[net.analog] Tesla and the "carbon button lamp"

cem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) (06/10/85)

Ok, I have read with interest the various postings on how one goes about
building a jacobs ladder, and no I have never built one. I only recently
discoverd Tesla's work and it would seem our library system has been 
systematically purged of all references that aren't 100% content free.
In one such reference (a biography) mention is made of the "carbon
button lamp" where a piece of material in a clear glass globe is brought 
to a high potential. The electrons begin to oscillate between the material
and the glass and small streams of plasma are set up as a result. 
This sounds a LOT like something I saw at the Consumers Electronics Show
called an "Orb" Now I want to build one and I can't find any reasonable 
desription of the thing. (as to what was grounded, charged, etc.) Any
clues from the large HV crowd out there?

--Chuck


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