Re: RF question

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

Original poster: "Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz" <acmq-at-compuland-dot-com.br> 

Tesla list wrote:
 >
 > Original poster: "Chris the great" <downnessisgoingup-at-hotmail-dot-com>
 >
 > I believe that if the topload is to large to allow breakout, all energy
 > will be sent out as RF. Not 100% sure about that, anyone correct me if I'm
 > wrong.

To have significant RF output, the dimensions of the system must be
a significant fraction of the wavelength at the frequencies under
consideration. 300 kHz corresponds to a wavelength of 3 km, and so,
a Tesla coil operating at this range of frequencies, unless having
elements with several tens of meters in length, will not irradiate
much. The abrupt voltage changes in the circuits connected to the
primary spark gap are probably the main source of irradiation, since
high frequencies are present there. Sparks at the terminal can also
irradiate a lot, at high frequencies too. I don't know of a careful
study about this, but this subject was very probably studied in the
past.

Antonio Carlos M. de Queiroz