Back                                             Dubious Experiments

Revised:  Sept. 19, 2005

Do you have a 'dubious experiment' of any type, such as an 'ill-advised' microwave oven experiment or a carefully controlled and rapid oxidation idea?  An experiment you wish had never been thought of?  If so, I'm collecting these and have a collection building up in a pass-worded subweb.  It's available from the Tesla Tips page or from here directly:  Verboten Access.  You'll need to add one to see the collection.

New 'Kirlian' Photo Method?

This 'experiment' is seriously tongue in cheek.  I also have some unwise microwave experiments I'll post later.

Question:  What components of a TC discharge striking a camera lens will follow the optical path of a single lens reflex camera and travel through your head?  Will they produce a photographic image?  If so, of what?

• Take a 6cm by 7cm, or larger, piece of un-exposed camera film and seal it in a light tight bag
• Tape this bag to the back of your head
• Over this bag on the back of your head, tape a grounded sheet of aluminum foil or copper
• Turn on the Tesla Coil
• Make sure the all lights are out
• Hold the camera's lens to your forehead as if preparing to take a photo, set the aperture to its widest setting and use the bulb setting to hold the shutter open (no film in camera is required for this test as the film is taped to the back of your head)
• Approach the Tesla Coil's discharge until you get a real solid strike to the lens, two or three strikes would be best
• Either send me the roll or develop the film yourself
• Send me the resulting images

Tesla Coil as a Lightning Attractor?

Question:  Would a Tesla coil attract a lightning strike and what would it look like?

• Set outside a large sacrificial TC when a lightning storm is approaching
• Attach a large isolation transformer between the power line and TC
• Fuse that line as well, maybe in several points along its length
• Set up a few video cameras and have an on/off switch safely? away from the TC
• As the lightning approaches, turn on the cameras and TC
• Be sure one of the cameras is fairly close to the TC and mounted low, looking up with the toroid in the bottom of the frame, the sky above mostly filling the area to be captured on video
• This should be a lightning storm without rain.  However, if what I think could happen happens, it won't matter except perhaps to the cameras and all of the exposed equipment. 
• I think I'd also wrap the cameras in plastic and have a fire extinguisher handy
• And, as usual, send me copies of the video

A Very Interesting Idea, Since We're On The Subject Of Lightning

July 20, 2004.  As we all know a tesla coil will light up a florescent light bulb from several feet away.  My 4" coil will light up a light bulb from 15 ft away and my 10" coil will light up a light bulb from 40 ft away.   More power more distance.  If I move the light bulb close the the TC it glows all the time.  If I get far away from the TC the light bulb flashes only when there is a discharge spark.   I was watching TV and I could see lighting static on the picture.  I knew a storm was not to far away.   As it turned out the storm was about 40 miles away.  That gave me an idea.  I flew a kite on a piece of #24 enamel coated copper wire about 150 ft of wire attached to the end of a florescent light bulb that was stuck in the ground.  The storm was about 10 miles away and every time there was lighting in the storm the florescent light bulb would flash.  As the storm got closer and closer the light bulb flashed brighter and brighter.  When the storm was about 3 miles away the light bulb glowed all the time.  That is very interesting because that is exactly what the Tesla Coil does.  The storm got closer, the wind picked up, the kite crashed, it started to rain and I went in the house.  Gary W.

You go, Ben Franklin!  I want to repeat this with a rather large kite with areas covered with aluminum foil and connected to the mag wire attached to the kite string.  July 20, 2004,  John C.