As the potential rises the coil attains more and more the properties of a static machine until, finally, one may observe the beautiful phenomenon of the streaming discharge" Nikola Tesla

[rave154]

for INQ & co

Hi, guys, been a while, i got waylayed by an abscess, could hardly walk or stand !


INQ, re- your purple flasher...see attatched circuit...

using the end of the coil that has the diode in opposition to the HV ( the lower diode in ther picture )...

when i runt he circuit for maybe a second, if i hold one leg of the neon to the coil it glows dimmly for about 15 seconds.....and then.....once the glow has gone.....if i then touch both legs of the neon to both ends of the coil...i get the purple flash you described...sometimes more than one...sometimes a purple flash followed by an ornage one..

i just videod it..but it just doesnt sdhow it up very well..

thoughts?

David. D

[rave154]

p.s

adding,

the persistant orange glow only happen when i touch the leg of the neon that i am NOT holding with the pliers....to the coil end......if i touvh the leg of ther neon that i am holding with the pliers to the coil end....no glow.

i just tried it all using the beginning of the coil, same results as using the ends of the coil, the purple flash is very distinctive, seems to go the whole length of the electrodes too.

[Shamus]

Hearing about the purple flash makes me think about "Secrets of Cold War Technology" and the section where Tesla could produce different colors with his apparatus depending on the frequency (sorry, don't remember off the top of my head where it was). Makes me wonder if that's what's happening here.

I wonder--does neon have more than one ionization level? Wikipedia is silent on the issue. Though this little tidbit is quite interesting:

Once lit, a neon lamp has a negative resistance characteristic: increasing the current through the device increases the number of ions, thereby decreasing the resistance of the lamp and allowing even more current.

[rave154]

hmmmm

shamus, thanks for the titbit, veryyyyyy interesting....


hmm....im wondering now... if you think about it....im making the contact between the two legs of the neon + the two ends of the coil by hand... so obviously.sometimes...this leg will touch first THEN the other leg and vice versa...and other combo's..... any thoughts on how to control that process to study the different effects of different switching combo''s?


hmmm..........very ponderable.

[rave154]

for INQ

INQ,

had an idea,

using your mechanical switch, connected to my 555->ignition coil circuit--> bi-filar coil... could you not link up the the connections of the legs of the neon so that your mech-switch connects them both at the same time to the two ends of the bifilar over & over at whatever frequency your disk is rotating, that way you could study if frequency has any effect on the colour/ shape of the purple discharge inside the neon?

as im doing it the moment (by hand so to speak ) im running the circuit for a second or so, then turning it off ( for safety more than anything ), then flicking the neon-legs past the two ends of the coils to get the flash. I think you could have the same thing but your mech-switch could do the connecting/unconnecting over & over at whatever frequency you wanted determined by the speed of your disk rotation.

I'd love to see that in action, plus other applications of your mech-switch.

David. D

[Inquorate]

Mechanical switch

I'll have a go, either tonight or tomorrow.

I have pulsed an air coil with it, using a recovery diode to collect radiant collapse, and was measuring >1000v with two different meters.

Love and light

[rave154]

cant wait *Slobers*

[Inquorate]

In your sketch

That coil on the end is just the one coil eh.. Not two separate Bifilar coils..

With that assumption in mind, I should be able to slap together a replication today. I'll be using a ferrite powder, iron filings and 2 part epoxy glue mixture to make the coil's core.

And I still have a couple of hv diodes somewhere.

I'll use my bedini motor to pulse a transistor to drive the ignition coil, since I'll be setting the mechanical switch up to join the free ends of the final coil's Bifilar wires to the neon. Or maybe I'll put more actual switch contacts on the mechanical switch mechanism..

Also, I don't want to build a 555 timer circuit.

I have one more question though; are you saying in your posts that the coil has been switched off when the neon glows with one leg contacting one of the Bifilar wires for 15sec?

Cause that's what I gathered from what you were saying. Which is cool. But I thought I'd check.

Love and light