Tesla Coils Resurrected

High-Frequency Resonator for Spark Coils.

Procure a mailing tube S 9 inches long by 2 inches in diameter and wind with No. 34 wire leaving 1/2 inch space at the top and bottom. Next take a straight, short piece of No. 14 copper wire, filed to a point. The disc D is of thin aluminum and about 1 inch in diameter. In the center of this punch a hole so that the wire R may be pushed through it. A disc of thin fiber or heavy cardboard is glued to the top of the tube. A hole is punched in it so that the wire bearing the disc may be pushed 1/2 inch through it, that is down into the tube. One end of the No. 34 wire is soldered to the No. 14 wire. This completes the secondary.

The primary is of Empire paper or heavy cardboard 2 1/2 inches wide and 3 inches in diameter. The primary winding P consists of eight turns of No. 14 stranded rubber-covered wire, the ends of which are fastened to two battery binding posts TT.

The primary is then glued to a small wooden base B. The bottom end of the secondary wire is soldered to the bottom primary post so that the windings are in the same direction. The last thing to do is to glue, not nail or screw, four standard porcelain insulators on the base.

The whole should be constructed without screw or nails, and if made carefully it will give remarkable results.

This resonator may be worked on any coil up to a 3-inch size though it is rather too small for a 1/4 k.w. transformer.

Before winding the tubes both should be boiled in paraffin.

Contributed by F. K. BILLAU.

Electrical Experimenter November, 1916

Lancaster's Obsession

Dear Nuts & Volts:

It was not with delight that we found the Tesla Coil Builders' Association listed in Don Lancaster's column (July) under “Resources at the Fringe.” What does that mean?

After reading several Lancaster columns, it is apparent that he carries a dim view of Nikola Tesla. Of course, it is his perogative to see things differently from the way I view them. However, no reply was forthcoming when I inquired as to why he carried this negative bias toward Tesla. In one column, Mr. Lancaster referred to Nikola Tesla as “a lousy theoretician.” And in the July issue, we learned that Nikola Tesla was a “con artist.” I am anxiously awaiting future issues to see what else that Mr. Lancaster doesn't know about Tesla.

It has often been said that “all's fair in love and war” so I anticipate that Mr. Lancaster will soon degrade other historical personalities. For example, he could tell us that Marconi, the so-called “father of radio,” once publicly declared that communications between surface transmitters and submerged submarines would be an impossibility. Or he might relate to us that court room saga when Marconi testified that he did not know why radio circuits had to be tuned to the same frequency.

If Mr. Lancaster feels it fair to knock Nikola Tesla, then he might consider focusing on Thomas A. Edison. Although there are a half-dozen electrical power utilities named after him, Edison was unable to understand electrical theory. Incidentally, those electrical companies are generating polyphase alternating currents - the system that Edison vehemently opposed. Edison even lost a fortune in mining operations. Was Edison a dunce? Maybe so and maybe not, but he knew enough to surround himself with brilliant employees. One of them happened to be Nikola Tesla.

I have no idea what Mr. Lancaster is reading these days, but he might try “Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla.” He will also gain a great wealth of information from “Nikola Tesla, Lectures, Patents, and Articles.” Lastly, he can find out about Tesla's activities during the summer of 1899 by reading “Nikola Tesla, Colorado Springs Notes.” These sources of information represent the Nikola Tesla of the 1890's and early 1900's - the man who knew more about resonant circuits than anyone.

Mr. Lancaster might also be interested in the views of such radio pioneers as Edwin H. Armstrong, John S. Stone, and L.W. Austin as well as those of the French communications pioneer E. Girardeau or the German radio expert A. Slaby. Their appreciation of Tesla and his work differ considerably from those of Don Lancaster.

Harry Goldman
Tesla Coil Builders' Association
Queensbury, NY

Nuts & Volts
November, 1993

Nikola Tesla Honored

• NIKOLA TESLA the famous radio and electrical genius recently celebrated his eighty-first birthday, on July 10 to be exact. Dr. Tesla was honored with high orders from the Yugoslav and Czechoslovak governments.

Dr. Tesla announced the perfection of a new vacuum tube which he said would make it possible to smash the atom and produce cheap radium. At a birthday luncheon Dr. Tesla was presented with the Grand Cordon of the White Eagle, the highest order bestowed by Yugoslavia, and also received the Grand Cordon of the White Lion, this order having been granted but too few other distinguished Americans, including Secretary Kellogg, and Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler. When presenting this order the spokesman said: “Our Czechoslovak nation's brotherly feeling toward you as a son of Yugoslavia made it a duty, not a privilege to give you this decoration in the name of the President of our nation, Dr. Edouard Benes.”

A diploma certifying Dr. Tesla's honorary degree as a doctor of the University of Prague was also presented.

Dr. Tesla gave a long statement to the guests at the luncheon, in which he outlined his newest discoveries.

Short Wave & Television
October, 1937