Re: Two follow-up questions on wireless electric power and Tesla

Hi George: You are chronologically correct. Starting with question #1: 
Tesla first worked with magnetos and motors in Serbia, later worked with 
Edison in US and after a bad experience, teamed-up with Westinghouse to 
build the Niagara plant. His desire to distribute power through the air 
met the reality of the tremendous losses incurred by the air itself in his 
early experiments with the Tesla Coil in New York. He pursued his dream of 
distributing power using the ground in Colorado. That experiment produced 
some astonishing but dangerously impractical results. On his return to NY, 
he turned his attention to directional transmission of power to the North 
Pole to establish contact with an expedition. Almost coincidentally a 
meteor (or comet fragment) struck Siberia and appeared as if Tesla had 
success. Amidst all the confusion he made headlines only to realize later 
that it was a bogus coincidence. Nevertheless his contributions to 
technology lives-on in terms of RADAR and radio. I found an Internet site 
that might be of value to you, so I will comment on the contents and point 
you to each article: 
When Nikola Tesla arrived in this country from Serbia he became involved 
with Thomas Edison who took him for a ride. If you look up on the Internet: http://www.parascope.com/en/0996/tesla2.htm
Afterwards, he teamed-up with Edison's competitor, Thomas Westinghouse, to 
whom he sold several of his patents. Westinghouse, a strong proponent of 
alternating current, helped Tesla design and build the first hydroelectric 
power plant in US at Niagara Falls. 
Tesla's dream was to give away free power. Being smart he recognized that 
propagation in air had serious penalties as I mentioned in my first 
response, so he chose the ground as the next best transmission medium. 
Starting in NY, he found short of resources, so he moved to Colorado. 
Point your net browser to: http://www.parascope.com/en/0996/tesla3.htm
Tesla lit-up a whole Colorado town, burnt the local power plant generator 
and had to leave, going back to NY. You might say he achieved his goal in 
proving "what not to do."
Back in New York, he gained monetary support for a while from JP Morgan. 
No longer attempting to distribute omni-directional electricity he 
directed his efforts to beam power to specific areas, in this case, the 
North Pole. Look-up these NY experiments at: http://www.parascope.com/en/0996/tesla4.htm
Being a restless inventor, he went on to build other machines: http://www.parascope.com/en/0996/tesla5.htm
Eventually he died a poor and disillusioned person. Look up: http://www.parascope.com/en/0996/tesla6.htm
The lasting final blow came many years after his death when the 
Smithsonian Institute decided to excommunicate his work. That is a shame. 
Look-up: http://www.concentric.net/~Jwwagner/

Question #2: My referral to "lethal household voltages" is meant to be 115 
volt current flowing from non-insulated wires found at termination 
junction boxes. The shock is not an electromagnetic phenomenon, but simply 
the effect of electron flow through the body completing the circuit to 
ground.

Power lines: Potentials vary depending on the purpose of distribution 
(long haul or local). Typical long haul potentials are in the excess of 
300,000 volts. Long ceramic members built to resemble a series of inverted 
cups insulate these wires from the grounded towers. These cups 
prevent "corona" discharge due to rain and moisture. Corona is composed of 
ionized gases (plasma) that provide a path for leakage in moist air. Power 
lines use non-insulated conductors kept high and away from people and 
animals because of the lethality. Local distribution lines are also not 
insulated and carry 10 to 20 thousand volts via high poles or underground. 
The local transformers step the voltages down to 220 or 440 volts 
depending on the customer needs. Any contact with power line voltages 
without adequate protection is usually a lethal experience.

Concerning lightning: Lightning is an avalanche of electrons created by 
very large voltage potentials, in the order of several hundred thousand 
volts. The result is an uncontrolled spark of high severity. As you 
noticed, lightning seldom travels a straight line because electrons seek 
means of least resistance. Rapid ionization takes place-converting oxygen 
into ozone, a type of plasma conductive gas with a pungent smell. The 
proverbial experiment of Ben Franklin and the kite flying near 
thunderclouds was a foolish yet lucky demonstration of "sky fire" using 
the kite line as path of least resistance. Thunder is the byproduct of 
lightning caused by intense heating of the air mass surrounding the 
discharge. Air expands at supersonic speeds generating the thunderclap. 
Today's technology has no practical way of tapping into these free-of-cost 
surges of energy. Instead they become destructive nuisances when striking 
power lines. Our technology utilizes extremely fast solid state circuit 
interrupters to protect customers from damaging power surges.

I hope these answers satisfy your questions. If not, get back to me.
Your MAD.SCI Micro.