Now , most of uss at some point will have used these engines of destructions on Red Alert , and most of us have tried to say this very fast , or while drunk or similar with hilarious reults . But who knew that they actually exist ? Well , let me fill you in Ok , there was this guy , called Nikol Tesla , who made these huge induction coils that transmited power through the air to a whole load of appliances , most notably Neon tubes , which Tesla also invented . You see , he could put them anywhere he wanted in his lab , and they would light with out needing wires . They are , like in red alert , big cones of wire . basically its a cone shaped transformer , with the lover voltage at the bottom , so that it induces a much higher voltage at the top , which then sparks off when you hit the big button . I saw this one that was like 6 feet tall , and gave of sparks that were like 5 feet long ! You can even make the sparks go in what ever direction you want , if you plug an airel in the top . The sparks don't even just jump to earth becasue they arn't long enough , and they shoot right off!!!! These thigns rule !!
Well, actually, I knew they existed Sorry to p1$$ on your fire and all Here's a few piccies: I love that last one. Part of it looks like loosely woven cloth
How cool would it be to mount on eon you tower , not like a millino volts , but just enought to give off sparks . You know ,to shock the hell out of any other uses of your PC
LOL, that's probably the least intended application for them I can think of (except for a cat toy for when it's annoying you). They remind me of the plasma "lighting balls" that you get from gadget shops. Speaking of which, they're great for hurting people. I can sit on my bed (not touching the floor is best of course) with my whole hand on top of the ball (makes it emit a squeal noise and get all hot on top, and makes your hand STINK of electricity) and then poke at people and you see a tiny blue spark and here a tiny little yelp from everyone GREAT fun; I am ever grateful to my GF for buying it for me
nikola tesla was an absolute genius. if not for him, we'd be using direct current in our homes costing several times more than powering everything with alternating current. the ever-foolish thomas edison swore by his foolish idea that the power grid should be pumping dc power, to the point where he broke off his friendship with tesla over the discrepancy. fortunately for anyone who pays their electric bills, tesla’s superior idea eventually won out, and thus we have ac power to this day. tesla rules! edison sucks! the end. (i'm well aware of edison's many inventions, and i don't think he sucks, except in comparison to certain electical wizards)
I've a Violet Ray machine, was a very early TENS device, that uses a Tesla coil to generate high voltage. The various electrodes glow violet in use, and spark to your body. Was claimed to cure everything from dandruff to flatulence, remove excess fat and increase bust size. Found it at a car boot for a fiver, took a long net search to find out what it was. More on these machines at The Turn Of The Century Electrotherapy Museum.
My dad got one of those types of things from an auction when an eccentric doctor in our area died. It was modded into a breifcase and had a key to turn it on. The key was inside a plastic tube so that you didn't shock yourself from the high power. We wanted to turn it on, but then on further thought we decided that turning on a giant EM device in the house would not be such a good idea. I personally did not want to have my computer and monitor to be blasted just so that I could cure flatulence
Well, in case the flatulence just gets unbearable, you guys need this. isn't the Internet a great thing?
I think that Edison sucked. He didn't just "break off his friendship" with Tesla, he sent his thugs over to Tesla's shop to smash the place up. There's a real American hero for you. There was also that whole "Electric chair" stunt, that was intended to show how much more dangerous AC was than DC... *brrr* wrong. Bah, I wish schools would teach kids both sides of the story.
Well you'll be glad to know that I learnt NOTHING about either of them in school. The only things I know about Edison are in this thread, and also from the game Day of the Tentacle
"Usually ships the same business day." For emergencies? Not sure what they are called if they have a name but I always liked the electromagnet thing we used to mess around with in my A-Level physics class. It was a hollow cyclinder so you could put an iron bar through for example and it would be held by the field and shot out of the end if you timed it right, hehe.
oh, back on topic then Here's a nice PBS site on Tesla: http://www.pbs.org/tesla/ As SH noted: Tesla invented polyphase AC power distribution, and the AC motor. HE arguably invented radio as well (the US patent office recognized Tesla's patents as having priority over Marconi in 1943, but that was a little late. Marconi won the Nobel prize in 1909.). A nice feature on that PBS site is the patents, actually just a few of Tesla's patents. Regrettably, Tesla's name gets waved around a lot by charlatans promoting free energy or other pseudo-science. It's sad in a lot of ways. Additional Tesla wackiness: he was buddies with Mark Twain, and they used to stage demonstrations in Tesla's lab in New York City. Lots of high society types would come. In one of these, Tesla demonstrated a mechanical oscillator that actually caused an earthquake. Basically a mechanical resonance analogous to the electrical resonance behind the Tesla coil. Anyway I could go on and on, read more on your own, Tesla was a real genius.
Apparently, there were a few "accidents" with the violet ray machines igniting inflammable substances... mind boggles, see probe #6 Probe #1 is for cauterizing wounds, zits or toothache; Probe #2 for dandruff, hair growth, soft lustrous tresses, etc. Probe #3 for stiff necks, Baywatch legs, etc. Probe #4 for back problems; Probe #5 not sure, possibly an early substitute for Viagra? Probe #6 ...
I have a kind of mini-tesla coil powered by a relay and a 9v/220v transformer. It makes sparks of about 3cm when i use a high-current lab supply to power it. It's kewl actually. Pics soon Code: ____________________________________o / / / __________/ \_____ | \ o\ o-------. / \ 9v>>220v step-down transformer \ \ (run in reverse) / o______. \ \ o_____/ \ +12 | \ \______ o \ 0v (12v relay) \_______________________o
