Nikola Tesla: Colorado Springs Notes, 1899-1900 Page 18

Tesla wrote about his Colorado Springs work again in 1904⁽¹⁾. Some interesting data is to be found in his replies before the United States Patent Office in 1902, in connection with a patent rights dispute between Tesla and Fessenden⁽⁶⁸⁾. This document includes statements by Tesla's assistant Fritz Lowenstein and secretary George Scherff. Tesla took Lowenstein on in New York in April 1899. At the end of May that year he summoned him to Colorado Springs, where Lowenstein remained until the end of September, when family matters obliged him to return to Germany. Tesla was satisfied with him as an assistant and asked him to return later, which he did, again becoming Tesla's assistant in February 1902.

Tesla did not break off his research in the field of radio after visiting Colorado Springs. Upon returning to New York on the 11th of January 1900⁽⁶⁸⁾ he took energetic steps to get backing for the implementation of a system of “World Telegraphy”. He erected a building and an antenna on Long Island, and started fitting out a new laboratory. From his subsequent notes we learn that he intended to verify his ideas about resonance of the Earth's globe, referred to in a patent of 1900⁽⁴²⁾. The experiments he wanted to perform were not in fact carried out until the sixties of this century, when it was found that the Earth resonates at 8, 14 and 20 Hz.⁽³⁴⁾ Tesla predicted that the resonances would be at 6, 18 and 30 Hz. His preoccupation with this great idea slowed down the construction of his overseas radio station, and when radio transmission across the Atlantic was finally acheived with a simpler apparatus, he had to admit that his plans included not only the transmission of signals over large distances but also an attempt to transmit power without wires. Commenting on Tesla's undertaking, one of the world's leading experts in this field, Wait⁽²¹⁾, has written: ... “From an historical standpoint, it is significant that the genius Nikola Tesla envisaged a world wide communication system using a huge spark gap transmitter located in Colorado Springs in 1899. A few years later he built a large facility in Long Island that he hoped would transmit signals to the Cornish coast of England. In addition, he proposed to use a modified version of the system to distribute power to all points of the globe. Unfortunately, his sponsor, J. Pierpont Morgan, terminated his support at about this time. A factor here was Marconi's successful demonstration in 1901 of transatlantic signal transmission using much simpler and far cheaper instrumentation. Nevertheless, many of Tesla's early experiments have an intriguing similarity with later developments in ELF communications.

Tesla proposed that the earth itself could be set into a resonant mode at frequencies of the order of 10 Hz. He suggested that energy was reflected at the antipode of his Colorado Springs transmitter in such a manner that standing wave were set up.”

In a letter to Morgan⁽⁶⁹⁾ early in 1902 Tesla explained his research, in which he envisaged three “distinct steps to be made: 1) the transmission of minute amounts of energy and the production of feeble effects, barely perceptible by sensitive devices; 2) the transmission of notable amounts of energy dispensing with the necessity of sensitive devices and enabling the positive operation of any kind of apparatus requiring a small amount of power; and 3) the transmission of power in amounts of industrial significance. With the completion of my present undertaking the first step will be made”. For the experiments with transmission of large power he envisaged the construction of a plant at Niagara to generate about 100 million volts.⁽¹⁾

However, Tesla did not succeed in getting the necessary financial backing, and after three years of abortive effort to finish his Long Island station he gave up his plans and

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