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The Mechanical Tesla
The Electrical Tesla
Wireless:
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An Introduction to Tesla's
Ground-Air System for Wireless Telecommunications
Nikola Tesla's plan for wireless
transmission, in his own words.
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Wireless Remote Control and the Electronic Computer Logic
Gate
In 1887 Heinrich Hertz showed that a simple spark coil and an antenna could be used to broadcast radio
waves. Around 1891 Nikola Tesla made major
improvements to the Hertz oscillator, creating the Tesla coil resonance transformer.
When used as a wireless transmitter Tesla's oscillator was able to produce radio waves thousands of times more powerful than ever
before achieved. He soon developed a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV)
and in 1903 was granted patents covering his techniques. These patents describe the electronic AND-gate logic
circuit and lay out the basic principles of frequency-hopping and frequency-division multiplexing in wireless spread spectrum
telecommunications.
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A Brief
History of Precision
Guided Weapons.
The propeller-driven telautomaton boat, built by Nikola Tesla in 1898, is the original prototype
of all modern-day uninhabited vehicles—air,
land or sea—and precision guided weapons. Powered by lead-acid batteries and an electric drive
motor, the explosives-laden vessel was designed to be maneuvered alongside a target using
instructions received from a wireless remote-control transmitter and then
detonated. The weapon's
guidance system incorporated a secure communications link between the
pilot's controller and the surface-running torpedo in an effort to assure
that control could be maintained even in the presence of electronic countermeasures.
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Comparing
the Hertz-Wave and Tesla Wireless Systems
It appears fundamentally identical electrical oscillators consisting of
a radio-frequency power supply, an elevated conductor and a robust ground connection can be configured in ways which are conducive two different forms of wireless propagation. It is proposed that low frequency wireless communications can be accomplished by the production of either electromagnetic radiation in the form of space waves, or the production of ground
current and an accompanying trapped surface-wave.
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Nikola
Tesla — The True Father of Radio
Nikola Tesla's principle contribution to the early history of wireless communications was
his improvement of existing radio frequency current sources and primitive receivers
through the introduction of coupled tuned circuits. By 1903, there were 10 U.S. patents
covering his inventions in these areas. In 1904 Marconi also obtained a wireless patent.
In 1943 a landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the Marconi patent because
the fundamental radio circuit had been anticipated by Tesla. The following definition of
radio was developed as a result of this case: A radio communication system requires two
tuned circuits each at the transmitter and receiver, all four tuned to the same frequency.
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Tesla Coils & The World System
— Nikola Tesla's Engineering Legacy
Around the turn of the century, Nikola Tesla concluded a decade-long
study
in the area of wireless energy transmission, leading toward the construction of a prototype
global communications facility on eastern Long Island, N.Y. His investigations centered
around an electrical oscillator developed for the production of high voltage, high
frequency alternating current known as the "Tesla Coil." This article gives a general description
of the classic Tesla coil oscillator, along with that of an advanced form of Tesla
oscillator called the magnifying transmitter which is specifically designed for wireless
transmission. A comparison of present day radio transmitters and Tesla's transmitter is
also provided.
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The Wireless Transmission of Electrical
Energy
Nikola Tesla made numerous statements regarding the wireless transmission of electricity.
His first efforts towards this end were simply to use electrical energy to produce an
effect locally and detect it at a distance. A high power transmitter was developed, and
one of these was used in Colorado to demonstrate wireless power transmission on a small
scale. This success led him to construct an more powerful transmitter back in New York.
While never completed, Tesla believed his system for global communications would have been
able to provide small but usable quantities of electrical power at its receivers.
He
predicted an expanded system would have allowed for the wireless transmission of
electrical energy at industrial levels.
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Tesla's Colorado Springs Lightning
Observations
During Tesla's 1899 experiments he observed an unusual natural radio phenomenon associated
with an intense thunderstorm which passed close by his Colorado Springs lab.
Periodic
variations in signal strength at his receiver correlated with the distance of the moving
storm. A plausible physical model presented by James Corum in 1994 is given to explain
these observations.
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Regeneration Revisited
The feedback loop that Tesla used in some of his 1899 wireless receivers to increase
front-end sensitivity may be viewed as a forerunner of the regenerative receiver circuit.
A
modern IC-based version of the regenerative circuit patented by John Sutton is also
provided.
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Rediscovering the Zenneck Surface Wave
The power radiated by a conventional dipole antenna falls off in proportion to the inverse
square of the distance from the antenna. A helical resonator, such as that which comprised
the transmitting element of Tesla's magnifying transmitter, excites a wave which does not
spread like radiation, but is concentrated near earth's surface.
AC Power:
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Nikola Tesla on Hot Dry Rock Geothermal Electrical Power Generation
Nikola Tesla's plan for tapping Earth's latent heat to produce
electrical energy, in his own words.
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The Snoqualmie Falls Power Plant
— An
1898 Milestone in Electric Power Generation
Nikola Tesla's AC power system made possible the harnessing of remote waterfalls and the
long distance transmission of their energy to metropolitan centers.
The first commercial
generating plant, put online in 1895, was located at Niagara Falls, N.Y.
In 1898 the
Snoqualmie Falls power plant was constructed with its generators housed completely
underground, an entirely new construction mode.
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Niagara Falls 1996 Centenial
The completion of a 26-mile long transmission line to Buffalo, New York heralded in the
present age of electric power.
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26 Mile Power Transmission Account
Could J.J. O'Neill's story of 26 mile wireless power transmission have been a garbled
account of AC power transmission between Niagara Falls and Buffalo?
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Tesla's "Egg of Columbus"
1993 was the 100th anniversary of Tesla's public demonstration of the rotating magnetic
field concept at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It was also the 50th year
anniversary of Tesla's death on January 7, 1943.
The Man:
The Legacy:
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The
Nikola Tesla Museum
"The Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade belongs to the Belgrade Museum
Union. It is both a memorial and a technical museum devoted to the
life and work of Nikola Tesla. In addition to the exhibition area,
the Museum has a library, archives, three office rooms and three store
rooms. All of Tesla's belongings, which were collected by his
nephew after Tesla's death, were transferred to Belgrade and from 1952
they have been kept in the Nikola Tesla Museum. A group of
professors and younger staff from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering,
University of Belgrade, produced the first Catalog of Documents with
some commentaries. At the moment there are two electrical and one
mechanical engineers working in the museum, but there are also several
external experts with part-time or occasional engagement. External
experts are involved in the preparation of material for publication and
in the development of a new catalog in the form of a computer data
base." -- Aleksandar S. Marinčić, 1990
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A Museum at Wardenclyffe: The
Creation of a Monument to Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla made significant contributions to twentieth century technology. In 1901 he
started a building to house a world communications facility. Unlike conventional
transmitters which radiate energy as electromagnetic waves, Tesla's transmitter would have
excited a surface wave mode allowing transmission by earth currents.
The apparatus was not
completed due to financial difficulties. In 1915 the property was lost.
Between 1939 and
1987 the building was used for industrial purposes. The complex is now being
decommissioned. If the property is acquired the building will be rehabilitated and it will
again have a fitting use through establishment of the Nikola Tesla Science Center at
Wardenclyffe.
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New Life for an Historic Landmark
A letter writing campaign calling for the preservation of Nikola Tesla's historic
laboratory building in Shoreham, New York is suggested.
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Tesla Wardenclyffe Project Update
Nikola Tesla contributed much to 21st century life as we know it. A major reminder of his
engineering legacy still exists on the north shore of Long Island, New York.
Efforts have
begun to assure the preservation of this important historical landmark and to establish a
world class learning facility to be called the Nikola Tesla Science Center at
Wardenclyffe.
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Wardenclyffe Property Update
In 1901 Nikola Tesla began construction of a large global telecommunications facility.
In
1917 a foreclosure took place and the property changed hands. In 1994 it became apparent
the latest owners were contemplating divestment of the property. In light of this
opportunity to assist in the acquisition of the Tesla laboratory, the Tesla Wardenclyffe
Project, Inc. filed Articles of Incorporation on June 19, 1995.
The Myth:
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A Blast from the Past
Nikola Tesla claimed that a Wardenclyffe type transmitter could be used to wirelessly
project explosive energy. It has been suggested that he might have been responsible for a
destructive 1908 explosion which took place in central Siberia.
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Tunguska -- A Tesla Connection?
Three N.Y. Times articles from 1907, 1908 and 1915 suggest the capacity of a Wardenclyffe-type plant
to transmit a destructive impulse of electrical
energy. Electric fireballs or ball lightning have also been reported to explode in a similar fashion.
Tesla's 1899 investigations in the area of wireless propagation involved the simultaneous transmission of two or more electric waves of different frequency
which led to the production of
the ball lightning phenomenon.
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The
Management of Unwanted Nuclear Material
A theory had been offered suggesting a solution to the problem of stockpiled nuclear
material from disassembled warheads. Now inventor Paul Brown appears to
have made an important technological breakthrough directed towards this
end.
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MIT Witricity — Not So Original After All
The MIT —Witricity— demonstration was not the first of its kind.
Nikola Tesla preceded Prof. Marin Soljačić and his team in demonstrating
the electrodynamic inductive effect by over 100 years!
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