Testatika 276mm Disk, 1st Grids - 1st Tests

These are very preliminary results for testing a theory of the basic power producing principle of the Testatika. It's basically the Principle Experiment but using a full disk in place of a rotor arm and using pots (the two cans that look like Leyden jars) in place of a stack of meshes/insulators. The starting point for this was this Wimshurst machine though very little is left in use.

Using this setup, a theory was tested for how the pots produce DC.

The pots (the two cans that look like Leyden jars) are documented here.

The following are very preliminary scope shots intended just to show the general waveform under different conditions. The measurements are done as per the wiring diagram above (look for CH1 and CH2, oscilloscope channel 1 and channel 2.) Note that the output being shown is the center grids of the pots which is, supposedly, where the output of the real testatika is taken from for powering loads. The disk rotation for all cases was around 285 RPM.

With the Van de Graaff generator turned off and everything discharged.

With the Van de Graaff generator running. Frequenct arcing is occurring at various places and the resulting clicking sounds are audible.

This is after the Van de Graaff has been turned off for about 10 seconds and nothing has been discharged.