Re: Jacobs Ladder

On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 17:41:50 +0000, Jonathan Kirwan wrote:
On 25 Oct 2006 07:04:40 -0700, "Chris" <cfoley1064@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Good luck, and play safe

Nice post on the subject. I built mine when about 14 yrs old, using
the HV lead (pulled out of the side of the display tube) from a TV
flyback output. In fact, I just left the TV as a whole unit and just
let it run without the HV and used bent hanger wire for the ladder.

It worked. It was NOT safe. I don't recommend the procedure. But
there it is. And I'm glad there is the internet today to discuss
these things in a context that helps improve safety and still to get a
chance to have fun, too.

When I was in high school, the physics dept. had an old TV and a scope,
and they let me play with them. I was curious about the plate waveform
on the Horiz. output tube, so I went to probe it, and drew about a 1 1/2"
arc to the scope probe.

It was a toob-type scope, so naturally it survived, and interestingly, so
did I. :-)

Cheers!
Rich

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