The Experimental Apparatus
 
Output coils of the Tesla Coil
This is the primary (the large conical winding) and the secondary which is composed of a 4" PVC tube and 520 windings of #24 wire. Primary coil is 10 conical windings of 3/8" copper tubing.

The Tesla Coil makes a good strong power supply for making Kirlian Photographs.

The spark-gap rotor spinning at aprox. 1000 rpm. It sparks 24 times per rotation creating a rate of occillation of 24x1000= 24,000 cps (hz) combined with the original 60 htz power suppy, gives an astonishingly high frequency. Note the dual contacts that fire alternately. DC motor that spins the rotor is variable from around 700 rpm - 2000 rpm.
The spark gap assembly firing. The crackling of the spark gap is very noisy, and the arcs emit harmful UV radiation so it's a good idea to make a cover like I have (not shown). The sparks create ozone, which may be bad or good depending upon if you believe in ozone therapy...
Prototype of Transparent Electrode mounted in position atop my Tesla Coil.
The Transparent Electrode works very well with a Tesla Coil for observing whole-hand coronal discharges
 
 The Experimental Apparatus

This is the power supply* I used to take the original Kirlian Photos. Of course, I did not have the unit set to full power. I used a very low power setting for safety reasons, and believe me, I and my subjects were treated to startling zaps from time to time. While harmless to a healthy human being, I have no idea what this would do to a pacemaker or a person with a weak heart. 

The 10KV 250ma neon transformer (Top) and the rotary spark gap assembly (Lower right). the 10KV 250ma neon transformer and the rotary spark gap assembly. 
 Capacitor is a generic hockey-puck from an electronics surplus store (not shown). The original capacitor that I used was a bank of salt-water capacitors constructed out of 6 beer bottles. By adding or removing bottles wired in parallel, I was able to adjust the power level for the application. For example, I used only 2 bottles for low powered kirlian applications, and all 6 for maximum output for lightning shows. 

Three second time lapse photo w/ 35mm camera
 Coronal Streamer discharge from the terminal capacitor. 10-12" streamers emerge from the coil. It takes about 25,000 volts to jump an inch. The output of this coil is around 250,000 volts! And this is a little one. However, now divide the 250ma current input by the induction ratio (input volts=10KV output volts=250KV = a ratio of 25) and the amperage is only 10ma. But what makes the high voltage from a Tesla Coil relatively harmless is the high frequency. 

Photo taken with Casio QV-30 Digital camera
This coil runs at over 50 KHZ. That does not even take into consideration the oroiginal 
60 HZ that the coil operates on, which definitely has a multipler effect on the end frequency. In effect, the Tesla Coil is delivering a potent form of static electricity, only in an excited, high frequency state. 
 

*Please be aware that to connect yourself to any kind of high voltage source with the likes of the magnitude of the following apparatus is definitely dangerous and any person who plays with a Tesla coil should have extensive high voltage electrical training and knowlege! 

 

For more information contact:
Craig Bratcher
Cebunet / Coronavision
214 S. Calumet Rd
Chesterton, Indiana 46304
mailto:kirlian@cebunet.com
 Or call
219-929-1164

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1-888-425-9111


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