Don Smith’s Tesla coil style radiant energy device (Tesla transformer) can be made in a modern way. The classic version of the spark gap and neon-sign transformers (Neon tube power supply) can be replaced and simplified with modern electronic components.
Original version:
Note:
The 4000V 30mA transformer shown in this circuit diagram, may use a ferrite-cored transformer from a neon-tube driver module which steps up the voltage but it does not raise the frequency as that is clearly marked at 120 Hz pulsed DC. You will notice that this circuit diagram is drawn with Plus shown below Minus (which is most unusual).
Please note that when an earth connection is mentioned in connection with Don Smith's devices, we are talking about an actual wire connection to a metal object physically buried in the ground, whether it is a long copper rod driven into the ground, or an old car radiator buried in a hole like Tariel Kapanadze used, or a buried metal plate. When Thomas Henry Moray performed his requested demonstration deep in the countryside at a location chosen by the sceptics, the light bulbs which formed his demonstration electrical load, glowed more brightly with each hammer stroke as a length of gas pipe was hammered into the ground to form his earth connection.
Don also explains an even more simple version of his main device. This version does not need a Variac (variable voltage transformer) or high voltage capacitors. Here, a DC output is accepted which means that high-frequency step-down transformer operation can be used. This calls on the output side, for an air-core (or ferrite rod core) transformer which you would wind yourself from heavy duty wire. Mains loads would then be powered by using a standard off-the-shelf inverter. In this version, it is of course, very helpful to make the "L1" turns wire length exactly one quarter of the "L2" turns wire length in order to make the two coils automatically resonate together. The operating frequency of each of these coils is imposed on them by the output frequency of the neon-tube driver circuit. That frequency is maintained throughout the entire circuit until it is rectified by the four diodes feeding the low-voltage storage capacitor. The target output voltage will be either just over 12 volts or just over 24 volts, depending on the voltage rating of the inverter which is to be driven by the system.
As the circuit is capable of picking up additional magnetic pulses, such as those generated by other equipment, nearby lightning strikes, etc. an electronic component called a "varistor" marked "V" in the diagram, is connected across the load. This device acts as a voltage spike suppressor as it short-circuits any voltage above its design voltage, protecting the load from power surges. A Gas-Discharge Tube is an effective alternative to a varistor.
the current will be 0.08 mA and the wattage per resistor will be 64 mW. The meter reading will be about 20% of the capacitor voltage which will give a voltmeter reading of 800 volts. The input resistance of the meter needs to be checked and possibly, allowed for as the resistance in this circuit is so high (see chapter 12). When making a measurement of this type, the capacitor is discharged, the resistor chain and meter attached, and then, and only then, is the circuit powered up, the reading taken, the input power disconnected, the capacitor discharged, and the resistors disconnected. High-voltage circuits are highly dangerous, especially so, where a capacitor is involved. The recommendation to wear thick rubber gloves for this kind of work, is not intended to be humorous. Circuits of this type are liable to generate unexpected high-voltage spikes, and so, it might be a good idea to connect a varistor across the meter to protect it from those spikes. The varistor need to be set to the voltage which you intend to measure and as varistors may not be available above a 300V threshold, two or more may need to be connected in series where just one is shown in the diagram above. The varistor should not have a higher voltage rating than your meter.
※ Transistorized snap-off technology to harness energy from dielectric inertia.
※ This is a modern version of the self-powered generator, suitable for today's manufacturing - just buy the electronic components and electrical equipment to assemble, then expand the scale and increase the power of the machine. In addition, the plan has many other modern and unique methods!
Please note that when an earth connection is mentioned in connection with Don Smith's devices, we are talking about an actual wire connection to a metal object physically buried in the ground, whether it is a long copper rod driven into the ground, or an old car radiator buried in a hole like Tariel Kapanadze used, or a buried metal plate. When Thomas Henry Moray performed his requested demonstration deep in the countryside at a location chosen by the sceptics, the light bulbs which formed his demonstration electrical load, glowed more brightly with each hammer stroke as a length of gas pipe was hammered into the ground to form his earth connection.
Don also explains an even more simple version of his main device. This version does not need a Variac (variable voltage transformer) or high voltage capacitors. Here, a DC output is accepted which means that high-frequency step-down transformer operation can be used. This calls on the output side, for an air-core (or ferrite rod core) transformer which you would wind yourself from heavy duty wire. Mains loads would then be powered by using a standard off-the-shelf inverter. In this version, it is of course, very helpful to make the "L1" turns wire length exactly one quarter of the "L2" turns wire length in order to make the two coils automatically resonate together. The operating frequency of each of these coils is imposed on them by the output frequency of the neon-tube driver circuit. That frequency is maintained throughout the entire circuit until it is rectified by the four diodes feeding the low-voltage storage capacitor. The target output voltage will be either just over 12 volts or just over 24 volts, depending on the voltage rating of the inverter which is to be driven by the system.
As the circuit is capable of picking up additional magnetic pulses, such as those generated by other equipment, nearby lightning strikes, etc. an electronic component called a "varistor" marked "V" in the diagram, is connected across the load. This device acts as a voltage spike suppressor as it short-circuits any voltage above its design voltage, protecting the load from power surges. A Gas-Discharge Tube is an effective alternative to a varistor.
Alternative version:
One advantage of this circuit is that the output transformer is driven at the frequency set by the 555 timer and that frequency is not affected by the number of turns in the primary winding, nor it’s inductance, wire diameter, or anything else to do with the coil. While this circuit shows the rather expensive IRF9130 transistor, I expect that other P-channel FETs would work satisfactorily in this circuit. The IRF9130 transistor looks like this:
The circuit has a power supply diode and capacitor, ready to receive energy from the output at some later date if that is possible and desired. The 555 circuit is standard, giving a 50% Mark/Space ratio. The 10 nF capacitor is there to maintain the stability of the 555 and the timing section consists of two variable resistors, one fixed resistor and the 1 nF capacitor. This resistor arrangement gives a variable resistance of anything from 100 ohms to 51.8K and that allows a substantial frequency range. The 47K (Linear) variable resistor controls the main tuning and the 4.7K (Linear) variable resistor gives a more easily adjustable frequency for exact tuning. The 100 ohm resistor is there in case both of the variable resistors are set to zero resistance. The output is fed through a 470 ohm resistor to the gate of a very powerful P-channel FET transistor which drives the primary winding of the output transformer.
The output transformer can be wound on an insulating spool covering a ferrite rod, giving both good coupling between the windings, and high-frequency operation as well. The turns ratio is set to just 30:1 due to the high number of primary winding turns. With a 12-volt supply, this will give a 360-volt output waveform, and by reducing the primary turns progressively, allows the output voltage to be increased in controlled steps. With 10 turns in the primary, the output voltage should be 3,600 volts and with just 5 turns 7,200 volts. The higher the voltage used, the greater the amount of work needed later on to get the voltage back down to the output level which we want.
Looking at the wire specification table, indicates that quite a small wire diameter could be used for the oscillator output transformer’s secondary winding. While this is perfectly true, it is not the whole story. Neon Tube Drivers are very small and the wire in their output windings is very small diameter indeed. Those driver modules are very prone to failure. If the insulation on any one turn of the winding fails and one turn becomes a short-circuit, then that stops the winding from oscillating, and a replacement is needed. As there are no particular size constraints for this project, it might be a good idea to use enamelled copper wire of 0.45 mm or larger in an attempt to avoid this insulation failure hazard. No part of the transformer coil spool should be metal and it would not be any harm to cover each layer of secondary winding with a layer of electrical tape to provide additional insulation between the coil turns in one layer and the turns in the layer on top of it.
The output transformer can be wound on an insulating spool covering a ferrite rod, giving both good coupling between the windings, and high-frequency operation as well. The turns ratio is set to just 30:1 due to the high number of primary winding turns. With a 12-volt supply, this will give a 360-volt output waveform, and by reducing the primary turns progressively, allows the output voltage to be increased in controlled steps. With 10 turns in the primary, the output voltage should be 3,600 volts and with just 5 turns 7,200 volts. The higher the voltage used, the greater the amount of work needed later on to get the voltage back down to the output level which we want.
Looking at the wire specification table, indicates that quite a small wire diameter could be used for the oscillator output transformer’s secondary winding. While this is perfectly true, it is not the whole story. Neon Tube Drivers are very small and the wire in their output windings is very small diameter indeed. Those driver modules are very prone to failure. If the insulation on any one turn of the winding fails and one turn becomes a short-circuit, then that stops the winding from oscillating, and a replacement is needed. As there are no particular size constraints for this project, it might be a good idea to use enamelled copper wire of 0.45 mm or larger in an attempt to avoid this insulation failure hazard. No part of the transformer coil spool should be metal and it would not be any harm to cover each layer of secondary winding with a layer of electrical tape to provide additional insulation between the coil turns in one layer and the turns in the layer on top of it.
A plug-in board layout might be:
Please remember that you can’t just stick your average voltmeter across a 4 kV capacitor (unless you really do want to buy another meter) as they only measure up to about a thousand volts DC. So, if you are using high voltage, then you need to use a resistor-divider pair and measure the voltage on the lower resistor. But what resistor values should you use? If you put a 10 Megohm resistor across your 4 kV charged capacitor, the current flowing through the resistor would be 0.4 milliamps. Sounds tiny, doesn’t it? But that 0.4 mA is 1.6 watts which is a good deal more than the wattage which your resistor can handle. Even using this arrangement:
the current will be 0.08 mA and the wattage per resistor will be 64 mW. The meter reading will be about 20% of the capacitor voltage which will give a voltmeter reading of 800 volts. The input resistance of the meter needs to be checked and possibly, allowed for as the resistance in this circuit is so high (see chapter 12). When making a measurement of this type, the capacitor is discharged, the resistor chain and meter attached, and then, and only then, is the circuit powered up, the reading taken, the input power disconnected, the capacitor discharged, and the resistors disconnected. High-voltage circuits are highly dangerous, especially so, where a capacitor is involved. The recommendation to wear thick rubber gloves for this kind of work, is not intended to be humorous. Circuits of this type are liable to generate unexpected high-voltage spikes, and so, it might be a good idea to connect a varistor across the meter to protect it from those spikes. The varistor need to be set to the voltage which you intend to measure and as varistors may not be available above a 300V threshold, two or more may need to be connected in series where just one is shown in the diagram above. The varistor should not have a higher voltage rating than your meter.
⁂ Self-powered generator with feedback circuit for input.
※ Transistorized snap-off technology to harness energy from dielectric inertia.
※ This is a modern version of the self-powered generator, suitable for today's manufacturing - just buy the electronic components and electrical equipment to assemble, then expand the scale and increase the power of the machine. In addition, the plan has many other modern and unique methods!
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Electrical Engineering