Nikola Tesla on His Work With Alternating Currents

Nikola Tesla On His Work With Alternating Currents...
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NIKOLA TESLA ON HIS WORK WITH ALTERNATING CURRENTS

and Their Application to Wireless Telegraphy, Telephony and Transmission of Pow er : An Extended In ISBN: 1-893817-01-6 Tesla Presents Series, Part 1
Leland I. Anderson, Editor
Copyright 1992 Tw enty-First Century Books, C
CONTENTS
Preface Introduction Organization of Interview Section I. High Frequenc y Alternators II. Experiments with Wireless T elegraphy and T elephony III. Mec hanic al and Elec tric al Osc illators IV. Apparatus for T ransformation by Condenser Disc harges; Damped Waves V. Apparatus for T ransformation by Condenser Disc harges; Continuous Waves VI. Colorado Experiments VII. T heory and T ec hnique of Energy T ransmission VIII. Long Island Plant IX. Arrangements for Rec eiving X. Redisc ussion/Clarific ation of Selec ted Remarks Appendix I. Fig. 1. Photograph of T esla with alternator in offic es of T he Westinghouse Elec tric & Manufac turing Co., May 10, 1938. Fig. 2. Photograph of 1915 shipboard transmitter employing the T esla spiral form of antenna transformer c oil. II. T esla's desc ription of Long Island plant and inventory of the installation as reported in 1922 forec losure appeal proc eedings. Index Figures 1 Diagrammatic illustration of first high frequenc y alternator with 384 poles. 2 Photographic view of alternator [shown in Fig. 1]. 3 Light and motive devic es operated from this alternator in novel manner. 4 Vac uum tubes lighted in alternating elec trostatic field. 5 Illustrating various ways of using a high frequenc y alternator. 6 Diagram of the sec ond mac hine built with no wire on the rotating part. 7 Photograph of mac hine c overed by U.S. Patent No. 447,921. 8 Diagrammatic drawing of the third and larger mac hine with 480 poles.
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9 Photographic view of alternator c overed by U.S. Patent No. 447,921. 10 Small alternator of very high frequenc y built for purposes of investigation (rec eivers). 11 Small high-frequenc y alternator of different c onstruc tion, for the same purposes. 12 Diagrammatic illustration of mac hine with rotating magnetic field exc itation. 13 Instrument to rec eive radio waves of 1896-1899 struc ture. 14 Elec tric al c ondenser desc ribed in U.S. Patent No. 464,667. 15 Elec tric al c ondenser desc ribed in U.S. Patent No. 567,818. 16 Improved form of elec trolyte c ondenser as used in N.Y.C. laboratories. 17 Form of c ondenser with air under great pressure as dielec tric . 18 Apparatus for manufac ture of c ondensers and c oils to exc lude air. 19 Simple mec hanic al osc illator used in first experiments. 20 Mec hanic al osc illator with air spring c ombined with elec tric generator. 21 Another mec hanic al osc illator with c ontrolling elec tromagnetic system. 22 Another type of small mec hanic al elec tromagnetic ally c ontrolled osc illator. 23 Large elec tro-mec hanic al osc illator for generating isoc hronous osc illations. 24 Diagram of elec tro-mec hanic al osc illator for generating isoc hronous osc illations. 25 Double c ompound elec tro-mec hanic al isoc hronous osc illator. 26 Diagram of double c ompound elec tro-mec hanic al isoc hronous osc illator. 27 Large mec hanic al and elec tric al isoc hronous osc illator with four vibrating parts. 28 Diagram showing length of sec tion of large mec hanic al and elec tric al osc illator. 29 Small high frequenc y mec hanic al and elec tric al osc illator used in many investigations. 30 Diagram of small high frequenc y elec tro-mec hanic al and elec tric al osc illator. 31 Method of transformation of elec tric al energy by osc illatory c ondenser disc harges. 32 Series quenc hed spark gap. 33 Disc harger working in hydrogen ric h atmosphere, still further weakened by heat. 34 Osc illatory apparatus with interrupter in oil. 35 Apparatus with mec hanic al break as installed on a large sc ale in the N.Y.C. labs. 36 Isoc hronous mec hanic al break used in 35 So. Fifth Avenue laboratory. 37 Mec hanic al break with two oppositely rotating disc s. 38 Use of multi-phase generator with mec hanic al break. 39 Apparatus furnishing direc t c urrents of high tension. 40 Apparatus and method of c onversion by c ondenser disc harges (both AD and DC). 41 Illustrating one of the early experiments with a tuned transformer. 42 Another illustration of an early experiment with a tuned transformer. 43 Apparatus illustrating the first step in the evolution of the magnifying transmitter. 44 One of many forms of merc ury c irc uit c ontrollers desc ribed in various U.S. Patents. 45 Hermetic ally sealed merc ury c irc uit c ontroller with c ompac t osc illatory transformer. 46 Diagrammatic illustrations of hermetic ally enc losed merc ury break. 47 Large merc ury c irc uit c ontroller of high frequenc y (c ommunic ations experiments). 48 Interior arrangement of large merc ury c irc uit c ontroller of very high frequenc y. 49 Spec ial type of high frequenc y transformer. 50 Illustrating forms of vac uum tubes. 51 Resonant wireless transmitting c irc uit. 52 Experiments illustrating transmission and transformation of energy through one wire. 53 Some of the most striking experiments with vac uum tubes and lamps. 54 T he lighting of inc andesc ent lamps by energy transmitted through one wire. 55 Experiment with the same apparatus in whic h a lamp is lighted at the end of a c oil. 56 Another experiment with same apparatus in whic h the c oil is not direc tly c onnec ted. 57 Osc illating apparatus on large sc ale with whic h the prec eding experiments were made. 58 Experiment with c oils tuned to harmonic s. 59 T ransmission of energy with tuned system by induc tion. 60 Applic ation of the one-wire princ iple to the transmission of messages. 61 Illustrating an experiment with high frequenc y alternator and tuned c irc uit. 62 Wireless transmission demonstrated, mec hanic ally eluc idated. 63 Striking experiment in the transmission of energy by elec tromagnetic waves.
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64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101
An important experiment in the transmission of energy performed in 1899. Perfec ted system of wireless transmission with four tuned c irc uits. Diagrams illustrating system of four-tuned c irc uits for wireless transmission. Differenc es between T esla apparatus and typic al Hertz wave arrangements. Powerful disc harge from transmitter built following princ iples set forth. . . . Experiment bearing upon design princ iples embodied in T esla transmitter. Experiment c onveying idea of great quantity of elec tric ity set in movement. Wireless station at where experiments were performed. Diagram showing general arrangement of transmitting and rec eiving c irc uits. Experimental station at Colorado in a later phase of development. Experimental station at Colorado showing investigative struc ture. Disc harge of a powerful transmitter under a pressure of 12 million volts. Another disc harge remarkable for symmetry at Colorado plant. Diagram illustrating use of sec tional c irc uits. Experimental demonstration in the Houston Street laboratory. Diagram explanatory of transmission of elec tric al energy. Diagram illustrating one of many wireless fallac ies, from a Marc oni patent. Diagram illustrating mode of propagation of c urrent from the transmitter. Diagram illustrating law governing passage of c urrent from the transmitter. Improved transmitter desc ribed in U.S. Patent No. 1,119,732. T ransmitter at Wardenc lyffe, erec ted for purposes of world telegraphy. Exterior view of the Long Island plant. A view of some of the apparatus in the elec tric al part of the plant. A view from a different direc tion. Another interior view. Another view showing some of the apparatus whic h has been desc ribed. T he first prac tic al telautomaton, on princ iples in U.S. Patent No. 613,809. Spec ial c loc k, for purpose of measurements, espec ially useful in rec eiving. Illustrating some of the attac hments and mode of using same. Devic es for rec eiving as prac tic ed in 1898-1900. Other ways of rec eiving prac tic ed in 1898-1900. Illustrating bulbs made prior to 1900, many used in rec eiving apparatus. Illustrating bulbs made prior to 1900, many used in rec eiving apparatus. Illustrating bulbs made prior to 1900, many used in rec eiving apparatus. Illustrating bulbs made prior to 1900, many used in rec eiving apparatus. Illustrating bulbs made prior to 1900, many used in rec eiving apparatus. Illustrating bulbs made prior to 1900, many used in rec eiving apparatus. Static preventer.
Appendix Figures A1-1 A high-frequenc y alternator found in Westinghouse Elec tric & Manufac turing Company storage identified as belonging to T esla. Westinghouse A1-2 Shipboard quenc hed-spark transmitter, produc ed by the Lowenstein Radio Company and lic ensed under Nikola T esla Company patents. George Sc herff A2-1 Construc tion detail of Wardenc lyffe plant tower. Lillian Mc Chesney A2-2 Workshop on north side of Wardenc lyffe plant building. William Kolb A2-3 Generating room of Wardenc lyffe plant building. Bruc e Kelley
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PREFACE T he surfac ing of the transc ript for this pre-hearing interview with Nikola T esla by his legal c ounsel in 1916 resulted from an intensive searc h in arc hives of legal firms, some now defunc t and others later ac quired by c ontemporary interests. T he interview was prec ipitated by numerous pending c ourt c ases as the fledgling radio industry entered a period of fierc e c ompetition. T esla's c ounsel believed the interview nec essary not only in order to prepare for the pressing of his own c laims against the Marc oni Company, but also to protec t his own patent interests when c alled to give expert-witness testimony in the upc oming litigation foray pitting as adversaries a plethora of new c ommunic ation c ompanies and their c aptive radio pioneers. A c ase prompting this interview, one of dozens to reac h judic ial review, was "Marc oni Wireless T elegraph Company of Americ a v. Atlantic Communic ation Company, et al." Atlantic owned and operated the large radio station at Sayville, Long Island. T he proc eedings opened in 1915 with the c alling of expert witnesses inc luding Ferdinand Braun and Nikola T esla. T he spec ter of war had c ast its shadow over Europe, and Count George von Arc o, who had also been c alled, was detained bec ause of servic es to the German Army in the use of asphyxiating gases and other deadly inventions perfec ted by him. T he text of this interview was, of c ourse, never intended for public ation. Counsel, c onc erned primarily with the protec tion of T esla's patent interests, ask questions almost exc lusively relating to the priority of his patents and their applic ation. T esla c andidly disc usses his c ontenders while presenting a thorough history of his work with alternating c urrents as applied to wireless transmission. In this doc ument, he desc ribes experimental methods, tec hniques, and apparatus used in his laboratories at New York City, Colorado Springs, and Long Island.
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Most of the photographs ac c ompanying this interview are in good c ondition, but those of sc hematic and mec hanic al drawings have suffered some dec ay with time. T hese may be the only form of the drawings extant and are reproduc ed with as muc h fidelity as possible. For better c larity, five illustrations are reprinted from the February and May, 1913 issues of the Elec tric al Experimenter magazine, Copyright Gernsbac k Public ations, where they subsequently appeared. T hese are Figures 66, 67, 79, 81 and 82. Although the interview spanned several days, it is presented in this work as though it was given at one time; all referenc es to interruptions and resumptions have been removed. T he text is printed in standard typewriter pic a type, unjustified, in the style of hearing proc eedings of that period. No alterations have been made in T esla's remarks exc ept for 'c lean-up' additions, typic ally referenc es to photographs and diagrams, and fill-in words nec essitated by oc c asional rambling and inc omplete sentenc e struc ture. T hese additions are provided in brac kets [ ]. Helpful notes ate also c ued to the text in brac kets. L.I.A., 1992
INTRODUCTION What I am going to show you, step by step, is how I proceeded until I finally realized my dream. Nikola T esla TOP
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You are holding in your hands one of the most remarkable doc uments in the history of elec tric al sc ienc e. Seldom, in tec hnic al researc h, has suc h a treasure of desc riptive c ommentary and historic al doc umentation been disc overed. T his book is a veritable Rosetta stone for dec iphering and trac ing the tec hnic al thoughts of one of the world's most distinguished engineering sc ientists sinc e Arc himedes. It desc ribes elec tric al experiments whic h took plac e nearly 100 years agobut have yet to be replic ated. So astonishing are its c ontents that it takes one's breath away! Here, in T esla's own words, are interpretations (c ouc hed in the language of 19th c entury physic s) for elec tric al phenomena whic h even today lac k satisfac tory explanations in the language of modern tec hnic al analysis. Oh, it won't tell you how to wire up "the magnifying transmitter" (that arc ane instrument for global wireless power transmission),* but it will tell you what instruments T esla was employing, what his thoughts were, how he c onc eptualized things, how he proc eeded, where he performed his historic experiments, when key results were obtained, and how he reac hed his c onc lusions. * It may just be that there is enough information present to solve the puzzle of the magnifying transmitter. T he reader will have to dig for himself. T esla, himself, was awe-struc k with the results of his sc ientific endeavor. He expressed astonishment then at what he later asserts is experimentally demonstrable. Listen to the words he uses in this interview to desc ribe the elec tric al phenomena to his attorney: "magnific ent," "it was a marvelous sight," "a wonderful thing," "prac tic ally the lamp of Aladdin," "a TOP tremendous display," "glorious," "so marvelous that one would be almost afraid to talk about them. . . ." An Edmund Spenc er or a John Milton c ould be no more eloquent. One of Shakespeare's c harac ters onc e said, "Bid me disc ourse, and I will enc hant thine ear." T esla does no less, even in a legal briefing. He weaves the gossamer web of enc hantmentwhic h yet thrills our tec hnic al imagination and lures us in, nearly 80 years after a stenographer rec orded these spoken words! Who w as Nikola Tesla? In 1896, at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Lord Kelvin said, "T esla has c ontributed more to elec tric al sc ienc e than any man up to his time." After showering words of praise upon the inventor before a meeting of the Royal Soc iety in London in 1892, Lord Rayleigh dec lared that T esla possessed a great gift for elec tric al disc overy. Fortunately, the text of He was one of the earliest sc ientists to T esla's speec h has been preserved and republished. understand the distinc tion between lumped and distributed resonanc e and the first to patent voltage magnific ation by standing waves. T he unit of magnetic induc tion is named in honor of T esla. It is c ommonly understood by power engineers that he was the inventor of the induc tion motor utilizing the rotating magnetic field and the AC polyphase power distribution system c urrently used throughout the c ivilized world.* However, most elec tric al engineers are unaware that, as late as 1943, he (not Marc oni**) was rec ognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as having priority in the invention of "radio." Even fewer c omputer sc ientists are aware that, when c ertain c omputer manufac turers attempted to patent digital logic gates after World War II, the U.S. Patent Offic e asserted T esla's turn-of-the-c entury priority in the elec tric al implementation of logic gates for sec ure c ommunic ations, c ontrol systems, and robotic s. As a result, a monopoly on digital logic gates in general was unable to be sec ured in the 1950s. * Charles E. Sc ott, past president of the AIEE has said, "T he evolution of elec tric
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power from the disc overy of Faraday in 1831 to the initial great installation of the T esla polyphase system in 1896 [at Niagara Falls] is undoubtedly the most tremendous event in all engineering history. [Electrical Engineering, August, 1943 (Vol. 62, No. 8), pp. 351-355.] ** Although it took the c ourts several dec ades to figure this out, the fac ts were well understood by impartial tec hnic al men of the day. Robert H. Marriott, the first president of the IRE, onc e said that Marc oni had ". . . played the part of a demonstrator and sales engineer. A money getting c ompany was formed, whic h in attempting to obtain a monopoly, set out to advertise to everybody that Marc oni was the inventor and that they owned that patent on wireless whic h entitled them to a monopoly." [Radio Broadcast, Dec ember, 1925 (Vol. 8, No. 2), pp. 159-162.]
T esla served the elec tric al engineering profession in its highest offic es. In the early 1890s, he was elec ted as vic e-president of the Americ an Institute of Elec tric al Engineers, now the Institute of Elec tric al and Elec tronic s Engineers. At the time of his elec tion, Alexander Graham Bell was its president. T esla served two years as vic e-president of the AIEE and, a dec ade later, one of his laboratory tec hnic ians at the Colorado Springs experiments served as the first vic e-president of the Institute of Radio Engineers when it was formed in 1903. T his was the now, famous c onsulting engineer Fritz Lowenstein. Lowenstein was the inventor of the grid biased Class A amplifier (for whic h he rec eived the sum of $150,000 from AT &T in 1918), the shaped plate c apac itor, and other elec tric al and mec hanic al devic es. His two IRE papers, with c omments on the propagation of ground waves by Zennec k and sky waves by Austin, appeared in February and June issues of the IRE Proc eedings, the year of this TOP interview. It should also be noted that T esla was a fellow of the AIEE, the Americ an Assoc iation for the Advanc ement of Sc ienc e, and a dozen other professional soc ieties. He rec eived over 13 honorary degrees from suc h diverse institutions as Columbia, Yale, and the Universities of Paris, Vienna, Prague, and Sofia. Rec ently, another fasc inating fac t about T esla has c ome to light. After all these years, it is now known that he was nominated for an undivided Nobel prize in physic s in 1937. T esla's nominator, Felix Ehernhaft, of Vienna, had previously nominated Albert Einstein for the Nobel prize. T esla had the remarkable talent of c harming and astonishing his admirers while at the same time enraging his enemiesthe phenomenon c ontinues to the present day. It is unfortunate that, despite several c urrent popular biographies, there still exists no definitive tec hnic al authority, other than his own sc attered public ations, to c onsult on the sc ientific issues of his intriguing and c olorful sc ientific c areer. Consider the adulation bestowed upon him by Lord Kelvin, Hermann von Helmholtz, Sir William Crookes, Lord Rayleigh, Sir James Dewer, Robert Millikan, Sir James Fleming, B.A. Behrend, A.E. Kennally, L.W. Austin, W.H. Bragg, Ferdinand Braun, Jonathan Zennec k, E.W.E Alexanderson, J.S. Stone, Vannevar Bush, W.H. Ec c les, Edwin H. Armstrong (who served as a pallbearer at T esla's funeral, as did Alexanderson), and notably Albert Einstein, Ernest Rutherford, Arthur Compton, and Neils Bohr. T here are a number of Nobel laureates, Royal Soc iety fellows, IEEE presidents and fellows, and university presidents in that c ollec tion. No one, sinc e Franklin, had so stirred the sc ientific and engineering world. In 1893, T homas Commerford Martin, the third president of the AIEE (1888-1889), edited and published a remarkable c ollec tion of T esla's c ontemporary lec tures. It is in print today, and a TOP c entury from now it will still be c onsidered an unparalleled c lassic in sc ientific literature to be read along with Franklin's letters, Priestly's history, Faraday's researches in electricity,
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Maxwell's treatise, Hertz's electric waves, and Heaviside's electrical papers. In 1919, 26 years after publishing the work on T esla, Martin wrote, "T esla's influenc e may truly be said to have marked an epoc h in the progress of elec tric al sc ienc e. Very little data, however, has been proc urable that is desc riptive of his later researc hes, and more is the pity from the historic al standpoint. T esla has not finished. T he world waits expec tantly for eac h fresh touc h of his vitalizing thought upon the big elec tric al problem of the age."
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Unlike most of the aforementioned sc ientists, Dr. T eslafor so it is appropriate to c all himhad no financ ial support to fall bac k on from a fac ulty position or researc h institute. His ideas had to support themselves and him in the tec hnic al marketplac e. It is not surprising, therefore, that he felt no c ompulsion to share further tec hnic al details in the open sc ientific literature of his day. For these you must dig (and dig, and dig) through the patent literature, where only enough is disc losed to make it c lear to one "skilled in the art. Readers will also be struc k with T esla's lighter side. His sense of humor and his quic k wit shine through when he desc ribes his 1893 RF demonstration before the public at the Sixteenth Convention of the National Elec tric Light Assoc iation in St. Louis, where he was distinguished as honorary member: "T here was a stampede in the two upper galleries and they all rushed out. T hey thought it was some part of the devil's work." (p. 87) His humor is also evident in his desc ription of the influenc e that his demonstrations had upon the Royal Institution in London in 1892: "T he sc ientists simply did not know where they were when they saw it." (p. 95) T esla c ould also be sarc astic : "T he greatest men of sc ienc e have told me [the T esla c oil] was TOP my best ac hievement. . . . For instanc e, a man fills this spac e with hydrogen; he employs all my instrumentalities, everything that is nec essary, but c alls it a new wireless systemI cannot stop it. Another man puts in here a kind of gap. He gets a Nobel prize for it. . . . T he inventive effort involved is about the same as that of whic h a 30-year old mule is c apable." (p. 48) Electrical History For those deeply ac tive in the tec hnic al evaluation of historic elec tric al researc h, it is a sourc e of intense frustration and shattering disappointment to find "a new book" (or even to have a T V "doc umentary") appear, only to disc over that the authors (a) didn't penetrate the tec hnic al aspec ts of their subjec t suffic iently to understand what the real issues were, and (b) c ontinue to perpetuate unsubstantiated popularized assertions, myths, and historic al errors 'generated at vic tory balls' and not at the sc ene of the battle. T his is espec ially true of authors addressing topic s in the realm of RF, antennas, and distributed c irc uits (i.e., radio) where merely an ac ademic knowledge of elec tronic s or Maxwell's theory is insuffic ient to guarantee professional livelihood in those disc iplines. It leads one to c onc lude that no reliable history of this researc h c an be written until those with adequate tec hnic al training and experienc e devote their time and effort to the subjec t. But this doc ument is a breath of fresh air. It sets straight a region of the radio history puzzle whic h has been inc ongruous for over nine dec ades. When we saw these pages, our first impulse was to start an immediate tec hnic al evaluation: replic ate apparatus, searc h for partially disc losed c onc epts and missing piec es, c larify issues, and exec ute a tec hnic al analysis. We believe that this doc ument will initiate c onsiderable ac tivity along these lines, performed as well by a broad spec trum of investigators. T his introduc tion is not an appropriate medium TOP to disc uss suc h pursuits. Instead, we invite the reader to c onsider the wonderful personal narrative whic h will be plac ed before him.
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Feel the pathos in T esla's voic e as he desc ribes the famous system of four-tuned c irc uits: Every wireless message that has ever been transmitted to any distanc e has been transmitted by this apparatus; there is no other way. T wenty-seven more years would pass before the highest c ourts of the land would ec ho in agreement. From those legal proc eedings would emerge the ac id test for any radio system. For this reason, T esla, not Hertz, Marc oni, or De Forest has been given the title inventor of radio. T he c ourts c learly exerc ise a distinc tion between "innovated' and "invention." How strange that, even at this late date, there are those that still don't understand what happened. Fresh Surprises from Tesla T esla has never lost the magic al touc h. Even today, exac tly 100 years after his lec ture at the Royal Institution (London), his c areful engineering skill still has power to surprise and delight a tec hnic al audienc e. But what was unexpec ted from T eslatoday, in 1992, is a fresh glimpse of his life's work. T hose of us that have toiled with RF tec hnology, and elec tromagnetic radiation and propagation owe a great debt to Anderson, one of the world's leading authorities on T esla, for publishing this remarkable doc ument. It is absolutely unique. We have no doubt that it is destined to join My Inventions; Lectures, Patents, and Articles; Und Sein Werk; Inventions, Researches and Writings, and Colorado Springs Notes as a member of the historic "c anonic al T esla public ations." Anyone doing a serious tec hnic al evaluation of T esla's researc h must turn to these works. Return to 1916 It is important to grasp the pulse of soc iety at the time of this interview. In your mind's eye, return to the era of 1916. A Princ eton history professor named Woodrow Wilson, the same age as T esla, will be re-elec ted to lead the c ountry. War has been raging in Europe for the past 18 months. T he Lusitania has been sunk. Within a year, the U.S. would dec lare war on Germany and more than 100,000 young Americ ans would go "over there" never to return home to their loved ones. Irving Berlin is writing songs, 24 states have voted-in prohibition, and Ford has produc ed his millionth automobile. Motorized taxies have just appeared on the streets of New York, and elec tric ity has made possible the new skysc rapers that now begin to dominate the c ity's skyline. On Mount Wilson, in California, the new 100-inc h telesc ope is nearing c ompletion. In Europe, Albert Einstein has just introduc ed the general theory of relativity, and astronomer Arthur Stanley Eddington is quietly preparing expeditions to islands off the c oast of Afric a and Brazil to test the theory during a solar ec lipse. Consultant John Stone Stone has just c ompleted his term as president of the IRE, and Harvard Professor A.E. Kennelly has stepped into the positionhe had previously served as president of the AIEE in 1898. T he IRE now has almost 1,000 members. Dr. Zennec k's treatise on wireless telegraphy has just appeared, and he will soon be held "under arrest" at Ellis Island for the duration of WWI. Zennec k would later serve as vic e-president of the IRE during 1933. At Bell Labs, John R. Carson has just shown that single-sideband transmission is mathematic ally possible. T he first transc ontinental telephone link has just been demonstrated between Alexander Graham Bell in New York and T homas A. Watson in San Franc isc o, and wireless servic e between the U.S. and Japan has been inaugurated. In 1916 the elec tromagnetic spec trum is populated only by amateurs and c ommerc ial telegraph stations. T here is yet no c ommerc ial AM broadc asting, although Frank Conrad, who would be vic e-president of the IRE 11 years later, has just built an amateur station. It would bec ome Westinghouse's KDKA in November, 1920.
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T esla has rec ently published "Some Personal Rec ollec tions" in the Scientific American. He has proposed that the Sec retary of Defense c reate a Defense Sc ienc e Board. Looking toward the future, he publishes an essay c alled, "T he Wonder World to be Created by Elec tric ity." E. T aylor Jones and W.M. Jones have published, in the Philosophical Magazine (London), erroneous lumped-c irc uit analyses of T esla c oils. Nineteen years later, one of E.O. Lawrenc e's proteges at Berkeley would dec lare, in pages of the Physical Review, that T esla c oils "c annot be treated usefully by mathematic s." T esla prophesies that radio-c ontrolled torpedoes and missiles will soon expose the general population, not just the military, to the horrors of war. In 1916, the Scientific American disc usses T esla's new automobile speedometer, the tower at Shoreham (Long Island) will pass from his hands, and Hugo Gernsbac k's magazine, the Electrical Experimenter will c ontemplate his Colorado Springs experiments. Princ es Lwoff-Parlaghy entertains T esla among New York soc ialites, and her painting of T esla appears in The New York Times. It will later appear on the c over of Time (July 20, 1931). A Visit to a Law Office As an unseen guest, you have been ushered into an oak-dec orated law offic e in New York City. Before you sits Nikola T esla, now 60 years old, still with bushy blac k hair, slight wrinkles beginning to form around his pierc ing light blue-grey eyes. He possesses a winning smile and a firm handshake. He wears no jewelry or watc h fob. He has a somewhat high-pitc hed, reedy voic e, and speaks quic kly and c onvinc ingly. He is still very muc h the c osmopolitan New Yorker in his speec h, manner, and demeanor. He has brought with him numerous drawings, papers, and photographs for referenc e. Ac ross a wooden table sits his attorney. His demeanor is professional and serious, his questions are penetrating, his manner is deliberate. He is well aware of the professional reputation and international regard of the esteemed gentleman that sits before him, and he is intent upon understanding every detail that he c an turn to his c lient's advantage in the dramatic c ontests at law whic h will soon oc c ur. Also present is a stenographer, intent upon providing the attorney with an ac c urate written transc ription of every thought whic h will soon unfold. T he formalities being over, the c ounselor begins to speak. . . . K.L. Corum* and J.F. Corum, Ph.D.** April 4, 1992 Referenc es: (1) Martin, T .C., Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla, T he Elec tric al Engineer, New York, 1893; c h. 27, pp. 123 and 198-293, "Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequenc y" by T esla, February, 1892. T his book has been republished and is available from several sourc es. (2) Popovic , V, Horvat, R., and Nikolik, N., eds., Nikola Tesla: Lectures, Patents and Articles, Nikola T esla Museum, Beograd, Yugoslavia, 1956; c h. 3, "Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequenc y" by T esla, pp. L48-L106. (3) T esla, Nikola, Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequency, Mc Graw Publishing Co., New York, 1304, 162 pp. (4) Disc ussion of "A History of Some Foundations of Modern Radio-Elec tronic T ec hnology," Comments by Lloyd Espensc hied, Proceedings of the IRE, July, 1959 (Vol. 47, No. 7),
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pp. 1254, 1256. (5) Crawford, E., Heilbron, J.L., and Ullric h, R., University of California, 1987. (6) Martin, T .C., and Goles, S.L., The Story of Electricity, T he Story of Elec tric ity Co., Vol. 2, 1919, p. 107. * Corum & Assoc iates, Inc ., T hornton, Hew Hampshire ** Battelle, Columbus, Ohio
II. Experiments w ith Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony T esla [Diag. 1 of Fig. 5] shows how I used this mac hine whic h I have desc ribed in my first efforts toward wireless. T hese experiments were all performed in my laboratory on Grand Street, but they were subsequently very muc h refined and c arried on in a different way. Counsel What date was that? T esla T hat was in 1891, prior to my going to England to lec ture before the sc ientific soc ieties there, the Royal Institution and the Institution of Elec tric al Engineers. I had a wire run out through the window, and plac ed on the roof all sorts of devic es to c onstitute this c apac ity [shown in the diagrams as an elevated square]. T he first step was to c onnec t this alternator [shown in the diagrams as a c irc le] with one terminal to the water pipe system and the other end to the antenna. I had already proved in my lec ture at Columbia College that I c ould transmit energy through one wire; therefore, I was prepared to find that a c urrent of c onsiderable strength c ould be passed through this wire here [c onnec ting the alternator to the elevated c apac itor], although it was insulated. My idea at that time was that I would disturb the elec tric al equilibrium in the nearby portions of the earth, and the equilibrium being disturbed, this c ould then be utilized to bring into operation in any way some instrument. T hat was what we would now c all, simply, impressing forc ed vibrations of very high frequenc y on an antenna. We have introduc ed the term "antenna" sinc e that time. . . .
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Fig ure 5. Illustrating v arious ways of using a high frequency alternator in the first experiments at the Grand Street Laboratory: 1891-1893.
...
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Fig ure 13. Instrument to receiv e radio wav es of 1896-1899 structure.
One of the simplest devic es I used in my experiments between my laboratory on South Fifth Avenue and the Gerlac h Hotel, and other plac es in and outside the c ity, was an instrument c onstruc ted in 1896 with a magnet whic h sometimes was so designed as to give me a very intense magnetic field up to 20,000 lines per square c entimeter. In this [field] I plac ed a c onduc tor, a wire or a c oil, and then I would get a note whic h I amplified and intensified in many ways. From the c harac teristic s of the audible note, I would immediately judge the quality of my apparatus. When I speak of an audible note, I mean a note audible in a telephone as produc ed by the diaphragm of a telephone, or by a vibrating wire within the range of audibility. [Fig. 13] shows the general arrangement of the [rec eiving] apparatus. T wo c ondensers are the boxes at eac h end, and in the c enter a c oil, or two c oils, ac c ording to nec essity, with whic h I produc ed a strong magnetic field and [plac ed] in it a wire. T hese c ondensers and the wire form a c irc uit whic h I tune. T he c ondensers are of c omparatively large c apac ity bec ause my c onduc tor is so short. I usually would transform the c urrent in the rec eiving c irc uit and make as c lose a c onnec tion as possible and then tune the c irc uit to the vibrations. I would also mec hanic ally tune the wire, ac c ording to the frequenc y, to the same note or to a fundamental. T his mac hine was suitable for transportation. I c ould put it under my arm with a c ouple of batteries. I had relays, whic h were very big, in whic h I produc ed (for stationary work) a very intense magnetic field so as to affec t the c onduc tor by the feeblest c urrent. Furthermore, I used these relays partic ularly in c onnec tion with beats. When the frequenc ies were very high, I c ombined two frequenc ies very nearly alike. T hat gave me a low beat. One of the frequenc ies I sometimes produc ed at the rec eiving station, and at other times at both the rec eiving and transmitting stations. T his always gave me the means of produc ing an audible note. I used mac hines of this c harac ter from 1892, but this spec ific instrument in my laboratory on Houston Street.
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T his instrument c omprising a magnet and c hord or c oil in the magnetic field -- I mean a wire or c oil in the magnetic field -- is an old ac ademic devic e, used in all sorts of demonstrations at the sc hools and the university where I was studying. My professor of physic s has had similar instruments with an adjustable spring and magnet, and I have employed them in assisting him. T here is nothing novel in the idea. T he only novelty was that I kept my alternation low and I made this arrangement with c onduc tors to tune. It was very c onvenient for produc ing audible effec ts bec ause, if I used other forms of a rec eiver, I had a reading whic h was not at onc e translatable. If I listened to a note, I c ould immediately tell the quality of the transmission. For instanc e, I would tune a c irc uit in my laboratory, take it out to another building, and I would rec eive the signals; and from the quality of the signals I would see how I was progressing. Counsel
In the experiments that you have spoken of with the instrument of whic h the pic ture is shown [as Fig. 13], what were the distanc es between the transmitting and rec eiving stations? T esla T he distanc e at that time, and I think the greatest distanc e at whic h I ever rec eived signals from the Houston Street laboratory, was from the Houston laboratory to West Point. T hat is, I think, a distanc e of about 30 miles. T his was prior to 1897 when Lord Kelvin c ame to my laboratory. In 1898 I made c ertain demonstrations before the Examiner-in-Chief of the Patent Offic e, Mr. Seeley, and it was upon showing him the prac tic ability of the transmission that patents were granted to me. . . .
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Fig ure 29. Small high frequency mechanical and electrical oscillator used in many inv estigations.
T hat osc illator [Fig. 29] was one of high frequenc y for isoc hronous work, and I used it in many ways. T he mac hine, you see, c omprised a magnetic frame. T he energizing c oil, whic h is removed, produc ed a strong magnetic field in this region. I c alc ulated the dimensions of the field to make it as intense as possible. T here was a powerful tongue of steel whic h c arried a c onduc tor at the extreme end. When it was vibrated, it generated osc illations in the wire. T he tongue was so rigid that a spec ial arrangement was provided for giving it a blow; then it would start, and the air pressure would keep it going. T he vibrating mec hanic al system would fall into sync hronism with the elec tric al, and I would get isoc hronous c urrents from it. T hat was a mac hine of high frequenc y that emitted a note about like a mosquito. It was something like 4,000 or 5,000. It gave a pitc h nearly that of my alternator of the [first] type whic h I have desc ribed. Of c ourse this devic e was not intended for a big output, but simply to give me, when operating in c onnec tion with rec eiving c irc uits, isoc hronous c urrents. T he exc ursions of the tongue were so small that one c ould not see it osc illate, but when the finger was pressed against it the vibration was felt.
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TOP IV. Apparatus for Transformation by Condenser Discharges; Damped Wav es T esla T his work [Fig. 31] was begun already in 1889. T his type of apparatus is identified with my name as c ertain as the law of gravitation is with that of Newton. I know that some have c laimed that Professor T homson also invented the so-c alled T esla c oil, but those feeble c hirps ne'er went beyond Swampsc ott. Professor T homson is an odd sort of man; very ingenious, but he never was a wireless expert; he never c ould be. Moreover, it is important to realize that this princ iple is universally employed everywhere. T he greatest men of sc ienc e have told me that this was my best ac hievement and, in c onnec tion with this apparatus [referring to sc hematic s of Fig. 31], I may say that a lot of liberties have been taken. For instanc e, a man fills this spac e [break D] with hydrogen; he employs all my instrumentalities, everything that is nec essary, but c alls it a new wireless systemthe Poulsen arc . I c annot stop it. Another man puts in here [referring to spac e between self-induc tive lines L L] a kind of gaphe gets a Nobel prize for doing it. My name is not mentioned. Still another man inserts here [c onduc tor B] a merc ury[-arc ] rec tifier. T hat is my friend Cooper Hewitt. But, as a matter of fac t, those devic es have nothing to do with the performanc e.
TOP
TOP
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TOP
Fig ure 31. M ethod of Transformation of electrical energy by oscillatory condenser discharges described in U.S. Patent No. 462,418 of Nov ember 3, 1891. Application filed February 4, 1891. Announcement of this inv ention was made in Tesla's lecture before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers at Columbia College, M ay 20, 1891, where it was predicted that this apparatus afforded v ast possibilities and would play an important part in the future. Illustrated and described in T.C M artin book, Figs. 126 and 127, pp. 191-194.
If these men knew what I do, they would not touc h my arrangements; they would leave my apparatus as it is. Marc oni puts in here [break D] two wheels. I showed only one wheel; he TOP shows two. And he says, "See what happens when the wheels are rotated; a wonderful thing happens!" What is the wonderful thing? Why, when the teeth of the wheels pass one another,
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the c urrents are broken and interrupted. T hat is the wonderful thing that happens? T he Lord himself c ould not make anything else happen unless he broke his own laws. So, in this way, invention has been degraded, debased, prostituted, more in c onnec tion with my apparatus than in anything else. Not a vestige of invention as a c reative effort is in the thousands of arrangements that you see under the name of other peoplenot a vestige of invention. It is exac tly like in c ar c ouplings on whic h 6,000 patents have been taken out; but all the c ouplings are c onstruc ted and operated exac tly the same way. T he inventive effort involved is about the same as that of whic h a 30-year-old mule is c apable. T his is a fac t. T his is one of most beautiful things ever produc ed in the way of apparatus: I take a generator of any kind. With the generator I c harge a c ondenser. T hen I disc harge the c ondenser under c onditions whic h result in the produc tion of vibrations. Now, it was known sinc e Lord Kelvin that the c ondenser disc harge would give this vibration, but I perfec ted my apparatus to suc h a degree that it bec ame an instrument utilizable in the arts, in a muc h broader way than Lord Kelvin had c ontemplated as possible. In fac t, years afterwards when Lord Kelvin honored me by presenting to the British Assoc iation one of my osc illators of a perfec ted form, he said that it was "a wonderful development and destined to be of great importanc e." [Returning to a disc ussion of Fig. 31], [E] is supposed to be a c ondenser. T hat [A] is the generator. Now then, supposing that this is a generator of steady pressure. I c an obtain osc illations of any frequenc y I desire. I c an make them damped or undamped. I c an make them of one direc tion or alternating in direc tion as I c hoose. At G are devic es whic h operate lamps, or anything else. Some experimenters who have gone after me have found a diffic ulty. T hey said, "No, we c annot produc e a c onstant train of osc illations." TOP Well, it is not my fault. I never have had the slightest diffic ulty. I produc ed c onstant osc illations and I have desc ribed how I produc ed them. Anyone who has no more than my own skill c an do it.
TOP
Fig ure 32. Quenched spark gap. (Tesla at that time pointed out the future of quenching and showed that oscillations can be maintained without a spark being v isible to the naked eye between the knobs.) Illustrated in T.C. M artin book, Figs. 135 and 136, p. 211.
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T his [Fig. 32] is another improvement in that partic ular devic e, whic h was the weakness of the invention and whic h I tried to eliminate. T his devic e inc orporated many spark gaps in series. It had a pec uliar feature; namely, through the great number of gaps, I was able, as I have pointed out in my writings, to produc e osc illations without even a spark being visible between the knobs. T his devic e is now known in the art as the "quenc hed spark gap." Professor Wein has formulated a beautiful theory about it, whic h I understand has netted him the Nobel prize. Wein's theories are admirable. T he only trouble is that he has overlooked one very important fac t. It is this: If the apparatus is properly designed and operated, there is no use for the quenc hed gap, for the osc illations are c ontinuous anyway. T he radio men who c ame after me had the problem before them of making a bell sound, and they immersed it in merc ury. Now, you know merc ury is heavy. When they struc k their bell, the merc ury did not permit it to vibrate long bec ause it took away all the energy. I put my bell in a vac uum and make it vibrate for hours. I have designed c irc uits in c onnec tion with an enterprise in 1898 for transmission of energy whic h, onc e started, would vibrate three years, and even after that the osc illations c ould still be detec ted. Professor Wein's theory is very beautiful, but it really has no prac tic al meaning. It will bec ome useless as soon as the ineffic ient apparatus of the day, with antennae that radiate energy rapidly, [are] replac ed by a sc ientific ally designed osc illator whic h does not give out energy exc ept when it gets up to a tremendous elec tromagnetic momentum.
TOP
Fig ure 33. The discharger working in an atmosphere, chiefly consisting of hydrogen, still further weakened by heat. The use of hydrogen in this connection has been claimed as a discov ery and patented. Presented in TesIa's lectures before the Franklin Institute and the National Electric Light Association. T.C. M artin book, Fig. 167. pp. 307-308.
In this form of break [Fig. 33], I c hanged the atmosphere in whic h the arc was operating. T he atmosphere was mostly hydrogen, and with this devic e I performed my experiments before the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and the National Elec tric Light Assoc iation in St. Louis. T his has been used by Poulsen and it is now c alled the "Poulsen arc " and "Poulsen system." But, of c ourse, there is no invention in it. I am on rec ord with prior public ations, and besides, the hydrogen does not have any other effec t exc ept that it lowers the tension under whic h the devic e c an operate. It has the disadvantage of produc ing asymmetric al or distorted waves, and the impulses obtained are not best suited for tuning. TOP
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TOP
Fig ure 34. Oscillatory apparatus with interrupter in oil. Exhibited in the Chicago Exposition of 1893 before Helmholtz. Described in U.S. Patent No. 514,168 of February 6, 1894. Application filed August 2, 1893.
TOP
T his [Fig. 34] is the apparatus used in the Chic ago Exposition of 1893, at whic h time I explained for the first time to Professor Helmholtz my plan for transmitting energy. After I had shown Professor Helmholtz and other sc ientific men there c ertain phenomena, he asked me, "Now, what is all this intended for?"
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I told him I was trying to develop an apparatus for transmitting energy without wire for telegraphy, telephony, and other purposes. When I explained to Professor Helmholtz the whole idea, I said, "Exc ellenc y, do you think that my plan is realizable?" He replied, "Why, c ertainly it is, but first you must produc e the apparatus." I started then and there to produc e the apparatus. Counsel Was that c onversation at the the Chic ago Exposition? T esla Yes. It took plac e in a pavilion whic h was built espec ially for exhibiting my inventions and disc overies. I believe Professor Wedding was there and some other sc ientists whom I c annot remember now. I showed Professor Helmholtz my vac uum tubes and performed many other experiments. Counsel TOP Will you desc ribe this apparatus in a little more detail? T esla T he apparatus [Fig. 34], as you see, c omprised primary and sec ondary c oils immersed in a large tank of oil. T he break was automatic ally effec ted by means of a turbine. T he oil was c irc ulated by a pump, and the c urrent [i.e., stream flow] of oil drove the turbine whic h effec ted the make and break. Owing to the fac t that the oil used was a very good insulator, rapidly flowing and of great dielec tric strength, these make-and-break points were very c lose together, and the arc s extremely short. T he effec ts were ac c ordingly more intense. Here [T in Diag. 1 of Fig. 34] is a c ooler through whic h the oil was c irc ulated. T he oil was forc ed through the gaps at great speed, and as it flowed out it was supplied again to the tank and the c urrent driving the turbine. Counsel T hat devic e [Diag. 2 of Fig. 34] you c all a turbine? T esla Yes. It had vanes like those of a propeller and c onstituted a rotary break in the c irc uit. Counsel What was your prime sourc e [of power]? T esla TOP T he primary sourc e was an alternator with a frequenc y of 133 c yc les and, if I rec ollec t rightly,
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the pressure [at the sec ondary] was about 20,000 volts. I may have had 10,000 volts. I am not sure what it was, but it must have been c ertainly from 10,000 to 20,000 voltswithin that range. Counsel I notic e you have two sets of transformers in there marked S and S', have you not? T esla T his [S'] is my osc illatory c irc uit. T hat [S] is the transformer from whic h the c ondenser was c harged. Here [at S] we had 20,000 volts, or whatever it was, from the c ommerc ial transformer and here [at S'] is my sec ondary whic h generated the high frequenc y c urrents. T he rotary gap is shown in detail [Diag. 2 of Fig. 34]. I had a spec ial reason for showing this. T o meet that great man Helmholtz and other sc ientific men, and to bring before them for the first time the results of years of previous labor, was an important moment in my lifepartic ularly bec ause Professor Helmholtz gave me the assuranc e himself that what I explained to him was realizable, provided that I c ould produc e the apparatus. I was very muc h enc ouraged.
TOP
Fig ure 35. Apparatus with mechanical break as installed on a large scale in the laboratory at South Fifth Av enue and subsequently at 46 East Houston Street. Described in U.S. Patent No. 645,576 of M arch 20, 1900. Application filed September 2, 1897.
T his [Fig. 35] is the apparatus I had at 35 South Fifth Avenue and also Houston Street. It shows the whole arrangement as I had it for the demonstration of effec ts whic h I investigated.[*] T his TOP c able you see [square loop in top half of Fig. 35] is stretc hed around the hall. T hese are my c ondensers. T here is the mec hanic ally operated break, and that is a transformer c harged from
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the generator. T hat is the way I had it for the produc tion of c urrent effec ts whic h were rather of damped c harac ter bec ause, at that period, I used c irc uits of great ac tivity whic h radiated rapidly. In the Houston Street laboratory, I c ould take in my hands a c oil tuned to my body and c ollec t 3/4 horsepower anywhere in the room without tangible c onnec tion, and I have often disillusioned my visitors in regard to suc h wonderful effec ts. Sometimes, I would produc e flames shooting out from my head and run a motor in my hands, or light six or eight lamps. T hey c ould not understand these manifestations of energy and thought that it was a genuine transmission of power. I told them that these phenomena were wonderful, but that a system of transmission, based on the same princ iple, was absolutely worthless. It was a transmission by elec tromagnetic waves. T he solution lay in a different direc tion. I am showing you this [diagram] simply as a typic al form of apparatus of that period, and if you go over the literature of the present day you will find that the newest arrangements have nothing better to show. Counsel What was the make and break frequenc y that you got from that apparatus? T esla It was 5,000, 6,000sometimes higher still. I had two oppositely rotating disc s whic h I will show you and with whic h I c ould have reac hed, probably, 15,000 or 18,000. Counsel What wave frequenc ies did you develop? TOP T esla I c ould operate from a few thousand up to a million per sec ond, if I wanted. Counsel What did you ac tually use? T esla In these demonstrations, whic h I showed these effec ts, these most powerful effec ts that were the sight of New York at that time, I operated with frequenc ies from 30,000 to 80,000. At that time I c ould pic k up a wire, c oil it up, and tell what the vibration would be, without any test, bec ause I was experimenting day and night.
TOP
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TOP
Fig ure 36. Isochronous mechanical break used in the laboratory at 35 South Fifth Av enue. Described in U.S. Patent Nos. 568,179 and 568,180 of September 22, 1896. Applications filed July 6 and 9, 1896. (Diagram taken from Patent No. 568,180.)
T his [Fig. 36] is a form of break whic h I developed in working with alternators. I rec ognized that TOP it was of tremendous advantage to break at the peak of the wave. If I used just an ordinary break, it would make and break the c urrent at low as well as high points of the wave. Of this
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apparatus I had two forms; one in whic h I drove the break right from the shaft of the dynamo and the other in whic h I drove it with an isoc hronous motor. T hen, by a movement of these knobs (K K), I would make the adjustments so that the makes would oc c ur exac tly at the top of the wave. T hat is a form of break whic h is embodied in hundreds of patents and used now extensively.
TOP
Fig ure 37. M echanical break with two oppositely rotating discs used for the purpose of increasing the number of breaks and alternating oscillations practically undamped. (Subsequently patented by others.)
Here [Fig. 37] I show an apparatus that was installed in the Houston Street laboratory prior to the other break bec ause I wanted to get as high a number of impulses as possible. T he drawing dates from the spring of 1896. It is a break with whic h I c ould reac h from 15,000 to 18,000 interruptions per sec ond. I used it very muc h until later I found it was not nec essary. T hat is the innoc ent devic e whic h Marc oni thought a great invention. Counsel T his is also a rotary gap? T esla Yes, and it c onsists of two disc s of aluminum, with teeth of aluminum on the side. T hey were rotated by two motors in opposite direc tions, and as they rotated they alternately c losed and opened the c irc uit. In some instanc es I used an uneven number of teeth on one and and even TOP number on the other so that I c ould produc e as many breaks as I desired. I will show you later an apparatus more perfec t than this one, and of a different kind, in whic h I have 24 stationary
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c ontac ts, and 25 rotating elements that established the c ontac t and broke it, so that by one revolution I obtained 24 times 25, or 600 interruptions [per revolution]. Counsel Whenever you say "the break", you mean "a spark gap"? T esla Yes; otherwise I use the term "c irc uit c ontroller," preferably.
TOP
Fig ure 38. Use of multi-phase generator with mechanical break. Experiments in the laboratory at 35 South Fifth Av enue and subsequently.
T his [Fig. 38] illustrates another development in a different direc tion. In order to inc rease the number of breaks, I employed c urrents of different phase. I had in my laboratory, permanently, a two-phase dynamo and c ould get phases between; that is, from two phases, 90 apart, I c ould obtain four phases, 45 apart. Here is an arrangement shown as I had it, working with three phases [60 apart, and c ould obtain six phases, 30 apart], and later on I had one with four phases [45 apart, and c ould obtain eight phases 22 1/2 apart]. You see, as I multiplied the number of the phases, I inc reased the number of the fundamental disc harges. Counsel What is the date of this apparatus? T esla T his I employed already in the 35 South Fifth Avenue laboratory, bec ause I remember that I gave entertainments to several sc ientific soc ieties and it was then present there. I know on one oc c asion there was the Soc iety of Arc hitec ts, and another, the Elec trotherapeutic Soc iety, and then I had distinguished men like Mark T wain and Joseph JeffersonI gave them a demonstration whic h was published in Martin's artic le in the Century Magazine of April 1895, and I know that on these oc c asions I used a two-phase arrangement. Later on I made it four TOP phase. T hat apparatus existed, therefore, prior to the destruc tion of my laboratory in 1895.
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Counsel Do you rec all any public ation in whic h this diagram was illustrated? T esla I made no public ation, and I vividly remember that when I installed my apparatus on Long Island I had an arrangement with four transformers and four phases 45 apart. After I had been using this apparatus there, several years afterwards, I ran ac ross a patent, I believe held by the General Elec tric Company, desc ribing prec isely the same arrangement.[*] It was a similar experienc e as with that patent of Fessenden on the c ompressed air c ondenser. Any time I want to use these improvements all I need to do is to produc e my rec ords and that will settle the patents. Counsel When was that drawing [Fig. 38]? T esla T his is from an old patent drawing whic h was made by Mr. Netter. Counsel TOP But that did not go to patent? T esla No. I have hundreds of inventions that were to be patented but side-stepped. T he expense was too great and I c ould not do it. T his form of apparatus with two and four phases was used prior to the destruc tion of my laboratory in 1895, and it was installed on a large sc ale with four phases in my plant on Long Island with whic h I was to telephone around the world, but that is a long story. Counsel In that use you made of it at your laboratory, was that c onnec ted up as shown there [Fig. 38], to an antenna? T esla I used the apparatus, yes, in c onnec tion with the antenna too, but this is from a patent drawing in whic h an antenna is shown; I mean, I used it in every c onnec tion. [Fig. 38] illustrates an antenna with my transmitting c irc uit, but the apparatus was used in all my work, in all my investigations. Counsel And when this was c onnec ted in and used in an antenna, did you use it as in other TOP instanc esgo off and listen to the notes whic h you rec eived?
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T esla Oh, c ertainly. But I remember that, besides this, I had different kinds of apparatus. T hen I had a sensibly damped wave bec ause at that time I still was laboring under the same diffic ulties as some do this dayI had not learned how to produc e a c irc uit whic h would give me, with very few fundamental impulses, a perfec tly c ontinuous wave. T hat c ame with the perfec tion of the devic es. When I c ame to my experiments in Colorado, I c ould take my apparatus like that and get a c ontinuous or undamped wave, almost without exc eption, between individual disc harges. Counsel Speaking of your not having perfec tly undamped waves at that time, you were referring to that c harac ter of c irc uit? T esla Yes, but with another kind of c irc uit I c ould, of c ourse. T he advantage of this apparatus was the delivering of energy at short intervals whereby one c ould inc rease ac tivity, and with this sc heme I was able to perform all of those wonderful experiments whic h have been reprinted from time to time in the tec hnic al papers. I would take energy out of a c irc uit at rates of hundreds or thousands of horsepower. In Colorado, I reac hed 18 million horsepower ac tivities, but that was always by this devic e: Energy stored in the c ondenser and disc harged in an inc onc eivably small interval of time. You c ould not produc e that ac tivity with an undamped wave. T he damped wave is of advantage bec ause it gives you, with a generator of 1 kilowatt, an ac tivity of 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, or 5,000 kilowatts; whereas, if you have a c ontinuous or TOP undamped wave, 1 kilowatt gives you only wave energy at the rate of 1 kilowatt and nothing more. T hat is the reason why the system with a quenc hed gap has bec ome popular. I have refined this so that I have been able to take energy out of engines by drawing on their momentum. For instanc e, if the engine is of 200 horsepower, I take the energy out for a minute interval of time, at a rate of 5,000 or 6,000 horsepower, then I store [it] in a c ondenser and disc harge the same at the rate of several millions of horsepower. T hat is how these wonderful effec ts are produc ed. T he c ondenser is the most wonderful instrument, as I have stated in my writings, bec ause it enables us to attain greater ac tivities than are prac tic al with explosives. T here is no limit to the energy whic h you c an develop with a c ondenser. T here is a limit to the energy whic h you c an develop with an explosive. A c ommon experiment, for instanc e, in my laboratory on Houston Street, was to pass through a c oil energy at a rate of several thousand horsepower, put a piec e of thic k tinfoil on a stic k, and approac h it to that c oil. T he tinfoil would melt, and would not only melt, but while it was still in that form, it would be evaporated and the whole proc ess took plac e in so small an interval of time that it was like a c annon shot. Instantly I put it there, there was an explosion. T hat was a striking experiment. It simply showed the power of the c ondenser, and at that time I was so rec kless that in order to demonstrate to my visitors that my theories were c orrec t, I would stic k my head into that c oil and I was not hurt; but, I would not do it now.
TOP
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TOP
Fig ure 39 Apparatus furnishing direct currents of high tension, producing undamped electrical oscillations of high frequency. (This is also shown in [Fig. 27]). Apparatus built in 1895.
[Fig. 39] shows a four-phase mac hine whic h was furnished me by the Westinghouse Elec tric Company at the c lose of 1895. My laboratory burned out in May, and I urged my friend, Mr. Albert Sc hmidt, who was the Superintendent, to give me this alternator as soon as possible. He worked day and night until he got it out, and he c ertainly did notable work bec ause while the mac hine was rated at 30 horsepower, I have run it at 150 horsepower. By the way, and this is a painful reflec tion, it was Sc hmidt and I who developed this type of frame and this general arrangement whic h is universally adopted nowa base, with the magnets c ast below, split at the c enter line, and a c orresponding upper part. T hat is now used everywhere. I remember years ago, some of my friends, Messrs. Croc ker and Wheeler, started with those long magnets and I told them, "T he sooner you throw these away and adopt this c onstruc tion, the better it will be for you." T hey have got it now; it is all right. Counsel How is this mac hine [Fig. 39] shown in c onnec tion with that? T esla T his dynamo [Fig. 39], you see, is a two-phase mac hine; that is, I develop from it c urrents of TOP two-phase. Now, there are four transformers. You see them down here [lower left of Fig. 39] that furnish the primary energy. From these two phases I develop four phases. [However,] this
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involves something else whic h I have referred to before; namely, an arrangement whic h enables me to produc e from these alternating c urrents direc t c urrents and undamped absolutely undampedisoc hronous osc illations of any period I like. T his is ac c omplished in the following manner: T he sec ondaries of the four transformers c ould eac h develop 44,000 volts. T hey were spec ially built for me by the Westinghouse Company. T hey c ould, however, be c onnec ted in suc h a way that eac h would give 11,000 volts, and then I would take these 11,000 volts and these four phases and c ommutate them by a c ommutator c onsisting of aluminum plates, or aluminum segments, whic h were rotated in sync hronism with the alternator. T hen I obtained a c ontinuous pressure; that is, direc t c urrent of a tension of 44,000 volts, and with these 44,000 volts I c harged my c ondensers. T hen by disc harging the c ondensers, either through a stationary gap or through a gap with a mec hanic al interrupter, I obtained any frequenc y I desired, and perfec tly undamped waves. T his arrangement was installed in 1901 in my wireless plant at Long Island, with whic h I was to telephone around the world. Counsel Who built that mac hine? T esla T he Westinghouse Company, [under direc tion of] Mr. Albert Sc hmidt, Superintendent. It was espec ially built for me and furnished to my laboratory on Houston Street. TOP While I was with the Westinghouse Company, I did two things in addition to bringing my motors to them. I had disc overed that Bessemer steel was a muc h better material for transformers and motors than the soft iron whic h was previously used. When I c ame to Pittsburgh, my motors gave results whic h their motors c ould not at first produc e, and I told them that I had used Bessemer steel. I disc overed, in following up the analysis of the steels whic h were used, that the Bessemer was not steel but really soft iron. T he Westinghouse people then adopted my suggestion. At first, Mr. Shallenberger and other elec tric ians there objec ted very muc h, but I persuaded them and when the transformers were built we found that we c ould get 2 1/2 times the output we got before. T he Westinghouse people kept it a sec ret for a long time and no one understood how they c ould make suc h fine transformers, but all they did was to use the Bessemer steel, on my suggestion, instead of the soft iron the General Elec tric and other people used. Mr. Westinghouse espec ially requested me to join efforts with Mr. Sc hmidt and improve the design of his mac hines, and we did so. We evolved this design, introduc ed the ready-made c oils, whic h are pressed on the armature, and other improvements. I took a c ouple of patents out with Mr. Sc hmidt, and Mr. Westinghouse was very nic e about it. I think he c ompensated me with $10,000, or something like that, for my suggestions. Counsel You have spoken of the use of that mac hine at Houston Street. In what way was it used? T esla I used this mac hine, as I said, either to produc e alternating c urrents and then interrupt them TOP with a mec hanic al break at the high peaks of the wave; or, I used alternating c urrents and interrupted them with an independent rotating break having a great number of teeth. Or, I
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generated c ontinuous c urrents by c ommutating the high tension alternating c urrents of the transformer. At that time I had two transformers from whic h I obtained a c onstant pressure, c harged the c ondenser, and produc ed undamped waves of any frequenc y I wanted. As to the mac hine here [Fig. 39], that is the way it was arranged. It was for the generation of c ontinuous elec tromotive forc e and produc tion of undamped wavesfrom 1895 and on. Counsel What sort of apparatus was it c onnec ted up to for the purpose of absorbing these waves? T esla It was the same as shown here [Fig. 38]. It was c onnec ted to the c ondensers, and these c ondensers were disc harged through a primary whic h exc ited the sec ondary; the antenna was inc luded in the sec ondary. At other times we disc harged the c ondensers direc tly so that I c ould use the antenna without the sec ondary. Counsel In the same way did you note the operation of these waves? T esla We did, of c ourse, only in most c ases the instrument of rec eption was different. When I operated with these c ontinuous, or undamped, waves, generated in this way, I usually went to TOP high frequenc ies. I did operate [at] a very few thousand, but that gave me a smaller output. Suc h a mac hine you have to operate at high frequenc ies to get power. Counsel What do you mean by high frequenc ies? T esla I mean frequenc ies of 30,000, 40,000, 50,000, or something like that. Counsel And by means of that mac hine, you put undamped waves of frequenc y about 50,000 into that antenna at Houston Street in 1895? T esla No, not in 1895. Late in 1895 the mac hine was furnished and I began to operate in early 1896. T hat is when I began to operate. Counsel T hen you did this, that I speak of, in 1896? TOP T esla
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Yes, from 1896 to 1899, right along. Counsel When you used frequenc ies like that in your antenna, was your antenna tuned or untuned? T esla I c ould not use it untuned. T hat would be absurd. Counsel What form of devic e did you use, and where did you use it, for noting the generation of these osc illations or waves in the antenna? T esla I suppose I had hundreds of devic es, but the first devic e that I used, and it was very suc c essful, was an improvement on the bolometer. I met Professor Langley in 1892 at the Royal Institution. He said to me, after I had delivered a lec ture, that they were all proud of me. I spoke to him of the bolometer, and remarked that it was a beautiful instrument. I then said, "Professor Langley, I have a suggestion for making an improvement in the bolometer, if you will TOP embody it in the princ iple." I explained to him how the bolometer c ould be improved. Professor Langley was very muc h interested and wrote in his notebook what I suggested. I used what I have termed a small-mass resistanc e, but of muc h smaller mass than in the bolometer of Langley, and of muc h smaller mass than that of any of the devic es whic h have been rec orded in patents issued sinc e. T hose are c lumsy things. I used masses that were not a millionth of the smallest mass desc ribed in any of the patents, or in the public ations. With suc h an instrument, I operated, for instanc e, in West PointI rec eived signals from my laboratory on Houston Street in West Point. Counsel T his was then the mac hine that you used when working with West Point? T esla I operated onc e or twic e with it at that distanc e, but usually as I was investigating in the c ity. My work at that time was to prepare for the development of a c ommerc ial plant, and with me the question was not to transmit signals, but to see what intensity I c ould get to put me in position to c alc ulate out my apparatus, the dimensions and the forms, before I began the undertaking. It was nothing but preparatory work for the c onstruc tion of a c ommerc ial plant, and I demonstrated its prac tic ability through my experiments, a plant whic h was to ac c omplish muc h more than all others. Counsel TOP What was the horsepower ac tivity in the osc illating c irc uits when you used this mac hine?
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T esla Usually something like 50 horsepower, and I would get, I should say, approximately 30 horsepower in the antenna; that is, I would get 30 horsepower in the osc illating c irc uit. Counsel I understood a little while ago when you made the statement of using several thousand horsepower put into a c ondenser, you c ould take out of the c ondenser a million horsepower. I wondered if you got the same c ondition with this mac hine. T esla Yes; I c harged the c ondenser with 40,000 volts. When it was c harged full, I disc harged it suddenly, through a short c irc uit whic h gave me a very rapid rate of osc illation. Let us suppose that I had stored in the c ondenser 10 watts. T hen, for suc h a wave there is a flux of energy of (4 x 104) , and this is multiplied by the frequenc y of 100,000. You see, it may go into thousands or millions of horsepower. Counsel What I wanted to get at was, did that depend upon the suddenness of the disc harge? TOP T esla Yes. It is merely the elec tric al analogue of a pile driver or a hammer. You ac c umulate energy through a long distanc e and then you deliver it with a tremendous suddenness. T he distanc e through whic h the mass moves is smallthe pressure immense. Counsel Did you find that that was the best c ondition for transmitting energy without the use of wire? T esla No, I did not use that method when I was transmitting energy. I used it only in the produc tion of those freaks for whic h I have been c alled a magic ian. If I had used merely undamped waves, I would have been an ordinary elec tric ian like everybody else. Counsel You have referred to some delic ate rec eiving instruments. Did you have any trouble with those burning out on ac c ount of static ? T esla My dear sir, I burned out so many instruments before I disc overed what was the matter with them! T hey burned out instantly until I learned how to make them so that they c ould not burn out. Yes, that was a great trouble in the beginning. TOP Counsel
2
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Did you suc c eed in getting them so they would not burn out? T esla Yes. If lightning struc k c lose by, it would not burn out my instrument that has a millionth of the smallest mass used in the instruments of others.
Fig ure 40. Apparatus and method of conv ersion by condenser discharges applicable to both alternating and direct currents. Described in lectures before the Franklin Institute and the National Electric Light Association early in 1893. Illustrated in T.C. M artin book, Fig. 165, pp. 302-317.
T his [Fig. 40] is a systematic representation of the various ways whic h I gave in my lec ture before the Franklin Institute and the National Elec tric Light Assoc iation, embodying the general arrangements for the obtainment of c ontinuous waves, undamped or damped waves, from direc t and alternating c urrent supply. On the one side [right] you have direc t, on the other side alternating c urrent supply. Some elec tric ians have had diffic ulties in operating some of this apparatus. I had none. I c an take an ordinary c irc uit of 50 volts and produc e from it absolutely undamped osc illations and never have the slightest diffic ulty about it.
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Fig ure 41. Illustrating one of the early experiments with a tuned transformer in the laboratory at South Fifth Av enue.
Now I c ome to a few piec es of apparatus whic h I used in the Houston Street laboratory and the South Fifth Avenue laboratory. I have here [Fig. 41] what you might c all a tuning c oil. I employed usually another sec ondary and had my c ondensers on the table. You see one of the c oils in ac tion. T his is a tuned c irc uit whic h responds to elec tromagnetic waves whic h are sent through the room. Counsel T his is being used as a rec eiver of waves? T esla Yes.
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Fig ure 42. Another illustration of one of the early experiments with a tuned transformer in the laboratory at South Fifth Av enue. (Article by T.C. M artin ["Tesla's Oscillator and Other Inv entions"], Century M agazine, April 1895, Fig. 9, p. 926.)
T his [instrument shown in Fig. 42] was used in the laboratory on South Fifth Avenue. Here [large c irc ular disc lying on top of c oil] is the tuning table with the c ondensers, a thic k primary, and another sec ondary wire. Sometimes I would operate with two vibrations and I would tune the first c irc uit to one and the sec ond to the other. Here [referring to c abinets in bac k of room] you see some of my historic al apparatus. Professor Fairfield Osborn[*] c ame onc e to my laboratory and said to me, "Why on earth do you keep it in this laboratory?" I had all of this apparatus, 400 piec es, absolutely pric eless, and he offered to take it over to the Museum. But I did not heed his advic e, and it is gone. Counsel Where were the waves sent from? T esla T he whole room was energized by elec tromagnetic waves and the rec eiver responded at any plac e in the hall. T he hall was bigger than this room [shown in Fig. 42], twic e as long, and anywhere the intensity of ac tion was the same. T hese disc s [vertic al, on top of tuning table] were, I think, about 14 or 15 inc hes in diameter, and you c ould see the streamers [shown as white between the disc s] anywhere in the room. In a hall twic e as long as this, wherever I plac ed the instrument, it would respond to the elec tromagnetic waves.
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Counsel In this partic ular instanc e you are speaking of, the waves were generated right there at 35 South Fifth Avenue? T esla Yes. Counsel Was that the apparatus in whic h you had the primaries running entirely around the room? T esla Yes. T his was shown to many people and soc ieties. T his [Fig. 43] shows the first single step I made toward the evolution of an apparatus whic h, given primary osc illations, will transform them into osc illations c apable of penetrating the medium. T hat experiment, whic h was marvelous at the time it was performed, was shown for the first time in 1894. I remember the inc ident perfec tly. I c alled Mr. Edward Adams, the banker, to c ome and see it, and he was the first man to observe it and to hear my explanation of what it meant.
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Fig ure 43. Apparatus in action illustrating the first step in the ev olution of the magnifying transmitter in the laboratory at 35 South Fifth Av enue. (Article by T.C. M artin ["Tesla's Oscillator and Other Inv entions"], Century M agazine, April 1895, Fig. 15, p. 932.)
T his c oil, whic h I have subsequently shown in my patents Nos. 645,576 and 649,621, in the form of a spiral, was, as you see, [earlier] in the form of a c one. T he idea was to put the c oil, with referenc e to the primary, in an induc tive c onnec tion whic h was not c losewe c all it now a loose c ouplingbut free to permit a great resonant rise. T hat was the first single step, as I say, toward the evolution of an invention whic h I have c alled my "magnifying transmitter." T hat means, a c irc uit c onnec ted to ground and to the antenna, of a tremendous elec tromagnetic momentum and small damping fac tor, with all the c onditions so determined that an immense ac c umulation of elec tric al energy c an take plac e. It was along this line that I finally arrived at the results desc ribed in my artic le in the Century Magazine of June 1900. [Fig. 43] shows an alternator; not the alternator that was furnished for my laboratory on Houston Streetthat was another one, [but] at 35 South Fifth Avenue [and] operated on the same princ iple. Here [lower left] are the c ondensers, primary, and all the rest. T he disc harge there was 5 or 6 feet, c omparatively small to what I subsequently obtained. I have produc ed disc harges of 100 feet, and c ould produc e some of 1,000 feet if nec essary, with the greatest fac ility.
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Counsel Mr. T esla, at that point, what did you mean by elec tro-magnetic momentum? T esla I mean that you have to have in the c irc uit, inertia. You have to have a large self-induc tanc e in order that you may ac c omplish two things: First, a c omparatively low frequenc y, whic h will reduc e the radiation of the elec tromagnetic waves to a c omparatively small value, and sec ond, a great resonant effec t. T hat is not possible in an antenna, for instanc e, of large c apac ity and small self-induc tanc e. A large c apac ity and small self-induc tanc e is the poorest kind of c irc uit whic h c an be c onstruc ted; it gives a very small resonant effec t. T hat was the reason why in my experiments in Colorado the energies were 1,000 times greater than in the present antennae. Counsel You say the energy was 1,000 times greater. Do you mean that the voltage was inc reased, or the c urrent, or both? T esla Yes [both]. T o be more explic it, I take a very large self-induc tanc e and a c omparatively small c apac ity, whic h I have c onstruc ted in a c ertain way so that the elec tric ity c annot leak out. I thus obtain a low frequenc y; but, as you know, the elec tromagnetic radiation is proportionate to the square root of the c apac ity divided by the self-induc tion. I do not permit the energy to go out; I ac c umulate in that c irc uit a tremendous energy. When the high potential is attained, if I want to give off elec tromagnetic waves, I do so, but I prefer to reduc e those waves in quantity and pass a c urrent into the earth, bec ause elec tromagnetic wave energy is not rec overable while that [earth] c urrent is entirely rec overable, being the energy stored in an elastic system. Counsel What elastic system do you refer to? T esla I mean this: If you pass a c urrent into a c irc uit with large self-induc tion, and no radiation takes plac e, and you have a low resistanc e, there is no possibility of this energy getting out into spac e; therefore, the impressed impulses ac c umulate. Counsel Let's see if I understand this c orrec tly. If you have radiation or elec tromagnetic waves going from your system, the energy is wasted? T esla Absolutely wasted. From my c irc uit you c an get either elec tromagnetic waves, 90 perc ent of elec tromagnetic waves if you like, and 10 perc ent in the c urrent energy that passes through the earth. Or, you c an reverse the proc ess and get 10 perc ent of the energy in elec tromagnetic waves and 90 perc ent in energy of the c urrent that passes through the earth. It is just like this: I have invented a knife. T he knife c an c ut with the sharp edge. I tell the man who applies my invention, you must c ut with the sharp edge. I know perfec tly well you c an c ut
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butter with the blunt edge, but my knife is not intended for this. You must not make the antenna give off 90 perc ent in elec tromagnetic and 10 perc ent in c urrent waves, bec ause the elec tromagnetic waves are lost by the time you are a few arc s around the planet, while the c urrent travels to the uttermost distanc e of the globe and c an be rec overed. T his view, by the way, is now c onfirmed. Note, for instanc e, the mathematic al treatise of Sommerfeld,[*] who shows that my theory is c orrec t, that I was right in my explanations of the phenomena, and that the profession was c ompletely misled. T his is the reason why these followers of mine in high frequenc y c urrents have made a mistake. T hey wanted to make high frequenc y alternators of 200,000 c yc les with the idea that they would produc e elec tromagnetic waves, 90 perc ent in elec tromagnetic waves and the rest in c urrent energy. I only used low alternations, and I produc ed 90 perc ent in c urrent energy and only 10 perc ent in elec tromagnetic waves, whic h are wasted, and that is why I got my results. . . .
You see, the apparatus whic h I have devised was an apparatus enabling one to produc e tremendous differenc es of potential and c urrents in an antenna c irc uit. T hese requirements must be fulfilled, whether you transmit by c urrents of c onduc tion, or whether you transmit by elec tromagnetic waves. You want high potential c urrents, you want a great amount of vibratory energy; but you c an graduate this vibratory energy. By proper design and c hoic e of wave lengths, you c an arrange it so that you get, for instanc e, 5 perc ent in these elec tromagnetic waves and 95 perc ent in the c urrent that goes through the earth. T hat is what I am doing. Or you c an get, as these radio men, 95 perc ent in the energy of elec tromagnetic waves and only 5 perc ent in the energy of the c urrent. . . . T he apparatus is suitable for one or the other method. I am not produc ing radiation with my system; I am suppressing elec tromagnetic waves. . . . In my system, you should free yourself of the idea that there is radiation, that the energy is radiated. It is not radiated; it is c onserved. . . .
VII. Theory and Technique of Energy Transmission
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Fig ure 78. Experimental demonstration in the Houston Street laboratory, before G.D. Seeley, Examiner in Chief, U.S. Patent Office, January 23, 1898, of the practicability of transmission of electrical energy in industrial amounts by the method and apparatus described in U.S. Patents No. 645,576 and No. 649,621. Applications filed September 2, 1897.
T esla T his [Fig. 78] is a diagram representing the arrangement of apparatus as in a prac tic al experiment whic h I performed before G.D. Seeley, Examiner in Chief, U.S. Patent Offic e, on the 23rd of January, 1898. T his experiment illustrates a great departure I had made a little prior to that date. Up to the end of 1896, I had been developing the wireless system along the lines set forth in my lec ture whic h is in the Martin book, partic ularly in the c hapter on Elec tric al Resonanc e, pages 340-349. As I stated then, if that plan of mine was prac tic able, distanc e meant absolutely nothing; distanc e merely c ame into c onsideration when you flashed rays, elec tro-magnetic or Hertzian waves, or some agenc y of that kind. By the plan I had c onc eived, if it was realizable, it was just as easy to telegraph or telephone ac ross the entire globe as it is ac ross this room. Developing along these lines, my effort was first to have the biggest possible c apac ity bec ause I had shown that, theoretic ally, the effec t would be dependent upon the quantity of elec tric ity displac ed. T he quantity of elec tric ity displac ed is proportionate to the c apac ity. T herefore, in order to realize my sc heme, it seemed nec essary to employ the biggest possible c apac ities that c ould be prac tic ally c onstruc ted; that was my idea at the beginning. But I knew also that even with a big c apac ity, if I c onnec ted it to the ground, through a generator, there still would be a frequenc y high enough to c ause a c onsiderable loss of energy in the produc tion of the Hertz or elec tromagnetic waves; c onsequently, I had to employ also a very large induc tanc e. T hus, my system was based on the proposition that I employ a very
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large induc tanc e and a very large c apac ity and, furthermore, that I raise the potential of the sourc e so high, by resonanc e, as to displac e a quantity of elec tric ity big enough to affec t sensibly not only the near portions of the globe, a distanc e of 100 miles or so, but the whole globe. In [my] Houston Street laboratory, I had already satisfied myself that it c ould be done. But in experimenting with these high potential disc harges whic h I was always produc ing, I disc overed a wonderful thing. I found, namely, that the air, whic h had been behaving before like an insulator, suddenly bec ame like a c onduc tor; that is, when subjec ted to these great elec tric al stresses, it broke down and I obtained disc harges whic h were not ac c ountable for by the theory that the air was an insulator. When I c alc ulated the effec ts, I c onc luded that this must be due to the potential gradient at a distanc e from the elec trified body, and subsequently I c ame to the c onvic tion that it would be ultimately possible, without any elevated antenna -- with very small elevation -- to break down the upper stratum of the air and transmit the c urrent by c onduc tion. Having disc overed that, I established c onditions under whic h I might operate in putting up a prac tic al c ommerc ial plant. When the matter c ame up in the patents before the Examiner, I arranged this experiment [shown in Fig. 78] for him in my Houston Street laboratory. I took a tube 50 feet long, in whic h I established c onditions suc h as would exist in the atmosphere at a height of about 4 1/2 miles, a height whic h c ould be reac hed in a c ommerc ial enterprise, bec ause we have mountains that are 5 miles high; and, furthermore, in the mountainous regions we have often great water power, so that the projec t of transmitting it, if the plan was rational, would be prac tic able. T hen, on the basis of the results I had already obtained, I established those c onditions, prac tic ally, in my laboratory. I used that c oil whic h is shown in my patent applic ation of September 2, 1897 (Patent No. 645,576 of Marc h 20, 1900), the primary as desc ribed, the rec eiving c irc uit, and lamps in the sec ondary transforming c irc uit, exac tly as illustrated there. And when I turned on the c urrent, I showed that through a stratum of air at a pressure of 135 millimeters, when my four c irc uits were tuned, several inc andesc ent lamps were lighted. Counsel What did you use as the sourc e of energy in your primary transmitting c irc uit, at the time you demonstrated this apparatus to Examiner Seeley? T esla I used a break, a mec hanic ally rotating break, whic h was c harging a c ondenser 5,000 times a sec ond, as I desc ribed in my patent Number 645,576 of Marc h 20, 1900. Counsel What was the voltage that was generated? T esla T he voltage was about 4 million volts. Counsel
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You say you used a break, whic h I understand to be a rotary spark gap. What was the original sourc e of power? T esla T he original sourc e of power was an alternator whic h I employed regularly there, from whic h I c ould get about 30 horsepower in ordinary experimentation. It was a mac hine of a frequenc y of about 60 c yc les. Counsel And that was c onnec ted in c irc uit with the c ondenser and a gap in the well-known way of your osc illators? T esla Yes. Counsel T hen you got from that, by means of a rotary gap, about 5,000 sparks? T esla Yes, 5,000 per sec ond, and I transferred [these] to a frequenc y of 200,000 to 250,000 per sec ond. Pardon me for saying, I had arranged for the Examiner to make this demonstration with a high frequenc y alternator; but just as the work was pressing I tried it and c ould not get the nec essary tension with it, otherwise I would have used the alternator. But in this other way, I c ould get the 4 million volts I needed; that is the reason why the experiment was made with this kind of apparatus. Counsel And you had a wave frequenc y of what? T esla Between 200,000 and 250,000. T hat was simply wave frequenc y; that did not mean anything here bec ause I was transmitting through a c onduc tor. I was not radiating energy into spac e. Counsel Was that a glass tube? T esla Yes, 2 or 3 inc hes in diameter, and joined with rubber. T hen there was a pipe that led to the pump, and I had a manometer to show ac c urately the pressure in the tube. I c alc ulated it so that it c orresponded to a definite height of about 5 miles. Bec ause I had mentioned in my patent 5 miles, I did not want to retrac t that statement. It was simply to show that this was prac tic able. We shall c ome immediately to something whic h will put all this in a different light.
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Here [referring to Fig. 79] is the earth. Radio engineers do not realize this truth, but when they do they will immediately get a different view of the whole radio transmission and will design their apparatus ac c ordingly. [I]n fac t, they will do exac tly what I did. It was a revelation to me. T he earth is 4,000 miles radius. Around this c onduc ting earth is an atmosphere. T he earth is a c onduc tor; the atmosphere above is a c onduc tor, only there is a little stratum between the c onduc ting atmosphere and the c onduc ting earth whic h is insulating. Now, on the basis of my experiments in my laboratory on Houston Street, the insulating layer of air, whic h separates the c onduc ting layer of air from the c onduc ting surfac e of the earth, is shown to sc ale as you see it here. T hose [radii lines] are 60 of the c irc umferenc e of the earth, and you may notic e that faint white line, a little bit of a c rac k, that extends between those two c onduc tors. Now, you realize right away that if you set up differenc es of potential at one point, say, you will c reate in the media c orresponding fluc tuations of potential. But, sinc e the distanc e from the earth's surfac e to the c onduc ting atmosphere is minute, as c ompared with the distanc e of the rec eiver at 4,000 miles, say, you c an readily see that the energy c annot travel along this c urve and get there, but will be immediately transformed into c onduc tion c urrents, and these c urrents will travel like c urrents over a wire with a return. T he energy will be rec overed in the c irc uit, not by a beam that passes along this c urve and is reflec ted and absorbed, bec ause suc h a thing is impossible, but it will travel by c onduc tion and will be rec overed in this [emphasis in original] way. Had I drawn this white line to sc ale on the basis of my Colorado experiments, it would be so thin that you would have to use a magnifying glass to see it.
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Fig ure 79. Diagram explanatory of the transmission of electrical energy by the method described. First put before Lord Kelv in in the Houston Street laboratory, September 1897.
Counsel Will you pardon me for interrupting again. You spoke some time ago about getting all of the energy from your transmitting into your rec eiving station by this method of yours. I do not understand how you c an get all of it. T esla Oh, that is hardly true; I am speaking as a matter of princ iple. You never c an get all the energy, bec ause there is no suc h thing as perfec t apparatus. Counsel I did not mean it in that sense. I understand that there is, of c ourse, always some loss, but my c onc eption was that when you c reated the disturbanc e in the elec tric al c ondition of the earth at your transmitting station, that that extended out in all radial direc tions. T esla Yes, it did. Counsel And therefore how, at any given station, c an you get more than a very small frac tion of that energy? T esla Pardon me, you are mistaken. Counsel T hat is what I want you to explain. I must be mistaken, bec ause my c onc eption does not fit in with your statements. T esla All right, I will explain that. In my first efforts, of c ourse I simply c ontemplated to disturb effec tively the earth, suffic iently to operate instruments. Well, you know you must first learn how to walk before you c an fly. As I perfec ted my apparatus, I saw c learly that I c an rec over, of that energy whic h goes in all direc tions, a large amount, for the simple reason that in the system I have devised, onc e that c urrent got into the earth it had no c hanc e of esc aping, bec ause my frequenc y was low; henc e, the elec tro-magnetic radiation was low. T he potential, the elec tric potential, is like temperature. We might as well c all potential elec tric temperature. T he earth is a vast body. T he potential differenc es in the earth are small, radiation is very small. T herefore, if I pass my c urrent into the earth, the energy of the c urrent is stored there as elec tromagnetic momentum of the vibrations and is not c onsumed until I put a rec eiver at a distanc e, when it will begin to
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draw the energy and it will go to that point and nowhere else. Counsel Why is that, on your theory? T esla I will explain it by an analogue. Suppose that the earth were an elastic bag filled with water. My transmitter is equivalent to a pump. I put it on a point of the globe, and work my little piston so as to c reate a disturbanc e of that water. If the piston moves slowly, so that the time is long enough for the disturbanc e to spread over the globe, then what will be the result of my working this pump? T he result will be that the bag will expand and c ontrac t rhythmic ally with the motions of the piston, you see. So that, at any point of that bag, there will be a rhythmic al movement due to the pulsations of the pump. T hat is only, however, when the period is long. If I were to work this pump very rapidly, then I would c reate impulses, and the ripples would spread in c irc les over the surfac e of the globe. T he globe will no longer expand and c ontrac t in its entirety, but it will be subjec t to these outgoing, rippling waves. Remember, now, that the water is inc ompressible, that the bag is perfec tly elastic , that there are no hysteretic losses in the bag due to these expansions and c ontrac tions; and remember also, that there is a vac uum, in infinite spac e, so that the energy c annot be lost in waves of sound. T hen, if I put at a distant point another little pump, and tune it to the rhythmic al pulses of the pump at the c entral plant, I will exc ite strong vibrations and will rec over power from them, suffic ient to operate a rec eiver. But, if I have no pump there to rec eive these osc illations, if there is nowhere a plac e where this elastic energy is transferred into fric tional energy (we always use in our devic es fric tional energy -- everything is lost through fric tion), then there is no loss, and if I have a plant of 1,000 horsepower and I operate it to full c apac ity, that plant does not take power, it runs idle, exac tly as the plant at Niagara. If I do not put any motors or any lamps on the c irc uit, the plant runs idle. T here is a 5,000 horsepower turbine going, but no power is supplied to the turbine exc ept suc h power as is nec essary to overc ome the fric tional losses. Now the vast differenc e between the sc heme of radio engineers and my sc heme is this. If you generate elec tromagnetic waves with a plant of 1,000 horsepower, you are using 1,000 horsepower right along -- whether there is any rec eiving being done or not. You have to supply this 1,000 horsepower, exac tly as you have to supply c oal to keep your stove going, or else no heat goes out. T hat is the vast differenc e. In my c ase, I c onserve the energy; in the other c ase, the energy is all lost. Counsel Mr. T esla, does that not presuppose that the fluid must be inc ompressible? T esla I should say so, and elec tric ity, whatever it is, c ertainly it is inc ompressible bec ause all our experiments show that. Counsel
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Now, if you were giving that a name, what princ iple would you say was involved by whic h the radiation loss, where there is no rec eiver, bec omes a gain or a c onservation where there is a rec eiver? T esla T here is no radiation in this c ase. You see, the apparatus whic h I devised was an apparatus enabling one to produc e tremendous differenc es of potential and c urrents in an antenna c irc uit. T hese requirements must be fulfilled, whether you transmit by c urrents of c onduc tion, or whether you transmit by elec tromagnetic waves. You want high potential c urrents, you want a great amount of vibratory energy; but you c an graduate this vibratory energy. By proper design and c hoic e of wave lengths, you c an arrange it so that you get, for instanc e, 5 perc ent in these elec tromagnetic waves and 95 perc ent in the c urrent that goes through the earth. T hat is what I am doing. Or, you c an get, as these radio men, 95 perc ent in the energy of elec tromagnetic waves and only 5 perc ent in the energy of the c urrent. T hen you are wondering why you do not get good results. I know why I do not get good results in that way. T he apparatus is suitable for one or the other method. I am not produc ing radiation in my system; I am suppressing elec tromagnetic waves. But, on the other hand, my apparatus c an be used effec tively with elec tromagnetic waves. T he apparatus has nothing to do with this new method exc ept that it is the only means to prac tic e it. So that in my system, you should free yourself of the idea that there is radiation, that energy is radiated. It is not radiated; it is c onserved. Counsel Right in that c onnec tion, and to illustrate your theory, I would like to know whether you c onsider that the radiation from any wireless station is wasted or c onserved, or whether the effec t produc ed by any of them today is due to this c onduc tive ac tion, so far as it is effec tive. T esla Absolutely -- the effec t at a distanc e is due to the c urrent energy that flows through the surfac e layers of the earth. T hat has already been mathematic ally shown, really, by Sommerfeld. [See editorial note p. 75.] He agrees on this theory; but as far as I am c onc erned, that is positively demonstrated. For instanc e, take the Sayville antenna. Professor Zennec k took me out and gave me the partic ulars. I went over the c alc ulations and found that at 36 kilowatts they were radiating 9 kilowatts in elec tromagnetic wave energy. T hey had, therefore, only 25 perc ent of the whole energy in these waves, and I told Professor Zennec k that this energy is of no effec t -that they produc e, by the c urrent, differenc es of potential in the earth, and these differenc es of potential are felt in Germany and affec t the rec eiver; but the elec tromagnetic waves get a little beyond Long Island and are lost. I have an idea that [you] will get the best pic ture of the proc ess in my system of transmission if you will imagine that the earth is a reservoir, say, of fluid under pressure -- that is the potential energy -- and at my plant, operating a distant tuned c irc uit, I must open a valve and enable that energy to flow in. It is exac tly that way. T he energy is all c onserved, whether it is vibrating or purely potential. Whatever the transmitter does in the rec eiver, the effec t is simply to open a valve, as it were, and permit energy to flow in. Now, of c ourse, the hardest thing to understand, if one is not a spec ialist in that line and has not spent years, as I have, in experiments and thought in that direc tion, is how c an a plant like that be ec onomic ally operated when we know that there are mountain peaks everywhere? T hose peaks are antennae; they are likewise c harged. Well, it took me a long time to find that out. T o give you an idea, let us take a big, enormous mountain like the peak of T enerife. T hat is a big
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mountain that rises out of the sea and goes up to 17,000 or 18,000 feet. Naturally, that is a tremendous antenna, everybody will think. Without c alc ulating, without passing through the experienc e I have gone through, you will say that peak alone will take away more energy than all the antennae you c an put up all over the world. T hat is not so. T he peak of T enerife has no more c apac ity than something like 100 c entimeters [110 pic ofarads], and it will be c harged to a very low potential, whereas my antenna c ould be c harged to a very high potential. I c an show that the mountain would not absorb muc h energy, not 0.0001 perc ent of that my antenna would. I c ould put my antenna right c lose to the peak, and it will take 10,000 times more energy. You must simply realize that the earth is, so far as it is mec hanic ally looked upon, like a rough ball; but when you look at it elec tric ally, it is a polished ball. Lord Kelvin has already, in his papers on atmospheric elec tric ity, of whic h he kindly sent me two c opies -- he did not stop at sending me one -- grasped that; he c onsidered the distribution of elec tric ity on the globe, and c ame to the c onc lusion that the c apac ity of definite terrestrial areas does not inc rease sensibly with elevation. You see, the elec tric al surfac e density on the highest peaks is not any more than just a frac tion of 1 perc ent greater than on the sea. So that the whole thing, to my mind, appears as a wonderfully providential arrangement, and we c an by this means realize things so marvelous that one would be almost afraid to talk about them; and the apparatus -- I do not say that bec ause I am the inventor -- the apparatus is prac tic ally the Lamp of Aladdin. Counsel Is it bec ause the earth is this inelastic mass of elec tric ity that it is the basis for your statement that distanc e is of no c onsequenc e? T hat is the way I visualize that it is, that if the earth is an inelastic mass or body of elec tric ity, and you set that mass into vibration at any one point, that vibration will extend to the antipodes equally as well as it will to a distanc e of 200 miles. Is that what you had in mind? T esla I must first c lear away some illusionary ideas. You must first understand c ertain things. Consider, for instanc e, the term "resistanc e." When you think of resistanc e you imagine, naturally, that you have a long, thin c onduc tor; but remember that while resistanc e is direc tly proportionate to length, it is inversely proportionate to the sec tion. It is a quality that depends on a ratio. If you take a small sphere of the same size of a pea, and c ompare its length with its sec tion, you would find a c ertain resistanc e. Now you extend this pea to the size of the earth, and what is going to happen? While the length inc reases, say a thousand times or a million times, the sec tion inc reases with the square of the linear dimensions, so that the bigger this thing is the less resistanc e it has. Indeed, if the earth were as big as the sun we would still be better off than we are; we c ould readily telephone from one end of the sun to the other by the system, and the larger the planet the better it would be. Counsel T hen do I get your idea c orrec tly, that distanc e is of no importanc e bec ause of the low resistanc e due to the large sec tion of the earth? T esla
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No, pardon me. Counsel I c annot quite get that. Why is it that with your system distanc e c uts no figure? T esla Distanc e c uts no figure for the reason that there is no fall of potential. Now imagine this: Suppose that the earth, in reality, were a big main, a main of c opper, say, that all the c opper of the earth would be fused into a big main, and then you will readily see it would not make any differenc e where you tapped that energy, whether you do it nearby or whether you go 100 miles further, bec ause the resistanc e of the main is nothing. T he resistanc e of the earth does not c ome in in this way, but in another way. T hese questions are very c omplex. T he resistanc e is only at the point where you get into the earth with your c urrent. T he rest is nothing. T hose things will be very diffic ult to explain without a lot of theoretic al stuff, whic h would be unprofitable, when it is here the objec t to give a c lear idea of the princ iple and nothing else.
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Fig ure 80. Diagram illustrating one of the many wireless fallacies, taken from a U.S. Patent of Guglielmo M arconi, No. 676,332, June 11, 1901.
T his [Fig. 80] illustrates one of the fallac ies whic h the questioning has already brought out. Here is, for instanc e, an attempt to produc e a large c apac ity, an antenna of very large c apac ity, by using two c onc entric c ylinders. I have already eluc idated this error, but in a different phase. T he c apac ity between those two c onduc tors has absolutely nothing to do with the c apac ity whic h enters into the transmission of the energy to a distanc e. T hat is purely and entirely a loc al flux, simply a means of wasting energy. Suc h errors as this you will find throughout all the tec hnic al literature, but this has already been explained in another way. [Summarizing,] I have already explained the various steps I have set forth in the introduc tion to this long talk. I have explained how I produc ed the apparatus giving the requisite osc illations; the sec ond step how I transformed those osc illations into vibratory energy c apable of going to a distanc e; and, furthermore, how I solved another problem, namely, that of the right wavelengths whic h are effec tive in the c onduc tion of energy to a distanc e. Before I went to Colorado, the one thing whic h I needed to find out was, how does the c urrent flow through the earth? In my experiments from Houston Street and around New York, I had already learned that the effec t is proportionate to the quantity of elec tric ity displac ed, and I was in the position to ac c urately c alc ulate a plant for transmission, for instanc e, ac ross the Pac ific or Atlantic . T hose were simple problems; but I c ould not yet tell how the c urrent passes through the earth, and until I c ould do that I c ould not undertake the design of a plant in all these partic ulars so that it c ould be a piec e of engineering. I spent 30 years of my work in the design of mac hinery of all kinds, and have never yet designed a mac hine whic h did not do as I expec ted, and I c annot imagine why it should not bec ause when one c alc ulates the things out on the basis of experimental data, the mac hine has to work as intended. T his is engineering. T herefore, when my friends offered to bac k me up for a plant under my patents, I though it was best to devote some time to an investigation, to find out what I needed, in order to have all my data ac c urately and guarantee that the plant would work. T he law whic h I disc overed in Colorado is wonderful, and it shows that results undreamed of before and of inc alc ulable moment will be obtained as soon as a plant, embodying these princ iples, is established on a large sc ale.
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Fig ure 81. Diagram illustrating the mode of propagation of the current from the transmitter ov er the earth's surface.
T o give you an idea, I have prepared a diagram [Fig. 81] illustrating an analogue whic h will c learly show how the c urrent passes through the globe. You know that in a solar ec lipse the moon c omes between the sun and the earth, and that its shadow is projec ted upon the earth's surfac e. Evidently, in a given moment, the shadow will just touc h at a mathematic al point, the earth, assuming it to be a sphere. Let us imagine that my transmitter is loc ated at this point, and that the c urrent generated by it now passes through the earth. It does not pass through the earth in the ordinary ac c eptanc e of the term, it only penetrates to a c ertain depth ac c ording to the frequenc y. Most of it goes on the surfac e, but with frequenc ies suc h as I employ, it will dive a few miles below. It c an be mathematic ally shown that it is immaterial how it passes; the aggregate effec t of these c urrents is as if the whole c urrent passes from the transmitter, whic h I c all the pole, to the opposite point, whic h I c all the antipode. Assume, then, that here is the transmitter, and imagine that this is the surfac e of the sea, and
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that now c omes the shadow of the moon and touc hes, on a mathematic al point, the c alm oc ean. You c an readily see that as the surfac e of the water, owing to the enormous radius of the earth, is nearly a plane, that point where the shadow falls will immediately, on the slightest motion of the shadow downward, enlarge the c irc le at a terrific rate, and it c an be shown mathematic ally that this rate is infinite. In other words, this half-c irc le on this side will fly over the globe as the shadow goes down; will first start at infinite veloc ity to enlarge, and then slower and slower and slower, and as the moon's shadow goes further and further and further, it will get slower and slower until, finally, when the three bodies are on the plane of the ec liptic , right in line one with the other in the same plane, then that shadow will pass over the globe with its true veloc ity in spac e. Exac tly that same thing happens in the applic ation of my system, and I will show this next.
Fig ure 82. Diagram illustrating the law gov erning the passage of the current from the transmitter through the earth, first announced in U.S. Patent No. 787,412 of April 18, 1905. Application filed M ay 16, 1900. See also J. Erskine-M urray, A Handbook of W ireless Telegraphy, Chapt. 17, pp. 312-330, 1913 edition, published by Crosby Lockwood and Son, London, and Appleton
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& Company, New York.
T his [Fig. 82] illustrates, on a larger sc ale, the earth. Here is my transmitter -- mine or anybody's transmitter -- bec ause my system is the system of the day. T he only differenc e is in the way I apply it. T hey, the radio engineers, want to apply my system one way; I want to apply it in another way. T his is the c irc uit energizing the antenna. As the vibratory energy flows, two things happen: T here is elec tromagnetic energy radiated and a c urrent passes into the earth. T he first goes out in the form of rays, whic h have definite properties. T hese rays propagate with the veloc ity of light, 300,000 kilometers per sec ond. T his energy is exac tly like a hot stove. If you will imagine that the c ylinder antenna is hot -- and indeed it is heated by the c urrent -- it would radiate out energy of exac tly the same kind as it does now. If the system is applied in the sense I want to apply it, this energy is absolutely lost, in all c ases most of it is lost. While this elec tromagnetic energy throbs, a c urrent passes into the globe. Now, there is a vast differenc e between these two, the elec tromagnetic and c urrent energies. T hat energy whic h goes out in the form of rays, is, as I have indic ated here [on the diagram of Fig. 82], unrec overable, hopelessly lost. You c an operate a little instrument by c atc hing a billionth part of it but, exc ept this, all goes out into spac e never to return. T his other energy, however, of the c urrent in the globe, is stored and c ompletely rec overable. T heoretic ally, it does not take muc h effort to maintain the earth in elec tric al vibration. I have, in fac t, worked out a plant of 10,000 horse-power whic h would operate with no bigger loss than 1 perc ent of the whole power applied; that is, with the exc eption of the fric tional energy that is c onsumed in the rotation of the engines and the heating of the c onduc tors, I would not lose more than 1 perc ent. In other words, if I have a 10,000 horsepower plant, it would take only 100 horsepower to keep the earth vibrating so long as there is no energy taken out at any other plac e. T here is another differenc e. T he elec tromagnetic energy travels with the speed of light, but see how the c urrent flows. At the first moment, this c urrent propagates exac tly like the shadow of the moon at the earth's surfac e. It starts with infinite veloc ity from that point, but its speed rapidly diminishes; it flows slower and slower until it reac hes the equator, 6,000 miles from the transmitter. At that point, the c urrent flows with the speed of light -- that is, 300,000 kilometers per sec ond. But, if you c onsider the resultant c urrent through the globe along the axis of symmetry of propagation, the resultant c urrent flows c ontinuously with the same veloc ity of light. Whether this c urrent passing through the c enter of the earth to the opposite side is real, or whether it is merely an effec t of these surfac e c urrents, makes absolutely no differenc e. T o understand the c onc ept, one must imagine that the c urrent from the transmitter flows straight to the opposite point of the globe. T here is where I answer the attac ks whic h have been made on me. For instanc e, Dr. Pupin has ridic uled the T esla system. He says, "T he energy goes only in all direc tions." It does not. It goes only in one direc tion. He is dec eived by the size and shape of the earth. Looking at the horizon, he imagines how the c urrents flow in all direc tions, but if he would only for a moment think that this earth is like a c opper wire and the transmitter on the top of the same, he would immediately realize that the c urrent only flows along the axis of the propagation. T he mode of propagation c an be expressed by a very simple mathematic al law, whic h is, the
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c urrent at any point flows with a veloc ity proportionate to the c osec ant of the angle whic h a radius from that point inc ludes with the axis of symmetry of wave propagation. At the transmitter, the c osec ant is infinite; therefore, the veloc ity is infinite. At a distanc e of 6,000 miles, the c osec ant is unity; therefore, the veloc ity is equal to that of light. T his law I have expressed in a patent by the statement that the projec tions of all zones on the axis of symmetry are of the same length, whic h means, in other words, as is known from rules of trigonometry, that the areas of all the zones must also be equal. It says that although the waves travel with different veloc ities from point to point, nevertheless eac h half wave always inc ludes the same area. T his is a simple law, not unlike the one whic h has been expressed by Kepler with referenc e to the areas swept over by the radii vec tors. I hope that I have been c lear in this exposition in bringing to your attention that what I show here is the system of the day, and is my system -- only the radio engineers use my apparatus to produc e too muc h of this elec tromagnetic energy here, instead of c onc entrating all their attention on designing an apparatus whic h will impress a c urrent upon the earth and not waste the power of the plant in an unec onomic al proc ess. Counsel You say radio engineers put too muc h energy into the radiating part. What, as a matter of fac t, ac c ording to your c onc eption, is the part of the energy that is rec eived in the rec eivers in the present system? T esla T hat has been investigated. Very valuable experiments have been made by Dr. Austin, who has measured the effec ts at a distanc e. He has evolved a formula in agreement with the Hertz wave theory, and the energy c ollec ted is an absolutely vanishing quantity. It is just enough to operate a very delic ate rec eiver. If it were not for suc h devic es as are now in use, the audion, for instanc e, nothing c ould be done. But with the audion, they magnify so that this infinitesimal energy they get is suffic ient to operate the rec eiver. With my system, I c an c onvey to a distant point millions of times the energy they transmit. Counsel T o illustrate my question, take for instanc e the energy used at Sayville and the rec eption of that at Nauen. I want to know whether it is your idea that the rec eption there is due to the earth c urrents that you have desc ribed or to the radiated energy. T esla It is far more due to the earth c urrents than to the radiated energy. I believe, indeed, that the radiated energy alone c ould not possibly produc e the effec t ac ross the Atlantic . It is simply bec ause they are inc identally sending a c urrent through the globe -- whic h they think is their c urrent -- that the rec eiver is affec ted. T he c urrent produc es variations of potential at the earth's surfac e in Germany; these fluc tuations of potential energize the c irc uit, and by resonanc e they inc rease the potential there and operate the rec eiver. But I do not mean that it is absolutely impossible to use my apparatus and operate with elec tromagnetic waves ac ross the Atlantic or Pac ific . I only say that ac c ording to c alc ulations, for instanc e, whic h I have made of the Sayville plant, the radiated energy is very small and c annot be operative. I have also c alc ulated the distribution of the c harge on the antenna. I am told that the Sayville antenna is without abrupt c hanges of c apac ity. It is impossible. T here are c hanges even in a c ylindric al antenna; but partic ularly in that form at Sayville -- there are very abrupt c hanges. Counsel
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What would an engineer have to do to the wireless systems of today in order to produc e very little radiation of elec tromagnetic waves and produc e a large amount of these earth c urrents? What c hanges would he have to make in the system? T esla He would have to c onstruc t and operate the apparatus desc ribed in my patents and in my lec tures. Counsel He would have to get very muc h more induc tanc e in the system than he has today, relatively? T esla It is just like this: In an enterprise of this kind, you have to start with c ertain fundamental propositions. If you are to build a c ommerc ial plant, the question c omes up how muc h money is it to c ost. Now, you go to spec ify before your c apitalists the various parts of the plant, and you will find that your mac hinery and the aerial struc ture will c ost so muc h. If your c apitalists are willing to go deep into their poc kets, you c an put up a tremendous antenna bec ause, as you know, as I pointed out in 1893, that the effec ts will be proportionate to the c apital invested in that part; but you will find great limits there. I designed a plant [Wardenc lyffe, referring to Fig. 83] years ago with a large c apac ity and put it before c ertain arc hitec ts. T hey figured that the antenna would c ost $450,000 and I had to modify my plans. As you see, you are limited by c ost as to the size of the antenna; that is, you are limited as to the c apac ity and, furthermore, you have selec ted the frequenc y. In order to lower the frequenc y so that there would be no wasteful radiation of energy, you have to employ a large induc tanc e. You have to employ a c apac ity as large as permissible, and you must use a large induc tanc e in order that you may reac h the low frequenc y whic h is ec onomic al. Counsel What low frequenc y is it that is ec onomic al? T esla In a patent whic h appeared in April 1905, the applic ation of whic h was filed on May 15, 1900, I have enunc iated the law of propagation, whic h I have explained, and have stated that the frequenc ies should not be more than 30,000 or 35,000 c yc les at most, in order to operate ec onomic ally.
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Fig ure 83. Improv ed transmitter described in U.S. Patent No. 1,119,732 of December 1, 1914. Application filed January 18, 1902.
Counsel
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And would it also be nec essary to provide for the high potentials of the order of whic h you have named in order to insure maximum direc t c urrents and minimum elec tromagnetic wave radiation? T esla No sir. T he c urrents are proportionate to the potentials whic h are developed under otherwise equal c onditions. If you have an antenna of a c ertain c apac ity c harged to 100,000 volts, you will get a c ertain c urrent; c harged to 200,000 volts, twic e the c urrent. When I spoke of these enormous potentials, I was desc ribing an industrial plant on a large sc ale bec ause that was the most important applic ation of these princ iples, but I have also pointed out in my patents that the same princ iples c an be applied to telegraphy and other purposes. T hat is simply a question of how muc h power you want to transmit. Counsel In Colorado, whic h did you use? T esla I used the so-c alled T esla transformer. I did not have the high frequenc y mac hine with [me] whic h I c ould develop as muc h energy for the experiments, but with my transformer I c ould get any amount of energy I needed. T hat is why I used the transformer. Counsel T ell me what D P stands for [in Fig. 83]? T esla T hat is a c urved plate. T he plate has a large radius of c urvature. You see, it is to be borne in mind that, in a general way, elec tric ity will ac c umulate in the same way as the c urvature of the surfac e has a smaller radius. T his is an old truth whic h has been rec ognized 200 years ago. T he design c ontemplates an arrangement whereby nowhere is elec tric ity ac c umulated in exc ess. I am at a substantially uniform distribution of elec tric ity in this struc ture, not only in the struc ture, but along the whole c irc uit where there is a high potential. T his, of c ourse, is simply to illustrate the princ iples. If you design a mac hine like that [referring to Fig. 83], it will be very muc h superior to those now in existenc e, but I have sinc e that time introduc ed refinements and c an produc e very muc h better results than it would be possible with just exac tly that c onstruc tion. Counsel You have spoken of the fac t that you c ould use either the alternator or the transformer, and you have illustrated in this diagram [Fig. 83] a c ondenser at G? T esla Yes. Counsel And stating, I believe, that that represents to your mind any method of getting c ontinuous waves. I think you said, previously, that you ac tually used either of these methods at Colorado
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and still had c ontinuous generation. T esla Yes. Counsel Was the method you used there [in Colorado], a spark? -- an arc ? -- or what was the method where you got c ontinuous generation? T esla T he method was this: I had a 550-volt c urrent with whic h I c harged the c ondensers. T hese c ondensers I disc harged through a primary in the form of an arc , sometimes I also introduc ed in this arc a mec hanic al break of several thousand per sec ond. And I obtained a perfec tly c ontinuous train of waves as has been desc ribed in my patents. T he reason why I show the c ondenser here [Fig. 83] is that that is synonymous with undamped waves. If I had shown the whole apparatus as arranged there, then I might still have damped waves; but whether I use an alternator or some other way of getting energy to that c ondenser, the c ondenser is usually there. For instanc e, if I use an alternator, I shunt its terminals with a c ondenser in order to magnify the c urrent in the primary. I then tune this c irc uit to the alternator, and magnify the c urrent in the primary in the ratio of the induc tanc e to the resistanc e. T herefore, this c ondenser here stands for either method, and simply means that in this system, as is obvious from the desc ription in the patent, the waves are undamped bec ause high rises of potential would not be obtained otherwise. Whenever I wanted to obtain a high potential, I had to observe these rules in order to forc e the potential up to that value.
1922 Wardenclyffe Foreclosure Appeal Proceedings
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Nikola Tesla on His Work With Alternating Currents

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Nikola Tesla on His Work With Alternating Currents

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Nikola Tesla On His Work With Alternating Currents...