Lightning On Demand

Ran the new coil prototype at Tesla's old Wardenclyffe site. Got surprising values for Earth impedance of the old tower foundation. Produced 210kW sparks using the original foundation as the Earth ground. Perhaps the first activity there in over 115 years! youtu.be/QdZIuB9K6zE

Recently I had to test a 40kJ capacitor bank. Enjoy some slo-mo of the results! youtu.be/7cQzcXQtgfY #highvoltage #arcflash #explosion #highcurrent #lightning

Somehow everything made it back home, to the warm confines of the restricted area near San Francisco! I'll put up some more coil operation images soon as I unpack them.

@styropyro_ btw, @ztresearch (Tom Warner) is the guy who uses Phantom-grade cameras to capture fantastic shots of stepped, dart and upwards ground leaders before the main strike, like these: youtu.be/kqvYsVJ2kDU

We managed to throw a few bolts for Nikola Tesla at his old lab at Wardenclyffe, as part of the @teslascience (Tesla Science Center) celebration! Here's a shot by @ztresearch (Tom Warner). For scale, top to bottom in the pic is about 60ft. More pics to follow! #Tesla

Escaped from New York at 2AM with 11,000lb in tow, since the highway signs were forecasting EXTREME GRIDLOCK for tomorrow! The Cross-Bronx Expressway is delightfully empty at this hour.

Almost to Wardenclyffe! However a trip through PA wouldn't be complete without a stop at Falling Water, by Frank Lloyd Wright. The place is stunning... pics can't do justice!

Made it to Indiana, despite the highway degradation as one moves east... Peak Highway seems to be around Utah! Also stopped by the new experimental compound for @styropyro_ , an avid experimenter in chemistry, lasers and high voltage. Quite the place!

Halfway to Wardenclyffe now, with 11,000lb of Tesla Coil in tow. The landscape of the high desert never fails to impress. #Tesla

First night, in Battle Mountain NV. My neighbors are a group from France, here to set the world's record for fastest human powered vehicle.. 150kph! [kevlar skid plates added for practice] They really enjoyed examining the wireless-powered trike as well! youtu.be/NfKOD0XqR14

@jamesfmackie @longnow Oh, that one is already finished! Didn't get much crowdsource funding, but over 5 years we did manage to scrounge all the materials! We're demoing this prototype at Wardenclyffe, details here: teslasciencecenter.org/events/tesla-b…

Hold on you only need £20,000? I'll fund it, can you build it in the UK? @longnow #Gregleyh @LightningOD #Tesla

Greg Leyh how much capital do you need to reignite the Tesla coil 120ft twin tower project and complete it? What if I propose to put £(x) towards it and @elonmusk puts £10(x) towards it? #Tesla #GregLeyh @LightningOD #TeslaCoil @Tesla

Leaving the experimental area in San Francisco with the 1/3 scale coil tower, heading to Long Island again! The new demo date is Sept. 16-17. Details here! teslasciencecenter.org/events/tesla-b…

Hi All, The demo at The Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe has been postponed, my truck sprung a serious fuel leak en route! youtube.com/shorts/X3N8VCu… We're trying to find another way to get it there. Anyone have contacts at Norfolk Southern or Union Pacific?

Hi All, July 15th and 16th are now confirmed for our demo of the new 1/3 scale Tesla tower at Tesla's original lab! The event is a fundraiser for the Tesla Science Museum: teslasciencecenter.org/events/tesla-b… We'll also bring the new 'Tesla Roadster': youtu.be/NfKOD0XqR14

Here's some interesting satellite imagery showing over 400,000 lightning strikes that happened during and after the Tonga eruption. youtu.be/YD7Jf8F20Bg

Great crowd at the demo on the 28th, a lot of good technical questions afterwards! Here's a short clip of one of the experiments, testing the electrical breakdown characteristics of wood. youtu.be/ixieD-5Gilg

@2CryptoRich No idea, sorry!

Hi All, The weather looks clear for the free scientific demo this Saturday at 7PM! The robot arm can't make it but we'll debut the new 'Tesla Roadster', whip up some lightning and present some unusual electrical effects.

@AbeBarker1 Don't know that trick! The tower is a two-coil system besides, no tertiary. ;>

Hi All, We now have a date for the next public demo -- Saturday Dec 18th, at 7PM! Map and details are at lod.org/events.html . We'll present the new wireless-powered roadster as well, and test the effects of high electric fields on a large articulated robot by SRL.

@PeppermintTesla I can't expect them to be interested in a science-optimized design, but have hopes they'll go for one that's historically relevant.

@LightningOD Oh my gosh, good luck! 🤞🤞🤞⚡⚡⚡ Also....don't you need *two*?? ;)

Elon Musk recently made an inspiring suggestion, 'it's high time we built a really big Tesla coil!' Seems the clear choice would be Tesla's greatest unfinished work, the Wardenclyffe Tower. I submitted these designs to Elon's group, for the Austin factory. We'll see what happens!