Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.
Here’s a brief piece on creating a high-voltage Jacob’s Ladder from a neon sign transformer, some insulators, and wire electrodes. Just in time for Halloween.
Oh, and this is high-voltage, so don’t mess with it if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Done this, um, decades ago. Please note that this will make you very unpopular with anyone in the neighborhood still receiving AM broadcasts (radio or TV) as these generate a TON of fairly wide band electrical interference. I don’t think it will disturb VHF/UHF (wireless phones and such).
The FCC used to frown on this sort of thing here in the US, but they seem to care less and less about broadcast signals these days…
Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.
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Done this, um, decades ago. Please note that this will make you very unpopular with anyone in the neighborhood still receiving AM broadcasts (radio or TV) as these generate a TON of fairly wide band electrical interference. I don’t think it will disturb VHF/UHF (wireless phones and such).
The FCC used to frown on this sort of thing here in the US, but they seem to care less and less about broadcast signals these days…