Ball Lightning's Rainbow (Magnetic Interrupter)

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Tesla had a parlor trick where he could curl his fingers and a ball of lightning would appear in each hand.  He wasn't using a normal Tesla Coil for this effect.  Ball Lightning is something called quadric energy.  It's produced by two different potentials, each with a magnetic and an electric component.    Together, these four components produce a two axis roll referred to as quadrature.  So his Coil either had two primary windings or there was a single primary fed by two out of phase signals.  Or else he was radiating with two different coils, at a angle.  But this wasn't the only time he used quadric energy.

I've seen modern day pictures showing the type of Ball Lightning bulges Tesla described in his streamers.  One of the most interesting things I've seen (on my own bench) is the various colors associated with a magnetic interrupter.  These colors are the result of the incredibly small size of the Plasmoid spheres in a powerful magnetic field.  The color's wave length is equal to 3.65 times the diameter of the sphere.

There are actually three different directions that a spark can travel through a magnetic field.  If the flux lines are depicted as horizontal lines on a piece of paper, this is the X axis.  A spark traveling parallel to the flux lines can produce quadric energy.  A spark traveling down through the paper (and the flux lines) along the Z axis can also produce the tiny spheres.  A spark traveling perpendicular to the flux, along the vertical Y axis - on the paper - doesn't produce the effect, but can cause the spark to be blown out.  X and Y axis orientations occur when a hard drive magnet is positioned close to a spark gap.  When the magnet goes end to end, parallel to the spark, that's the X axis.  Rotating the magnet 90 degrees to the spark employs the Y axis.  If one electrode is in the flux and the other is not, this is the Z axis.

Perhaps the most important effect to our community of experimenters isn't the rainbow of colors, but the spark interrupter effect.  With the right strength of magnetic field (distance) going across a spark gap, a pulse can be chopped into a series of shorter duration pulses.  This pulse train can produce Stanley Meyer's step charging waveform across a load capacitor, even when all the pulses have the same amplitude.

Looking at the near term future, the most notable quadric energy effect will likely involve a sphere with a very large diameter.  It's recently been discovered that a Mini Magnetosphere space craft shield will work as a highly efficient reentry aerobrake.  If you could vacuum it out, it might also produce lift.

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Spark gaps are very interesting....unfortunately with regards to your work I can't myself input much...I'm at learning how to calculate distributed capacitance of the secondary windings for transient spikes induced back into the primary to get the spark across the gap with a low voltage drive.

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Spark gaps are very interesting....unfortunately with regards to your work I can't myself input much...I'm at learning how to calculate distributed capacitance of the secondary windings for transient spikes induced back into the primary to get the spark across the gap with a low voltage drive.

It's normally pretty hard to get a low voltage spark to jump a triggered spark gap.  One approach I've used is to employ two parallel gaps, one with an adequate voltage to jump the gap and the other gap positioned within the first gap's arc sheath.  A high voltage spark consists of positive ions, while free electrons are moved outwards by the Lorentz Force.  These free electrons form a conductive region.

Another way to do it is to use Longitudinal Energy to pump the low voltage current.  The LE is produced by a diode T plug circuit:

(https://s20.postimg.org/x32mb1u0d/Diode_T_Plug.gif)

Here's a picture showing the charge pump effect:

(https://s20.postimg.org/c7gbzsxt9/Longitudinal_Spark2.jpg)

The colored spark is an example of a Z axis magnetic interrupter.  The T spark goes right through the primary spark's magnetic field around the rod gap, to or from the upper external electrode, depending on polarity.  It's possible that a physical magnet could be positioned close to the top spark.  The dark mass is a chunk of resistive charcoal from a burnt 2 by 4, with a central hole which allows it to be slipped over the electrode rod.

I imagine there are other ways to use, or produce the LE spark, rather than with the diode T plug.

Otherwise, I feel that a coil's distributed capacitance is very important.  While this factor is parallel to the coil's circuit, the capacitance of a portion of the coil would be in series with the rest of the coil.  Capacitance in series with an inductor is what produces the Plasmoid, and this may be responsible for the occasional ballooning of a TC streamer.

Thanks for posting and good luck with your experimenting.

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Thanks for sharing the picture, the T spark is cool.
I meant to give this reference with a  situation with regards to my last post on transient triggering:

http://www.google.com/patents/US3576467

With regards to your first post ,are you using 2 signals ?

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Thanks for sharing the picture, the T spark is cool.
I meant to give this reference with a  situation with regards to my last post on transient triggering:

http://www.google.com/patents/US3576467

With regards to your first post ,are you using 2 signals ?

That's a really nice patent!  Thanks for digging it up and sharing it.  Can we split the top and bottom parts of the output pulse train, then somehow phase shift the bottom anti nodes to bring them into alignment with the top?  Perhaps with a variable inductor?

And yes, the diode T plug produces two signals.  One signal goes through the diode and appears across the main gap.  The other signal comes from the cap, through the T tap to the side electrode.  This signal is at 90 degrees to the main spark, resulting in the quadrature effect.  Without the T tap, the static building up on the cap would never be able to discharge, due to the diode plug.

Here's another picture which shows a couple of bead lightning balls.  With a deeper magnetic field around the arc between the rods, there would probably be more beads.  Also, note the lack of any connection to the electrode on the left.

(https://s20.postimg.org/yly0g10kt/Split_Positive2.jpg)

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That's a really nice patent!  Thanks for digging it up and sharing it.  Can we split the top and bottom parts of the output pulse train, then somehow phase shift the bottom anti nodes to bring them into alignment with the top?  Perhaps with a variable inductor?

I think so if Im understanding correctly, my use for it is to apply it to first transformer in this circuit to be able to raise the voltage of the out put from the second transformer.
The problem with this circuit while in simulation the voltage could go to infinity but in real life the output was only 1/2 a volt.

The T tap you have created is really interesting.... thank you for sharing that !  It has some good vibes coming on
Is that some type of magnet in the lower right?

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Is that some type of magnet in the lower right?

That dark mass is a chunk of carbon.  The magnetic interrupter effect is produced by the magnetic field around the arc in the rod gap.  The spark's color depends on the strength of this field.  When a spark just grazes the outskirts of the field, the color has a lower frequency due to the weaker strength of the magnetic field.

(https://s20.postimg.org/c0k9dqv59/Yellow_Spark.jpg)

In this picture, the carbon is on the end of the dowel rod, where it previously caught fire.  This picture also clearly shows the voltage gain along a resistor.

Tesla himself was able to produce magnetically interrupted sparks having a wavelength in the x-ray part of the spectrum.  I personally haven't identified the color associated with 'cold' electricity.  Whatever color is produced is maintained throughout the circuit.

ps:  The wave form produced by the circuit you just posted looks like it would be self sparking (across an intervening particle), with a high enough amplitude, or voltage.  A higher potential discharging to a lower potential.  From this perspective, the circuit produces a type of exotic energy referred to as Scalar.  (Time invariant.)  I'm looking for a circuit which produces two parallel, non crossing, identical sine waves, one above the other.

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does the mag field originate from the bound electrons of the conductors both sides of the gap ?

yesterday I went looking for info on direct + inverse current theory of mid 1800s , on the search path I also had a peek at 1800s theory of electrical nature of COMET trails .
also another article from 1800s on electric arc lighting etc "destruction of equilibrium" = how to generate electricity . I prefer their descriptions and study back then . (eg:faraday was dislecsic so his writings were nothing like what we read today)