Re: Ball Lightning

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

Original poster: "Malcolm Watts by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <m.j.watts-at-massey.ac.nz>

On 11 Jan 2002, at 8:42, Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "Nebojsa Kovacevic by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <morfeus-at-EUnet.yu>
> 
> 73
> Hello All!
> 
> As for the ball lightning: what about the fact that Tesla mentioned in
> his experiments, that he generated sphere lightning using just
> discharging of two diferent frequencies, using the high frequency coil
> to arc to the low frequency coil, the low frequency coil would then
> release it`s energy rapidly, in a burst. He was saying also something
> about discharging the two diferent frequency streamers through the
> larger pipe, and notice little spheres inside as a product of a
> colision.
> 
> "...it became apparent that the fireballs resulted form the interaction
> of two frequencies, a stray
>                      higher frequency wave imposed on  the lower
> frequency oscillations of the main circuit....
> 
>                     This condition acts as a trigger which may cause the
> total energy of the powerful longer wave
>                     to be discharged in a infinitesimally small interval
> of time and the proportionately tremendously
>                     great rate of energy movement which cannot confine
> itself to the metal circuit and is released
>                     into surrounding space with inconceivable violence.
> 
>                     It is but a step, from the learning how a high
> frequency current can explosively discharge a lower
>                     frequency current, to using the principle to design
> a system in which these explosions can be
>                     produced by intent."   -N. Tesla
> 
> But he never really explained how he acchieved the generation of this
> phenomenon.
> 
> Regards,
> Nele

I seem to recall that Greg Leyh once thought of firing a 40kW coil at 
a charged Marx bank with some 10k's of Joules of pent up energy. For 
all the talk about frequency differences between coils, I cannot see 
the difference between firing a coil at a charged capacitor and 
firing it at the top termial of a another TC. Spark leader phenomenon 
are orders of magnitude faster than typical TC frequencies anyway - 
to all intents and purposes, the coils are behaving just like a pair 
of charged capacitors. Ironically, in the scheme I previously 
mentioned (the carbon point) Ken Corum explicitly stated that air 
streamers were required which doesn't appear to square well with this 
particular idea. I see a good deal of whimsy in some proposals but 
little theoretical support. Besides, who truly knows what BL is 
anyway. Some people doubt it even exists.

Regards,
malcolm