IN June of 1997 Bolinas radio station KPH went silent after ninety-four years of service to the maritime industry. KPH was started in 1903 as PH (Palace Hotel) in San Francisco by famous radio experimenter and pioneer Lee DeForest. PH became a successful wireless station and was later absorbed by the American Marconi Co., as were many other stations and wireless patents. By 1913 Marconi had personally selected a new station site thirteen miles north of San Francisco, near the fishing and lumber town of Bolinas. Bolinas was and still is a geo-physical radio anomaly of exceptional power, a fact recognized by the native Miwok Indians centuries before Marconi’s arrival. It was at this new site near Bolinas that Marconi engaged in a major engineering effort – the construction of his new wireless facility, at that time one of the world’s largest.

American Marconi employed the J.C. White Engineering Co. to construct the powerhouse and related facilities. General Electric, through the efforts of Charles Steinmetz and Ernst Alexanderson, designed and constructed the wireless appliances. A pair of systems were employed by American Marconi, one was the disruptive discharge/oscillation transformer system of Nikola Tesla, the other was the alternator/multiple tuned antenna system of Ernst Alexanderson. Both systems involved transmission into the earth, which necessitated the planting of large bronze plates in the ocean, as well as many miles of wire in the soil surrounding the powerhouse. These are still present to this day, rendering powerful radionic influence to this site. The Tesla system operated at a power level of 300 kilowatts and the Alexanderson system 200 kilowatts, the alternators running at 18 kilocycles per second. This facility represented the leading edge of science and philosophy at that time, and Marconi had brought the wireless principles of Tesla and Steinmetz together in what was now called KPH. Marconi also brought electricity to the town of Bolinas.

At the height of this endeavor, Ernst Alexanderson proclaimed at an engineering convention that wireless will “forever free mankind from political slavery.” Little did he realize that decades later Bolinas would serve as an institute for the perpetuation of political slavery.

In 1919, upon completion of this grand facility, KPH Bolinas, it was seized from American Marconi by the U.S. Navy. In 1920 KPH, along with related facilities on the East Coast, as well as scientist Alexanderson, were turned over to the newly formed Radio Corporation of America (RCA), under the rule of David Sarnoff. Shortly thereafter the wireless equipment, with the exception of the 18 kc alternators, was smashed up and dumped over the ocean cliffs. By 1920 General Electric began the development of the water-cooled pliotron oscillator as the source of high frequency electric currents. The pliotron was a refined version of the DeForest thermionic triode vacuum tube. The pliotron oscillator was much more manageable than previous oscillators, the noise of which could be heard in the town of Bolinas two miles distant. Pliotrons were silent. Along with the usual bent L aerials, Alexanderson developed new structures known today as colinear-broadside arrays. These arrays remained the principal KPH antennas for the rest of its history.

By 1924, new facilities were completed to accommodate the growing capabilities of KPH. Building “2″ was constructed for new transmission equipment and Building “9″ was constructed as the power substation control. A parking garage was also erected. General Electric developed new transmitters utilizing the now standard master oscillator-power amplifier configuration. Water-cooled pliotrons called “207′s” served as the power amplifiers. The oscillations were derived from a plate cut from a quartz crystal, and then amplified to high power levels through successive intermediate stages using the just developed 860 and 861 tetrode vacuum tubes. These systems were called the “B” sets, operating in the megacycle range with a power output of 20 kilowatts. The Alexanderson infinite propagation velocity principle, used in his 18 kilocycle array, was again applied in a new design for megacycle operation. These were called the Type “A” projectors and had the appearance of fish bones. The “A” was a vertical electro-magnetic broadside array that transferred no electric induction into the ground. Here was the birth of electro-magnetic radio, the radio of today.

At the end of the 1920′s and into the 1930′s, General Electric developed larger versions of the “B” sets and the “C” sets that followed them. These operated at power levels of 40 kilowatts and began the utilization of crude amplitude modulation. They were called the Type “D” and “E” sets. RCA scientists, Beverage, Carter, and Hansell, developed the electro-magnetic wave antenna. These antennas worked on the traveling wave principle. Large self supporting towers were erected to hold the long wires hundreds of feet in the air. These antennas were called the Type “B” and “C” projectors. Out of these came the Type “D”, now known as the rhombic array. The rhombic has remained a principal HF antenna to this day.

A new station now stood with KPH, it was called KET. KPH served as the original ship-to-shore service of DeForest and Marconi, remaining in the Marconi Building, now called Building” 1″. KET, in the new Building “Z”, served as the point-to-point overseas link to the Orient, replacing the Marconi-Alexanderson 18 kilocycle system. While KET served as the principal call letters for the point-to-point operation, many had to be assigned to cover the vast number of channels the station now offered. The Morse code still used by KPH gave way to the Armstrong Frequency Shift System and Teleprinter Operation for KET.

At this point in history, the sun shone upon this system of communication with disfavor, through the dramatic reduction in solar flux. Lowered solar flux weakens the earth’s ionosphere, thereby diminishing its ability to propagate the launched electro-magnetic waves. While a major setback for HF radio, RCA forced its way through with higher power and larger antennas. The desire to override the competition, in light of the increased crowding of the HF band, forced the use of even higher power. The water could be heard to sing with the Morse code in the pliotron water jackets. Electro-magnetic radio was forever married to the cycles of the sun, undergoing disruption every eleven years. Later, in 1950, RCA scientist Nelson determined that the cycles of the planets also played a major role in radio propagation, requiring the development of radio astrology.

By 1939 RCA had contracted Westinghouse Electric Corporation to design and build the “F” set. This transmitter differed little from the “D” or “E” set of General Electric (GE), but serves as a point of departure from GE’s domination of RCA equipment supply. RCA had already made their own vacuum tubes and condensers for the GE sets, but about this time, began producing complete transmitters. The first RCA designed transmitter for Bolinas was the “S” set. It utilized the new forced air cooled triodes, the 891, and was plate amplitude modulated.

The “S” set was an AM short wave broadcast unit for voice and music, with an output of 20 kilowatts. About the same time, RCA had purchased the “U” sets from the Bunnel Telegraph Company. The “U” sets were more powerful than the “S” sets, but they had a tendency toward instability in the power amplifier. These were high fidelity, amplitude modulated transmitters with an air cooled plate modulator and a large single water-cooled triode, which required an independent distilled water-cooling system.

At this point in history, World War II was under way and the “U” and “S” sets served in propaganda broadcasting to Japan. The station was surrounded by army soldiers to protect against enemy attack. Bolinas had become a primary U.S. radio communications terminal, making it a likely target. The Japanese had already destroyed the RCA station on the Philippine Islands. The U.S. Navy reentered the scene, reenergizing the old 18 kilocycle wireless alternators and erecting a new Alexanderson multiple loaded antenna network. The Navy still needed Marconi’s wireless technology to communicate with its submarines, as RCA’s electro-magnetic radio was incapable of this task. The Navy also utilized RCA transmitters for surface communication, constructing its own Hertzian Dipole antennas for the task. Several signal corps water cooled triode (129B) transmitters were installed in the Marconi Building. With a power out of 10 kilowatts, these became the new KPH transmitters after the war.

When the war ended, so did wireless – for good. Tesla and Steinmetz were long gone, and Marconi was history. DeForest was still alive, but only Farnsworth was still inventing. Then there was Sarnoff, whose RCA had grown to be one of the most powerful corporations on earth, leaving a trail of dead inventors. The Navy left Bolinas, junking the alternators. Another layer of breakage went over the cliffs to be consumed by clay and salt. The 10 kilowatt signal corps units, called the “V” sets, remained, and there they served KPH until its final years.

In the 1950′s the RCA Global Communication Facility in Bolinas underwent a massive expansion. Building Two had become overcrowded with HF transmitting equipment and obsolete antennas. The rhombic antenna exhibited outstanding performance and became the principal antenna for point-to-point radio communication. The collinear-broadside array remained the KPH ship-to-shore antenna.

The obsolete “A”,” B”, and “C” antennas came down, and fifty rhombics went up over the postwar years, occupying three thousand acres of land. A 50 kilowatt, 500 kilocycle transmitter, called BL-10, was installed in the Marconi Building. It used a single, massive, forced air-cooled triode (the 5671), weighing over 100 pounds. A 315 foot broadcasting tower with an aviation beacon lamp was erected as its antenna. A shack was constructed at its base to house the large tuning coils. A new building was constructed to house a new 750 kilowatt, 4 kilovolt power generating set. Driven by a port engine from a Navy L.S.T. landing ship, this set could power the entire town of Bolinas. A large addition was made to Building Two, called 2A. A 2500 kilowatt electrical system was connected to Pacific Gas and Electric (PG& F.) to meet the growing station load – the electric bill was $25,000 a month.

By the mid 1950′s, Marconi and KPH had grown into a massive radio facility. The lights in the town of Bolinas dimmed when the telegraph operator pressed his key. RCA Global Communications handled virtually all radio traffic to the Pacific. RCA installed its new 20 and 40 kilowatt transmitters, called the “K” and “L” sets. The “L” sets were amplitude modulated and the “K” sets were frequency shift keying. These were refined units representing RCA’s finest designs. Some of the control equipment, such as the BA-6A limiting amplifier are still in demand to this day. Broadcasting and teleprinter operations were covered by the “K” and “L” sets.

The 1960′s saw the development of a revolutionary new form of modulation called sideband, a process of amplitude modulation that allowed for greater utilization of power and larger channel capacity. Through the use of voice frequency tone group (VFTG) multiplexing the channel capacity per transmitter expanded from two to sixty-four teleprinters. The Telesignal Corp. 101 and 102 VFTG units were purchased by RCA and installed, RCA changing the name tags to the RCA 901 and 902 to make them look like their own. (This was typical of RCA.) RCA scientist Kahn developed his brilliant envelope elimination and reinsertion (EER) exciters for the AM “L” sets, rendering them powerful sideband units with no need for wasteful linear power amplification.

RCA Global continued to grow in Bolinas with numerous radiophoto, broadcast, teleprinter, and telegraph transmissions. The station load had grown to 1000 kilowatts, and the PG&F Alto Line (Mill Valley) following the Dipsea Trail was no longer able to run Bolinas and RCA at the same time. For some reason PG&E had removed the transformers that it had installed for the young RCA of the 1920′s on the 60 kilovolt Lakeville Line (Petaluma), and routed it to Woodacre for the water department. PG&E had to run a new 12 kilovolt line back to Bolinas to serve the station. Two lines, the Alto and the Woodacre, along with its 750 kilowatt alternator, rendered the station a major power center. More transmitters were installed, new linear sideband units called the “H” sets. Like the “K” and “L” sets they utilized forced air-cooled tetrodes. The power out was 10 kilowatts average and 20 kilowatts peak. All modulation was performed at low power levels, thus there was no plate modulator, making for a very compact unit. Some 40 transmitters were now in operation, and over 60 antennas had risen to full glory. Its communications capacity pushed to the limit the old lead and paper telephone cable, which was put up by Chinese laborers in the 1920′s along what was to become the Pacific Coast Highway.

As the 1960′s came to a close, communication technology began its shift toward satellite systems, where 200,000 teleprinter channels were possible. Rumblings of the closure of KET were in the air. Again the ocean cliffs – two “B” sets, 91313 and 11 BB, went over in large chunks, soon followed by the “S” sets. This time however the clay and salt did not claim another era of Bolinas. A group of young high school science students from the Air Force town of Novato were dragging a piece at a time to their garage laboratories. RCA allowed them to freely enter the station and gather what had not gone over the side. One of these students had reassembled 111313 in his parents two car garage. The next generation of radio development was on its way.

By the early 1970′s, things did not farewell for RCA Global in Bolinas – KET started to disintegrate, David Sarnoff was dead, Marconi became small letters in a history book, and Tesla who? RCA had no head and flailed like a chicken. The old employees that worked the wireless were in their graves. A single channel remained to the island of Papetee. The crew was down to two in the day shift, Jim Bourne and Ivan Neilson, both old men now. The buildings were empty at night, so a cyclone fence was put around to keep out vandals. The Marconi Hotel stood open to vandalism and its records blew away in the wind.

RCA had decided to junk everything in Buildings 2 and 2A, except the “H”,” K”, and “L” sets of postwar design. However, the local RCA administration transferred it to the new adult science students. They leased a 3000 square foot warehouse space in San Francisco, known as Project One. These individuals, as well as local Vice President Jim Hepburn, himself an avid and brilliant radio experimenter, felt that new developments were possible in high frequency radio.

The U.S. Navy again reentered, and, through the Coast Guard, constructed station NMC at the Palo Marin edge of the RCA property. This took over the vital functions abandoned by the dying RCA Global. KPH still remained functional and intact, however, being a different branch of RCA called Radiomarine Corporation of America.By 1975 RCA turned the property over to the National Park Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of the interior, for preservation. RCA leased back what it needed to run the marine operation KPH, the ships did not want satellite communications. At this transition point a group calling itself Commonweal gained access to the site through the trust for public land. Commonweal, a political organization, showed no regard for the history of the station, nor for the efforts of those operating and preserving it. In a period of five weeks, Commonweal had destroyed the entire contents of Building Two and sent all historic notes and records into the dumpster – KET vanished to the winds.

At the onset of the 1980′s, only little of KPH remained. The “V” sets in the Marconi Building sat dead. BL-10 remained the only active transmitter in that building. KPH operation was transferred to the “H”, “K”, and “L” sets in Building 2A. These sets were adapted to telegraph operation, something that they were not designed for. Building 2, gutted of its shop and radio equipment, was sealed off by Commonweal and converted into office space and a party hall. Only one of the science students, who now was a professional radio engineer, remained. He operated a small research laboratory in the Alexanderson room of the Marconi Building, repairing and installing cables for RCA and Commonweal to earn his stay. Eventually he was forced out.

KPH, under the management of Ed Brennen, was allowed to decay rapidly. The aircraft beacon was dark, and rhombics crumbled to the ground. Rigging by unqualified persons caused a major electrical fire that destroyed the 750 kilowatt generator. Radio receivers were thrown from second story windows to assure destruction, despite the mandate to preserve them through science education and study at Sonoma State College.

In the mid 1980′s GE returned, this time not to create, but to destroy what RCA and Commonweal had not. The “V” sets were smashed up by locals and dumped in a creek bed, except for a few scraps saved by a local fisherman. The remaining laboratory equipment vanished. A guardian of the old Marconi Building, the BL-10 remained active, electrocuting the last RCA employee, George Gieser, as ifin an act of retribution. This was the only person to be electrocuted since BL- 10 killed one of the RCA’s first employees in 1920.

KPH limped along under GE. With rigged antennas that often caught fire and transmitters that performed poorly, the station could not be heard by its own customers. A glimmer of hope appeared, however, as the up-and-coming Globe Wireless Co., whichhad grown out of KPH’s competitor, KFS of Half Moon Bay, applied to the Federal Communication Commission to takeover the Bolinas site as it had done with so many other sites around the world. The FCC denied Globe Wireless and instead it was turned over to MCI. MCI threw together a low cost system utilizing cheap 4 kilowatt transmitters made by a ham radio outfit called Henry Radio Co. The crumbling mass of rhombics were heaped into a great pile and four of the original Type “B” towers, which stood since 1938 without a spot of rust, were sold to a foreign country. MCI shabbily erected anew set of colinear broadside arrays. These required debugging by the still present, lone radio engineer and experimenter who, after having his new wireless antennas in town destroyed by Marin County sheriffs, now lived in his car in the antenna field. Perhaps his newly found radio theories could now find commercial application under MCI.

Under MCI, KPH traffic dwindled to nothing. KPH could never get business from American ships due to the lingering hatred of David Samoff, the murderer of wireless. MCI announced impending closure, and the remaining customers bailed to Globe Wireless. Station manager Jack Martini courageously rode his ship to the bottom in the maritime tradition.

Finally as Hong Kong fell to China, KPH died, its frequencies sold to Globe Wireless. BL- 10 was wrecked by vandals and the Marconi Building stripped of its power source. The building deteriorated rapidly under Commonweal stewardship. Marconi’s once great radio facility by in ruins, and one of the earths most significant radio hot spots sits Went with the exception of NMC. I, however, am the lone radio experimenter and am far from silent. The underground wires of Alexanderson are still present, waiting to sprout into a new form of wireless.

At present, in 1997-98, wireless transmission is considered a prehistoric technology, replaced by a vastly superior one of electromagnetic radio. But is radio really superior, or is it a mere shadow of a wider reaching science? When one looks back in history, as recently done by Mr. Vassilatos in his compendia, it is found that early wireless systems not only exhibited significantly less propagation loss and deviation, but also required no batteries or power supply. In fact, it can be seen that some exhibited the properties of energy producing rather than energy consuming systems. Such were those of Nikola Tesla. Is this why KPH and similar stations are forced to close and new laws rendering radio illegal are in the making?

It must be remembered that the first wireless detectors involved mechanical force between coils, the welding together of metal chips, or the heating of fine wires, all of which require the reception of substantial quantities of electric energy. There were no batteries. Modernistic radio requires amplification of millions to render the feeble electro-magnetic waves powerful enough to produce the same result. The amplifier of course requires batteries or some other source of energy. It was found in the early years that direction finding systems utilizing wireless impulses exhibited little or no deviation, whereas those systems utilizing electro-magnetic waves suffered from scatter and propagation disturbances. Wireless impulses obviously travel a more direct path than do the dispersive electromagnetic waves utilized today. It is further found that the emanations from wireless coils and condensers were utilized by medical doctors to abate a variety of diseases, whereas electro-magnetic waves are an acknowledged hazard to health.

It is instructive to examine certain technical distinctions existing between wireless technology and the radio technology of today. It is also instructive to examine the efforts to block the scientific research and experimentation (at locations like KPH Bolinas) required to revive an important technology.

In electric wireless systems there exists a reciprocal relation between the energy of the antenna network in contact with the space and the utility that supplies power to the wireless transformers. Thus the reactance of the antenna network appears as a reactance to the power company, if the wireless system is so adjusted. Therefore, it is theoretically possible for the wireless system to become a supply of electrical energy to the power company without burning fuel. In contrast, the load offered by contemporary radio systems is a pure resistance to direct current, the very archetype of the destruction of electric force – nothing is returned to the power company.

Another distinction is that wireless networks such as the Tesla oscillation transformer, Alexanderson multiple loaded antenna, or the Marconi coaxial antenna, all exhibit frequencies and wavelength of higher order than those of electro-magnetic radio. These factors exist as complex quantities or conjugate pairs. Their propagation involve factors beyond distance and velocity, thus transmission without travel through intervening space. Electro-magnetic radio waves are inexorably tied to the effective velocity of light and the impedance of distance.

Ultimately it must be stated that the distinction between electric wireless and electronic radio is that wireless engineering is a science of the aether and radio engineering is a science of physical matter. Wireless theory considers space to be filled with an all permeating aether, this aether possessing the capacity to store and transfer energy in the form of a pair of conjugate fields of induction. These are called the magnetic field and the dielectric field. An alteration of the field intensity at one location results in an alteration of the field at another location, irrespective of distance. From cosmic forces and not human artifice, wireless networks ultimately are self powering.

In contrast, modernistic electro-magnetic radio theory considers space to be empty and distorted. Propagation is effected by a forced spray of photonic particles, traveling at the aforementioned effective velocity of light. Magnetic and dielectric actions are ignored, and instead the actions of physical particles like electrons serve to store and transfer energy. Distance and velocity are the principal factors, and the continuous consumption of energy is required, supplied by an artifice such as a battery or engine driven generator.

The loss of the aetheric science of wireless and the supplanting of radio can be attributed to a pair of causes, conflict between the various pioneers of wireless and the subjugation of science and philosophy by corporate force. DeForest vs. Fesseden vs. Armstrong vs. Marconi vs. Tesla vs. etc. was the way that wireless developed. Not only did these individuals not completely understand their own discoveries, but a comprehensive science did not exist to unify them. The situation was further compounded by corporate moguls entering the science with capitalistic forces that fueled the conflict, and by institutions that favored dysfunctional theories. Names like Sarnoff, Morgan, and Rockefeller were the principals of this factor, a historicexample will serve to illustrate the condition. Long distance cable telephony was set back many years by the British Royal Society’s firm denial of the dielectric factors involved in the transmission of impulses through the long undersea cables and telegraph impulses were smeared, thus limiting the speed of transmission to slow rates. The brilliant Scottish theoretician Oliver Heaviside demonstrated in his archetypal telegraph equation that the dielectric term RC had to be brought into accord with the magnetic term LG to facilitate the undistorted transmission of electric impulses.

The Physics Institute declared Heaviside a fool and forced the cable business to labor under an unbalanced understanding of the electric forces involved. Later electrical scientist Michael Pupin, a contemporary of Tesla and Marconi, developed a physical realization of the Heaviside Theorem known as the “PupinCoil.” This development was quickly bought up by the young American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T). AT&T holding patent rights to the Pupin, or loading coil as it became known, gained absolute control over the long distance telephone business. Oliver Heaviside, who can be given credit for establishing the entire ground work for electrical engineering mathematics, died in poverty and was promptly forgotten. AT&T grew into a company of great wealth and power. If not for the effort of Charles “Proteus” Steinmetz, much of Heaviside’s work may have been forever lost.

The exact same condition exists today with regard to radio and the more generalized wireless, except with a less favorable outcome. As shown by the Heaviside in his electrical equations and further developed by myself in the tradition of Steinmetz, wireless transmission can be shown to involve a conjugate pair of propagations, the electromagnetic and the magneto-dielectric. Electro-magnetism and the adulteration of its theories by Einstein and the like has become the accepted element of the propagation of electric forces. The conjugate magneto—dielectricity, and the brilliant presentation of its dimensionality by Rudolf Steiner and his followers is denied by the corporate cable institutes. But, as with the cable long distance case, electricity plays no favorites, and radio transmission suffers from analogous distortions. The archetype of conjugate pairs exists everywhere, however, and some examples will illustrate.

A very simple analog is the male and female of a given species. The species can only propagate as a conjugate pair, the male being the dielectric and the female the magnetic. Likewise, the branch and root of a plant work together as a conjugate pair, the sunlit branch as the magnetic and the root in darkness as the dielectric. An excellent example in symbolic representation is the final choral movement of G.F. Handel’s Alexanders Feast- “The Power of Music.”

The learned doctors’ physical science will hear none of this heresy, and continues to labor under the delusive mathematics of chaotic uncertainty. Modernistic music serves analogously with its painful screeches and howling, empty of spiritual content. Popular music is reduced to a computer generated sado-masochistic march. This pathological social condition is brilliantly analyzed in the writings of Wilhelm Reich under titles such as The Mass Psychology of Fascism and The Murder of Christ. Needless to say Dr. Reich died in a federal prison. Modernism accepts no criticism.

Galactic Life in a light bulb? Cosmic forms appear in plasma discharges inside glass bulb.
Created by Eric Dollard at the old BSRF Laboratories, Santa Barbara, California, 1988.

A final illustration exists right here at Marconi’s KPH in Bolinas. In a simple laboratory made from so called obsolete radio equipment salvaged from the hammer and axe of the “lehmed” doctor, a remarkable discovery has been made. Through the application of wireless: principles, cosmic superimposition was effected on the work bench Suns and stars in stunning Galactic form burst forth, creating matter and energy on the spot, yet across the bay at Livermore Lab, with billions of kilowatt-hours and dollars no such thing seems possible, but the kilowatt dollars continue to flow. After all, you pay for it.

Related articles:

1. An Introduction to the Mysteries of Ground Radio
2. Eric Dollard on “The Fallacy of Conductors”
3. The Wireless of Nathan B. Stubblefield

A recent excellent article by Lawrence Forsley recounted each major step in the history of “hot fusion” projects. The account depicts the arduous pursuit of hopeful and brilliant personnel chasing after a prize which never appeared. This chapter in technological history left most scientific researchers with a sense of silent despair. Exploration of this inward sense of loss was an emotional item which few actually and honestly addressed. Yet the projects rolled on.

Hot fusion was THE cold war quest. Besides the space race, FUSION was the socio­scientific dream. The loss of hope… the loss of myth… in this massive social project produced a brooding meditation among engineers who were devoted to its fulfillment. For the better part of twenty years there were billions of dollars spent for fusion research… seemingly in vain.

Each lost social dream becomes social malaise. Wars develop when social myths are deferred. The synthetic manufacture of new and continual myths replaces the hope deferred. Governments and regulators sponsor such alternative myths continually. The gross funding of new fusion projects represents a means for maintaining public morale at a very subliminal level.

The elusive prize was replaced by countless journals, articles, and texts… as if so much paper would fulfill the absence of the Grail. This general sense of misdirection among most physicists was balanced by a furious return to the chalkboards and publishing homes. The dream deferred became mere talk and analysis. Theoreticians, at least, found continual employment.

Shelves of once optimistic theoretical works on fusion were suddenly flooded over with equally optimistic and authoritarian apologetics. These inflated works proclaimed the “way out” through newer magnetic containment systems.

While most project personnel simply dissociated themselves from the race for controlled fusion, others (foolishly) raised their broken swords higher and “challenged nature to achieve where anti others failed. This of course meant that grant monies were to be sought again… despite the generally accepted hopelessness of the quest Fusion researchers were trapped, like some modern Tantalus… in magnetic containment.

MAGNETIC CONTAINMENT

The tragedy of each magnetic containment device lay chiefly in the theoretical promise which always failed. The hope deferred seemed to flood each separate project not long after a particular device was constructed. One usually knew after the very first trial what the end would be… and how soon it would come.

In methodic succession, and after several billion dollars were spent it became apparent that the magnetic containment systems would not succeed at all. Mercurial and elusive, certain designers attempted to “steal the secret” despite the natural odds: to fight with Nature and wrestle from her jealous hands the guarded gold. Not one imagined that perhaps their method was the wrong one… that Nature would not let go of her gold because the suitors were behaving like barbarians.

The need for the gigantic was also a feature of these projects. No units smaller than a gymnasium could meet the theoretical need. Somehow both the theoreticians and project designers believed the delusion that size and symmetry would “make the difference” in magnetic systems. Always the secret hope was held that “this one might do it.” Small laboratory devices produced unstable plasmas because they were small. Larger devices should produce more crushing power… like building an ever larger press to squeeze a lightning bolt.

Many project designers simply failed to promise a fusion achievement altogether from the outset… preferring to maintain the “safe grounds of plasma analysis.” The ancillary projects (instability analysis, arc analysis, plasma contamination, plasma diagnostics) made their appearance… a flood of “studies”… but no reactor. Grant money was poured into “plasma analytic methodologies” and almost dominated the scene where working fusion reactors should have stood.

P. Kapitza studied ball lightning phenomena with a remarkably opened mind when few academicians would not even dare touch the topic at all. S. Ulam also studied reports of the accidental formation of plasmoids among submarine generators and arc switching devices. Others studied the piezoelectric formation of plasmoids in rock fractures. Thorough research on Tesla Technology (and Tesla’s means for generating plasmoids at will) seemed to open doorways toward new possibilities.

M. Theroux developed a special Tesla transformer which actually projected small aerial plasmoids… and could repeat the performance. The Air Force funded a much larger project toward this end (R Golka). Each was looking for the answer in a new realm. And this was the precise answer… to look elsewhere for that which intuition envisions.

Intuition craves confirmation however. Too few of these “new view” researchers were actually familiar with the archives of both natural and laboratory anomalies. No one remembers what has already been achieved in isolated laboratories. Very often a chance occurrence, however subtle, gives the new direction to the world. New hydrogen energy, you will remember, was observed by several qualified persons in diverse places. Had these records been forgotten, perhaps the new revolution might never have been forged.

Were the hot fusionists true and ardent students of the stored periodical treasurehouse they too would not have simply written more surficial papers on their views. They would have known what to do to achieve the prize itself, for the answer was there… in a group of patents some twenty five years old which should have been known by all of them collectively. Perhaps they would have found their way back to the forgotten mines… but then came Tokamak.

When the Tokamak rose in the east, it seemed to offer the brightest new morning of life for fusion research. Many stole away to steal the secret of its fire. But even the Tokamak failed to deliver the immediacy of its promised prize. So deeply resentful were many researchers after the postponement of immediate success that few would even believe that the goal could be reached at all.

It is not unreasonable (given the emotional infrastructure of fusion research) that science had become first melancholy and then sanguine in all its subsequent discussions of controlled nuclear fusion. The topic represents (to the crusaders) a major dragon left undefeated. Most would rather forget the dream and all knowledge of it.

Forgotten knowledge was the main problem. Even before magnetic containment was attempted, there was a simpler answer to the particle containment problem. In his closing paragraphs Dr. Forsley asks that we imagine the truths which were lost through out this period in venture­technology.

An answer had been recorded into the scientific ledgers already which would have spared these valiant workers much time, money, and disappointment. Forgotten knowledge started all the researchers off in the wrong direction from the start.

FORGOTTEN KNOWLEDGE

Unexpected devices of great import emerge from very old patent registers and periodicals. These developments span two hundred years of astounding technological progress, and chronicle our epistemological progress as a civilization. The literary treasure house of this time period contains incredible discoveries which remain yet unrecognized, unevaluated, and forgotten.

Despite this fact, many academicians are overly confident that “old knowledge” has been thoroughly comprehended and admixed into contemporary theory and is, therefore, expendable. This view is inwardly believed to such a degree that old texts are methodically being gathered into “annex” warehouses. These treasures are then permitted to decay and are (gradually) eliminated.

This shockingly repugnant pride is the very opposite of scientific sensibility. This mindset is counter­productive and totally self destructive. Each new unexpected discovery comes as a sharp rebuke to those who remain unenlightened concerning the past. Old texts preserve forgotten thoughts… not disproven thoughts. Researchers have committed their often anomalous and disquieting observations and findings to the journals and texts. It is traditional practice that what cannot be now explained must be treasured, pondered, and comprehended for some future purpose. Discovery and anomaly are rare gifts which must be honored and preserved until understood.

The scientific historian methodically searches out catalogues of forgotten phenomena by thorough examination of old periodicals, texts, and patent files. The retrieval of old and forgotten observations, discoveries, scientific anecdotal records, and rare natural phenomena provide the intellectual dimension desperately needed by modern researchers who work in a vacuum of dogma. It is astounding to find the volumes of rare and anomalous phenomena­lists and laboratory anecdotes made by credible and qualified Victorian researchers throughout older volumes of Nature Magazine and The Electrician (c.1890).

The retrieval of inventions, designs, and other applications reveal repeatable phenomena “in application” which demand re­evaluation of tenaciously held theoretical models. The trained researcher identifies, distinguishes, and secures those particular forgotten discoveries which violate contemporarily held theoretical models. The aim of this research is new knowledge through reevaluation.

Eric Dollard is an electrical engineer who has done remarkably exhaustive historical research and experimental verifications of scientific claims made by Nikola Tesla a century before. It was through Mr. Dollard that we learned about a forgotten chapter in the art of controlled thermonuclear fusion like no other. In fact, those who read this article may be shocked to learn the real truth abouttone specific “hot fusion” project from 1962 until 1967.

The reality of anyone controlling fusion reactions… and reaching self­sustaining reaction stage would sound bizarre to anyone familiar with the historical publications. Of all the venture projects chasing after the hot fusion Grail one group of researchers looked directly into Nature’s brilliant face and saw her sparkling eyes. Mr. Dollard’s research on unusual electron tubes led him into an exhaustive study of several vacuum tube designs patented by the father of electronic television: Dr. Philo T. Farnsworth. There he found the forgotten gem.

PHILO T. FARNSWORTH

Among the incredibly prolific patents of Dr. Farnsworth are two working designs for achieving practical nuclear (“hot”) fusion. Dr. Farnsworth is the original designer of true electronic television. He had to develop the entire system of electronic television with all its parts. Image dissectors, pulse transmitters, synchronizing oscillators, synchronous scanning, image analyzers, receivers, and special cathode ray tubes… Farnsworth conceived, designed, and hand built each of them.

The technological demands of his complete television system required the development of very special electron tubes from start to finish. Each component demanded new tube designs and operational theories. In fact, examination of the Farnsworth patents reveals nothing but novel tube designs without contemporary equal.

Existing multi­element tubes could neither match the stringent power demands or frequency requirements of television. Therefore Farnsworth developed numerous unusual tubes to make his television oscillators, receivers, and transmitters more efficient. No existing technology could match the performance characteristics of his UHF oscillators, electron multipliers, and cold cathode signal amplifier tubes when he patented them.

Farnsworth designed numerous high­power UHF tubes. Notable among these designs were cold cathode devices (some of which employed soft radioactive materials), photomultipliers, multipactors, IR imaging tubes, image storage tubes, and image amplifiers. Each was a marvel of originality and inspiration. But the multipactor was a true wonder.

The multipactor design employs two opposed concave cathodes and a central series of cylindrical anodes. Noise surges generate and sustain powerful tunable oscillations within the multipactor when voltage is simply applied to the cathodes and anode. The multipactor utilizes photomultiplier effects to supply electrons. Multipactor performance borders on the anomalous, approaching “impossible” efficiency coefficients.. His success was followed closely by engineers from every military and industrial group. Full­scale research addressed the multipactor efficiency “problem”. Reports from the time period may be easily secured for study and re­evaluation.

Farnsworth continued to be a prolific designer of very unusual electron tubes before and after World War II. Casual examination of his patents continually proved the genius behind the legend. Dr. Farnsworth explored new alternatives and designed radically new concepts into a series of electron tubes which became as heralded as his development of electronic television. Each development produced in own species of anomalous phenomena These were each utilized and compounded in his successive developments. The patent record tells the story best.

PLASMOIDS AND VIRTUAL ELECTRODES

While testing high power UHF tubes Farnsworth discovered an anomalous self­focussiog space charge phenomenon. These space charge plasmoids glowed all the more brilliant with increasing application of voltage… a control characteristic. He named these point­plasma phenomena “poissors”.

“Poissors are brilliant space­suspended plasmoids of star­like appearance. When Dr. Farnsworth operated his multipactors the poissor phenomena manifested themselves with special brilliance. Electron optical focusing concentrates ions just as mirrors concentrate light. Early Farnsworth multipactors utilized twin opposed concave cold cathodes.

The design feature of concave electrodes was a radical departure in the world of electron tube designs at the time. Most electrodes of the day were simple planar surfaces. The concaves permitted the re­discovery of electron optics… a phenomenon originally witnessed by Sir William Crookes and forgotten. Students are directed to the Crookes tube with its concave cathodes.

Farnsworth multipactors and cold cathode discharge tubes produce optically focused “poissors” and exhibited all the response­control characteristics later sought by plasma physicists in their race toward achieving hot fusion. Control­responsive poissors would shrink in size, increase in ionic density, and produce more brilliant light with increasing voltage application.

Notably discovered in 1936, the poissor phenomenon made a new breed of electron power tubes and plasma devices possible. The existence of these mysterious suspended plasmoids stimulated Farnsworth’s research toward the refined use of electron optics. His refinement and use of the newly manifested phenomena produced remarkable performance efficiencies in UHF and SHF applications. In their unprecedented spherical geometries the Farnsworth tubes proved incredibly efficient and long lasting.

Virtual electrodes could influence electron behavior in power tubes. Ions could be bound in small plasma points (poissors) exhibiting stability in ionic multi­layers and sheaths. Poissors could absorb and store energy: an aspect which deeply impressed Dr. Farnsworth. The time for their retrieval from the archives of the anomalous drew close.

By 1953 he had conceived of a means for using the poissor phenomenon to produce controlled nuclear fusion reactions.. The patent record shows that Farnsworth achieved the goal. Yet, there are far more deeply entwined reasons why few have ever heard of Dr. Farnsworth’s contributions and achievements besides the academic censure of this possibility.

THE “FUSOR”

In 1959 H. S. Geneen (Raytheon) invited Dr. Farnsworth to address the ITT board of directors on controlled nuclear fusion. Against the verbalized misgivings of the AEC this lecture­presentation was given. Shortly thereafter a preliminary test on the Farnsworth “Fusor” was performed in a small ITT basement laboratory. His first design for a hot fusion reactor was realized in 1959. ITT monitored all the research and brought its own supervisors into Farnsworth’s team.

Virtual poissor plasmoids of deuterium would be isolated, shaped, confined, treated, balanced, or moved without magnetic confinement. Farnsworth’s solution to reactant confinement was elegant, simple, inexpensive, and highly efficient. He designed a new and dramatically original tube which he named “The Fusor”. This was the summation of a lifetime’s discoveries and development. I believe it is the most advanced electron power tube ever designed.

The Fusor is a device which produces controllable hot fusion reactions and does not utilize magnetic confinement. The design is a radical departure from all the designs of its time frame. The Fusor is comprised of a spherical anode which concentrically surrounds a cathode. A plurality of ion guns are mounted on the anode exterior in spherically spaced and diametrically aligned relationship so that their beam axes intersect at the cathode center. Ions from the guns are propelled and focused into the center of the cathode. This establishes in the cathode interior a series of concentric spherical sheaths of alternating maxima and minima potentials: the “virtual electrodes”.

Ions never touch any surfaces in these tubes. Magnets are never needed. The ions which “fall” into the center-most virtual electrode have fusion energies, and are contained at a density sufficient to produce fusion reactions. Charged particles are literally compressed into the required density in the central region by the process of inertial containment… a term in the art which Farnsworth first coined.

Oscillating ions are concentrically gathered in a series of charge sheaths which conform to the optically focussed fields and which represent the distributed kinetic energies of ions in the poissor. Potential escaping pre­reactive ions encounter successive electrostatic repulsions until they are forced back into their center. The Fusor System proved stable throughout its forgotten seven year research history.

With developed potentials of sufficiently high magnitude the fusion reaction can be sustained and controlled at will. Furthermore, fusion energy produces powerfully escaping nuclei which perform work against the anode field. This ionic pressure augments the applied field and appearing as a dramatic surge in field strength: one that may be directly harnessed and used in external loads as electrical power.

The Fusor Patent The fears of a “runaway reaction” were handled in the natural equilibrium maintained by the poissor core structure… as stars self maintain their output by expanding and reducing plasma density. Poissors were found to be remarkably resilient and resistive to instabilities. Farnsworth solved the confinement and conversion problems in one design. The field symmetries and process involved in achieving this variety of hot fusion seems macro-analogous to those characteristics being now explored in “cold” fusion.

On October 8, 1960, the Mark I produced a steady­state neutron count when deuterium was admitted into the device with very low power application. The central feature during these tests was not the neutron count itself. What was sought in these tests lay in the control of the reaction under increasing power application. Farnsworth established and charted increasing neutron counts with increasing application of electrostatic power. It is suggested that the reader obtain and study copies of the Fusor (patent 3,386,883).

STEADY PROGRESS

With deuterium gas in the Mark II Model 2 Fusor a count exceeding 50 M­neutrons cc/sec was recorded at 80 Kv. and 30 rnA. input. This device produced 1.3 G-neutrons/sec. in a sustained reaction for more than one minute. These reactions were stable, completely under the operator’s control, and could be repeated.

On October 5, 1965 the Fusor Mark II­, Model 6 was tested. A reconfigured, high­precision ion gun arrangement produced l G­neutrons cc/see at 20 Kv. and 1 mA…. a record achievement. On December 28, 1965 tritium was admitted into the test chamber… producing 2.6 G-neutrons/sec. at 105 Kv. and 45 mA.. With a mixture of tritium and deuterium on the very next day Dr. Farnsworth’s team measured and recorded 6.2 G-neutrons/sec. at 170 Kv..

The Mark III Fusor produced startling high records in quick succession. By the start of 196.5 the team was routinely measuring 15.5 G-neutrons/sec at 150 Kv and 70 mA. The final problem to be tackled involved the poissor itself. Self-containing and tightly layered, the fusion poissor would not admit fuel into its core once the reaction had begun. It must be remembered that this Fusor was softball­sized. A Fusor having a diameter of just one meter would permit greater ignition power for a smaller time period… while multiplying output power volumetrically.

SUSTAINED FUSION REACTION

Dr. Farnsworth reported that his team achieved a self­sustaining reaction on several occasions… and could repeat the effect. He once invited his wife to watch a test­run of this feat. As power was applied to the Fusor the neutron­reading meter achieved a steady threshold and there remained… until a slight increment of power was applied. Then the needle went off the scale. Dr. Farnsworth cut the applied power… but the needle remained in place for thirty seconds or more as the reaction continued.

ITT gradually absorbed the entire project. All related patents were assigned to ITT as success was achieved in steady steps. While steady progress was being achieved at a modest cost (examine the photographs), lTT was being influenced by powerful professionally hired “opinion makers” to drop fusion research. Suddenly even Wall Street analysts were publishing their “concerns” for ITT and its absorption of the Farnsworth subsidiary. Farnsworth himself was made the focus of every corporate death-word. These outlandish accusations indelibly remain in newspapers from the time period.

The suppression and assassination of technology is historically the response of frightened competitors… response to an impending breakthrough which might wipe out competitors. Crowd pleasing philanthropists become predators when possible usurpers appear.

Piercing voices appeared from everywhere against Farnsworth. A large reception at the Waldorf was astir with executive unrest concerning the Farnsworth research project While dressing, Farnsworth suffered a mild stroke. The AEC was mounting the nuclear fission race and the “anti­fusion” race simultaneously… and using every tactic to achieve total dominance of the energy field. He was relieved of his research project

The effect of such disappointment upon those whose lives and hopes are involved in such research is never superficial. In them ride the dreams of whole societies and futures. Those who harm such individuals do not survive in the long run. The price for the dreamer, however, is dear. Dr. Farnsworth suffered another stroke on a plane ride back home. He then retired to convalesce.

During his recuperative period at home he decided that the Fusor should be developed to its complete perfection. ITT had formally and publicly stated that the Fusor was a “dead­end”. Farnsworth thought that since this was their attitude, he might have a try at re­obtaining his patents. He therefore contacted ITT and honestly announced his intentions. The answer was negative and impersonal… a curious response for a device which was a “dead-end”… given to such an eminent personage whose inventions maintain the entire ITT operation to this day.

COOL DOWN

In quick successions, ITT asserted its complete ownership of all Fusor applications in the future. ITT warned Farnsworth that it would dominate all Fusor research forever… despite its “unfeasibility”. ITT then cut all formal financial ties with Farnsworth and left him virtually bankrupt. ITT now holds the Farnsworth patents… and bears the social debt of responsibility for suppressing Fusor technology.

In July 1969 Farnsworth built a small Fusor lab in a Brigham Young University cellar room. With purchased equipment from ITT he continued his research with generous University support. Creditors were crowding him on every side. During this time an offer came to him from SONY. He felt unable to continue. Physically ill for a long time and emotionally scarred, he died from pneumonia in 1971.

The aim of my article is not simply to re­expose mere technical facts… but to explore deeper issues of science and society. Hot fusion was achieved, scrutinized, assassinated… and suppressed. It is remarkable that few individuals in the fusion research teams across the world are even aware that their goal was realistically attained. The device which attained this feat was elegantly simple, but the movements of these social energies must first be clearly understood.

Several questions now demand simple answers. What names were behind the obvious and deliberate attack on Farnsworth’s Fusor project? How have these forces managed to keep Farnsworth’s work completely suppressed? How is it that ITT never re­exarnined and duplicated the Fusor Project? Why are outrageously huge funds yet being supplied for Tokamak projects? Are these grant mix­appropriations deliberate or are they the inertial results of forgotten knowledge? Is the synthesis of artificial social myths accumulating ignorance among those who originally produced them?

UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY

Those who are familiar with the lure of science archives understand very well that more potential technology lies dormant than is currently addressed, discussed, or implemented. Much of modern scientific research is the weak echo of work already completed within the last century. There are those who prefer to collect grants and assure themselves of bureaucratically “safe” experiments rather than ris} their yearly salaries on radically new scientific ventures.

Survivalism among academicians is no less savage and ruthless than among other groups with whom we more often associate base behavior. There are those who use projects in “throw away” fashion just to survive. There are those whose jaded personalities have taken a survivalistic stance and already accept that hot fusion is a dead­end… but a steady income.

This kind of pessimism in the scientific field promotes status-quo technology and eventually blocks He paths toward adventure arid discovery wherever and whenever it can. Unfulfilled minds become pessimistic. Unchecked pessimism becomes maliciousness.

The true and original artists of contemporary science are difficult to name except for those in radical technological ventures. It is rare today to find that kind of explosive scientific development which absolute saturates Victorian journals between 1880 and 1910. Yet we recognize that our Victorian mentors were responsible for the paths upon which we are now traveling.

More radical discovery and technology were forged during the Victorian time period than is actually engaged today. Science also seems to have great difficulty in making simple assertive statements as did our forebears… who produced a far greater weight of accomplishments. Science speaks of “statistical agreement” and “reasonably close correlations”. Not one individual is willing or able to simply say “yes” or “no”.

I was not surprised when scores of non­committal authority pleasing academicians came forward to refute new hydrogen energy. It was rather like watching reflexive behavior in laboratory animals. I believe the next regulatory step will be to ban the production of these designs and devices outright. We should be prepared for the corporate onslaught. I personally believe that we should take our options as global citizens… and cultivate the new technology among disadvantaged nations.

LIGHTS OUT

One observes that the scientific community automatically digests potential possibilities whenever new unexpected discoveries manifest themselves. This again is that rigid kind of scientific dogmatism which holds forth the graven image of “the model” before the truth. The cultivation of new discovery is an unknown art in our day… except among a rare few.

What is “unexpected discovery”? Is it not the piercing reminder that theoretical models can never replace or truly confine natural reality? Yet there are those who have inwardly replaced reality with the model… and defend the model to the death. The bright light of any natural anomaly or unexpected discovery is hated precisely because it is feared. The model for many scientific personnel is secretly their “lifeline”… their mantra. These personalities are easy to identify. Unfortunately, in positions of power, they are formidable dissuaders of new technologies.

Newly recognized phenomena and unexpected anomalies distinguish natural reality from all models. The trained scientific historian scours the sometimes rotting refuse of discarded periodicals with particular regret In these discarded stacks lie observations of enormous scope which were faithfully committed by their discoverers to the academic storehouse in hopes that these would be honored, evaluated, and admixed into newer awareness.

Why is unexpected discovery feared and hated by financial dynasties ? New technology spell. ruin for those whose status­quo policy has eliminated them from the competitive race. Most very wealthy individuals are never passionate Makers. Neither are they true philanthropists. While removing the future on the one hand they make publicly acclaimed contributions on the other. The banal misuse of powerful positions wields control to stop progress.

Regulating what discoveries are “permissible” precedes limiting “what can be known”. In other words the control of discovery precedes the control of knowledge. The control of knowledge precedes the control of awareness. Most of the world’s greatest scientific potentials lie tragically forgotten in libraries throughout the world. It is indeed remarkable to discover forgotten scientific history in the journals and patent registers because such hinds” often answer current technological problems from a more fundamental level than is imagined. The libraries themselves are being systematically gleaned and old “inadmissible” knowledge is being eradicated.

UNPRECEDENTED MAGNITUDES

Several purposes underscore this paper. The first is recounting the story of Dr. Farnsworth’s Fusor. The second concerns knowledge forgotten. We must never take the study and preservation of archival records lightly. The third aim encourages realization concerning “undefeatable” problems: they are intended to stop our progress along false paths. The fourth purpose lies in understanding the social ramifications of social dreams, new energy, new technology, and the corporate regulators of these social energies. The fifth is purely scientific: new hydrogen energy has produced tiny poissors in the solid state (Iyengar, Srinivasan).

The advent of new hydrogen energy research represents a natural phenomenon of unprecedented magnitude… a sociological event. Here we find ourselves in possession of devices which operate on tap water… and which produce prodigious amounts of heat with insignificant electrical stimuli! The need for palladium metal is not always a strict requirement… titanium and even nickel suffice under certain conditions

A mystical belief of mine deals with the suppression of truth by corporate regulators… and the global consequences of such suppression. Discovery itself is a phenomenon. Discoveries are granted as tools of survival against future needs on behalf of our race.

Of discovery I may say that suppression and manipulation results in an unstoppable reaction… the frightening release of newer, simpler technologies in every corner of the world. This phenomenal dispersion so assaults would­be controllers that no one regulator may ever seize, quench, or destroy the new technological species.

There are new discoveries to be made everywhere… they never cease appearing. As stars which appear in the blackness of space, so too the miracle of discovery endlessly manifests. This new energy revolution is itself a phenomenon… and win yield to those who pursue it the promise fulfilled.

Related articles:

1. The Farnsworth Multipactor Tube
2. Introduction to Dielectricity and Capacitance
3. Eric Dollard on “The Fallacy of Conductors”

Capacitance

The phenomena of capacitance is a type of electrical energy storage in the form of a field in an enclosed space. This space is typically bounded by two parallel metallic plates or two metallic foils on an intervening insulator or dielectric. A nearly infinite variety of more complex structures can exhibit capacity, as long as a difference in electric potential exists between various areas of the structure. The oscillating coil represents one possibility as to a capacitor of more complex form, and will be presented here.

Capacitance Inadequately Explained

The perception of capacitance as used today is wholly inadequate for the proper understanding of this effect. Steinmetz mentions this in his introductory book Electric Discharges, Waves and Impulses. To quote, “Unfortunately, to large extent in dealing with dielectric fields the prehistoric conception of the electrostatic charge (electron) on the conductor still exists, and by its use destroys the analogy between the two components of the electric field, the magnetic and the dielectric, and makes the consideration of dielectric fields unnecessarily complicated.”

Lines of Force as Representation of Dielectricity

Steinmetz continues, “There is obviously no more sense in thinking of the capacity current as current which charges the conductor with a quantity of electricity, than there is of speaking of the inductance voltage as charging the conductor with a quantity of magnetism. But the latter conception, together with the notion of a quantity of magnetism, etc., has vanished since Faraday’s representation of the magnetic field by lines of force.”

The Laws of Lines of Force

All the lines of magnetic force are closed upon themselves, all dielectric lines of force terminate on conductors, but may form closed loops in electromagnetic radiation. These represent the basic laws of lines of force. It can be seen from these laws that any line of force cannot just end in space.

Faraday & Lines of Force Theory

Farady felt strongly that action at a distance is not possible thru empty space, or in other words, “matter cannot act where it is not.” He considered space pervaded with lines of force. Almost everyone is familiar with the patterns formed by iron filings around a magnet. These filings act as numerous tiny compasses and orientate themselves along the lines of force existing around the poles of the magnet. Experiment has indicated that a magnetic field does possess a fibrous construct. By passing a coil of wire thru a strong magnetic field and listening to the coil output in headphones, the experimenter will notice a scraping noise. J. J. Thompson performed further experiments involving the ionization of gases that indicate the field is not continuous but fibrous (electricity and matter, 1906).

Physical Characteristics of Lines of Force

Consider the space between poles of a magnet or capacitor as full of lines of electric force. See Fig.1. These lines of force act as a quantity of stretched and mutually repellent springs. Anyone who has pushed together the like poles of two magnets has felt this springy mass. Observe Fig.2. Notice the lines of force are more dense along AB in between poles, and that more lines on A are facing B than are projecting outwards to infinity. Consider the effect of the lines of force on A. These lines are in a state of tension and pull on A. Because more re pulling on A towards B than those pulling on A away from B, we have the phenomena of physical attraction. Now observe Fig. 3. Notice now that the poles are like rather than unlike, more or all lines pull A away from B; the phenomena of physical repulsion.

Mass Associated with Lines of Force in Motion

The line of force can be more clearly understood by representing it as a tube of force or a long thin cylinder. Maxwell presented the idea the tension of a tube of force is representative of electric force (volts/inch), and in addition to this tension, there is a medium through which these tubes pass. There exists a hydrostatic pressure against this media or ether. The value of this pressure is one half the product of dielectric and magnetic density. Then there is a pressure at right angles to an electric tube of force. If through the growth of a field the tubes of force spread sideways or in width, the broadside drag through the medium represents the magnetic reaction to growth in intensity of an electric current. However, if a tube of force is caused to move endwise, it will glide through the medium with little or no drag as little surface is offered. This possibly explains why no magnetic field is associated with certain experiments performed by Tesla involving the movement of energy with no accompanying magnetic field.

Inductance as an Analogy to Capacity

Much of the mystery surrounding the workings of capacity can be cleared by close examination of inductance and how it can give rise to dielectric phenomena. Inductance represents energy storage in space as a magnetic field. The lines of force orientate themselves in close loops surrounding the axis of current flow that has given rise to them. The large the space between this current and its images or reflections, the more energy that can be stored in the resulting field.

Mechanism of Storing Energy Magnetically

The process of pushing these lines or loops outward, causing them to stretch, represents storing energy as in rubber band. A given current strength will hold a loop of force at a given distance from conductor passing current hence no energy movement. If the flow of current increases, energy is absorbed by the field as the loops are then pushed outward at a corresponding velocity. Because energy is in motion an E.M.F. must accompany the current flow in order for it to represent power. The magnitude of this EMF exactly corresponds to the velocity of the field. Then if the current ceases changing in magnitude thereby becoming constant, no EMF accompanies it, as no power is being absorbed. However, if the current decreases and represents then a negative velocity of field as the loops contract. Because the EMF corresponds exactly to velocity it reverses polarity and thereby reverses power so it now moves out of the field and into the current. Since no power is required to maintain a field, only current, the static or stationary field, represents stored energy.

The Limits of Zero and Infinity

Many interesting features of inductance manifest themselves in the two limiting cases of trapping the energy or releasing it instantly. Since the power supply driving the current has resistance, when it is switched off the inductance drains its energy into this resistance that concerts it into the form of heat. We will assume a perfect inductor that has no self resistance. If we remove the current supply by shorting the terminals of the inductor we have isolated it without interrupting any current. Since the collapse of field produces EMF this EMF will tend to manifest. However, a short circuit will not allow an EMF to develop across it as it is zero resistance by definition. No EMF can combine with current to form power, therefore, the energy will remain in the field. Any attempt to collapse forces increased currents which pushes it right back out This is one form of storage of energy.

Instant Energy Release as Infinity

Very interesting (and dangerous) phenomena manifest themselves when the current path is interrupted, thereby causing infinite resistance to appear. In this case resistance is best represented by its inverse, conductance. The conductance is then zero. Because the current vanished instantly the field collapses at a velocity approaching that of light. As EMF is directly related to velocity of flux, i tends towards infinity. Very powerful effects are produced because the field is attempting to maintain current by producing whatever EMF required. If a considerable amount of energy exists, say several kilowatt hours* (250 KWH for lightning stroke), the ensuing discharge can produce most profound effects and can completely destroy inadequately protected apparatus.* The energy utilized by an average household in the course of one day.

Another Form of Energy Appears

Through the rapid discharge of inductance a new force field appears that reduces the rate of inductive EMF formation. This field is also represented by lines of force but these are of a different nature than those of magnetism. These lines of force are not a manifestation of current flow but of an electric compression or tension. This tension is termed voltage or potential difference.

Dielectric Energy Storage Spatially Different than Magnetic Energy Storage

Unlike magnetism the energy is forced or compressed inwards rather than outwards. Dielectric lines of force push inward into internal space and along axis, rather than pushed outward broadside to axis as in the magnetic field. Because the lines are mutually repellent certain amounts of broadside or transverse motion can be expected but the phenomena is basically longitudinal. This gives rise to an interesting paradox that will be noticed with capacity. This is that the smaller the space bounded by the conducting structure the more energy that can be stored. This is the exact opposite of magnetism. With magnetism, the units volumes of energy can be though of as working in parallel but the unit volumes of energy in association with dielectricity can be thought of as working in series.

Voltage is to Dielectricity as Current is to Magnetism

With inductance the reaction to change of field is the production of voltage. The current is proportionate to the field strength only and not velocity of field. With capacity the field is produced not by current but voltage. This voltage must be accompanied by current in order for power to exist. The reaction of capacitance to change of applied force is the production of current. The current is directly proportional to the velocity of field strength. When voltage increases a reaction current flows into capacitance and thereby energy accumulates. If voltage does not change no current flows and the capacitance stores the energy which produced the field. If the voltage decreases then the reaction current reverses and energy flows out of the dielectric field.As the voltage is withdrawn the compression within the bounded space is relieved. When the energy is fully dissipated the lines of force vanish.

Again the Limits of Zero and Infinity

Because the power supply which provided charging voltage has internal conductance, after it is switched off the current leaking through conductance drains the dielectric energy and converts it to heat. We will assume a perfect capacitance having no leak conductance. If we completely disconnect the voltage supply by open circuiting the terminals of the capacitor, no path for current flow exists by definition of an open circuit. If the field tends to expand it will tend towards the production of current. However, an open circuit will not allow the flow of current as it has zero conductance. Then any attempt towards field expansion raises the voltage which pushes the field back inwards. Therefore, energy will remain stored in the field. This energy can be drawn for use at any time. This is another form of energy storage.

Instant Energy Release as Infinity

Phenomena of enormous magnitude manifest themselves when the criteria for voltage or potential difference is instantly disrupted, as with a short circuit. The effect is analogous with the open circuit of inductive current. Because the forcing voltage is instantly withdrawn the field explodes against the bounding conductors with a velocity that may exceed light. Because the current is directly related to the velocity of field it jumps to infinity in its attempt to produce finite voltage across zero resistance. If considerable energy had resided in the dielectric force field, again let us say several KWH the resulting explosion has almost inconceivable violence and can vaporize a conductor of substantial thickness instantly. Dielectric discharges of great speed and energy represent one of the most unpleasant experiences the electrical engineer encounters in practice.

Energy Returns to Magnetic Form

The powerful currents produced by the sudden expansion of a dielectric field naturally give rise to magnetic energy. The inertia of the magnetic field limits the rise of current to a realistic value. The capacitance dumps all its energy back into the magnetic field and the whole process starts over again. The inverse of the product of magnetic storage capacity and dielectric storage capacity represents the frequency or pitch at which this energy interchange occurs. This pitch may or may not contain overtones depending on the extent of conductors bounding the energies.

Characteristic Impedance as Representation of Pulsation of Energy Field

The ratio of magnetic storage ability to that of the dielectric is called the characteristic impedance. This gives the ratio of maximum voltage to maximum current in the oscillatory structure. However, as the magnetic energy storage is outward and the dielectric storage is inward the total or double energy field pulsates in shape or size.The axis of this pulsation of force is the impedance of the system displaying oscillations and pulsation occurs at the frequency of oscillation.

Energy into Matter

As the voltage or impedance is increased the emphasis is on the inward flux. If the impedance is high and rate of change is fast enough (perfect overtone series), it would seem possible the compression of the energy would transform it into matter and the reconversion of this matter into energy may or may not synchronize with the cycle of oscillation. This is what may be considered supercapacitance, that is, stable long term conversion into matter.

Misconceptions of Present Theory of Capacitance

The misconception that capacitance is the result of accumulating electrons has seriously distorted our view of dielectric phenomena. Also the theory of the velocity of light as a limit of energy flow, while adequate for magnetic force and material velocity, limits our ability to visualize or understand certain possibilities in electric phenomena. The true workings of free space capacitance can be best illustrated by the following example. It has been previously stated that dielectric lines of force must terminate on conductors. No line of force can end in space. If we take any conductor and remove it to the most remote portion of the universe, no lines of force can extend from this electrode to other conductors. It can have no free space capacity, regardless of the size of the electrode, therefore it can store no energy. This indicates that the free space capacitance of an object is the sum mutual capacity of it to all the conducting objects of the universe.

Free Space Inductance is Infinite

Steinmetz in his book on the general or unified behavior of electricity The Theory and Calculation of Transient Electric Phenomena and Oscillation, points out that the inductance of any unit length of an isolated filamentary conductor must be infinite. Because no image currents exist to contain the magnetic field it can grow to infinite size. This large quantity of energy cannot be quickly retrieved due to the finite velocity of propagation of the magnetic field. This gives a non reactive or energy component to the inductance which is called electromagnetic radiation.

Work of Tesla, Steinmetz and Faraday

In the aforementioned books of Steinmetz he develops some rather unique equations for capacity. Tesla devoted an enormous portion of his efforts to dielectric phenomena and made numerous remarkable discoveries in this area. Much of this work is yet to be fully uncovered. It is my contention that the phenomena of dielectricity is wide open for profound discovery. It is ironic that we have abandoned the lines of force concept associated with a phenomena measure in the units called farads after Faraday, whose insight into forces and fields has led to the possibility of visualization of the electrical phenomena.

Question as to the Velocity of Dielectric Flux

It has been stated that all magnetic lines of force must be closed upon themselves, and that all dielectric lines of force must terminate upon a conducting surface. It can be inferred from these two basic laws that no line of force can terminate in free space. This created an interesting question as to the state of dielectric flux lines before the field has had time to propagate to the neutral conductor. During this time it would seem that the lines of force, not having reached the distant neutral conductor would end in space at their advancing wave front. It could be concluded that either the lines of force propagate instantly or always exists and are modified or conjugate space exists within the same boundaries as ordinary space. The properties of lines of force within this conjugate space may not obey the laws of normally conceived space.

REFERENCE MATERIAL

1. Electricity and Matter, J. J. Thompson, New York, l906, Scribner’s Sons, and l904, Yale University.
2. Elementary Lecture on Electric Discharges, Waves, and Impulses and other Transients, C. P. Steinmetz, second edition, 1914, McGraw-Hill.
3. Theory and Calculation of Transient Electric Phenomena and Oscillations, C. P. Steinmetz, third edition, l920, McGraw-Hill. Section III Transients in Space, Chapter VIII, Velocity of Propagation of Electric Field.

Related articles:

1. An Introduction to Project Hermes
2. An Introduction to the Mysteries of Ground Radio
3. Eric Dollard on “The Fallacy of Conductors”

Think of a vacuum tube without filament or grid, thus requiring neither an A nor a C battery, which generates high-frequency oscillations! This is what Philo Taylor Farnsworth II, the television genius, accomplishes with the cold-cathode tube which he originally developed as a current-amplifier for use with his cathode-ray pickup tube. It is also an exceedingly efficient detector and modulator.

Its first public use as an oscillator was in a radio circuit whereby communication was maintained between San Fransisco and Honolulu and between San Fransisco and New York on September 13, 1934, over the Globe Wireless 35-meter channel. In this test, with 30 milliamperes at 1100 volts on the anode, the tube drove a pair of 150-watt tubes in the final amplifier of a transmitter at the Heintz & Kaufmann factory in South San Fransisco. The signals were received at both Honolulu and New York, and were reported as R9 by a ship 500 miles west of Honolulu.

Wilkens of Dunedin, New Zealand, also heard the transmissions. Previous laboratory tests proved that the tube is capable of generating oscillations of any desired frequency throughout the range from 200 kilocycles to 60 megacycles, these limits being set only by the dimensions of the available tuned circuits. An undistorted output of 25 watts was obtained from an input of 25 watts.

AS AN AMPLIFIER

The performance of this new type of tube depends upon the emission of secondary electrons from two cathodes which are bombarded with high-velocity primary electrons. The cathodes are coated with caesium silver oxide to enhance secondary emission. They, together with a central ring anode, are assembled in an evacuated glass tube. The tube is placed within a solenoid which is supplied with direct current so as to maintain an intense magnetic field throughout the length of the tube. When used as an amplifier, a high frequency voltage is applied to the cathode terminals and a D.C. voltage is applied to the anode terminal to hold it at a positive potential with respect to the cathodes, which are shunted by a coil and variable condenser in parallel. The shunt circuit is tuned so as to be in resonance for the applied high frequency voltage.

When the D.C. voltage is applied to the anode terminal, any free electrons in the inter-electrode space would immediately be drawn to the anode were it not that the longitudinal magnetic field neutralized the transverse electrostatic field from the anode and were it not for the high-frequency electrostatic field which draws them to the alternately positively charged cathodes. The strength of these several fields can be adjusted to allow an electron to be shuttled back and forth in a zig-zag path between the cathodes any desired number of times before it is finally drawn out of circulation at the anode.

Each time that a high velocity electron strikes a cathode it causes the emission of from 2 to 8 secondary electrons, the number of secondaries depending upon the velocity of the impacting electron, and thus upon the amplitude of the voltage applied to the cathodes. Each emitted secondary likewise causes the emission of more secondaries, so that the process is rapidly cumulative and gives rise to a tremendous amplification of current.

In the foregoing simplified account of the tubes operation as an amplifier, one important factor has been omitted. The anode attraction, which causes an electron to leave the vicinity of a cathode and which accelerates its velocity as it approaches the plane of the anode, also decelerates its velocity as it leaves the anode plane and approaches the second cathode, which is now positively charged so as to attract it. Its resultant velocity may therefore not be sufficient to cause emission from the second cathode. To insure emission, additional energy must be imparted to it, this energy being obtained from that stored in the resonant circuit.

The high-frequency supply is of the order of 50 megacycles and is loosely coupled to the tuned circuit so as to apply from 25 to 90 volts across the cathode terminals. The positive potential on the anode may be 100 volts or more, depending upon the desired current output.

The tube has a discontinuous voltage-current output characteristic with a series of successively higher current peaks as the voltage is increased. Maximum current output is obtained when the anode voltage is just sufficient to allow an electron to travel from one cathode to the other during 1/2 cycle of the high frequency excitation. Other successively lower peaks occur at anode voltages corresponding to transit times of 3/2, 5/2, 7/2, 9/2 cycles, the last being the least which has yet been measured.

The external magnetic field is unnecessary when the cathodes are properly curved instead of being plane. Their curvature can be calculated to focus the electrons automatically for specified anode and cathode voltages. This eliminates the need of a D.C. supply for magnetic focusing.

The tube’s theoretical output is twice that of an equivalent hot-cathode tube operated as a Class A amplifier. Its practical output is limited by the ability of the cathodes to withstand the high temperature to which they are subjected by bombardment from a rapidly increasing number of electrons. One test of a small tube showed an output of 100 watts of undistorted energy before the cathodes were destroyed by heat. Such destruction is prevented by means of resistors in the cathode leads. A small tube can be safely operated so as to deliver 45 milliamperes with 200 volts on the anode. It is to be noted that the tube operates as a current amplifier and that the amount of voltage amplification is dependent upon the resistance in the output circuit.

The theory of the tube’s operation as a detector or modulator should be evident from the non-linear voltage-current characteristic and requires no elaboration here. It is especially sensitive in the detection of ultra-high frequencies. [Editor's Note: P.T. Farnsworth III told Eric Dollard that the multipactor tube and the Tesla coil were a marriage made in heaven! TB]

It is a well known fact that any amplifier circuit generates oscillations when arranged to furnish an input voltage of proper magnitude and phase. Consideration of the manner in which Farnsworth’s tube functions as an amplifier shows that it conforms to this requirement when connected to a resonant circuit which is tuned to a frequency whose half-period is equal to an electron’s time of transit, as determined by the frequency of the oscillations applied to the cathodes.

But the great value of the Farnsworth tube resides in the fact that it is self-exciting, i.e., that it requires no external high frequency voltage when used as an oscillator. Aside from the energy which is required for the magnetic focusing field and which may not be needed eventually, the only external source of energy is that which maintains a positive potential on the anode. It apparently represents a new discovery in vacuum tube phenomena. Among engineers there is a difference of opinion as to its cause.

One plausible explanation is based on the assumption that there is no appreciable space charge effect in the tube when oscillations start. There are always some free electrons present in the inter-electrode space, if only those due to photoelectric emission from the cathodes. These are attracted by the anode when it becomes strongly positive but are prevented from immediately going to it by the longitudinal magnetic field. Their acceleration as they approach the plane of the anode causes a current to flow, through half the inductance coil in the tuned circuit, to one cathode. This provides an out-of-phase voltage drop which accelerates the electrons toward the other cathode with sufficient velocity to cause secondary emission therefrom. The emitted electrons then establish a current flow through the other half of the mid-tapped coil and cause a voltage drop in opposite phase so as to accelerate the electrons toward the first cathode which is thus caused to emit more secondaries. Repetition of this process quickly builds the current up to a point where it can be delivered to the output circuit without stopping the internal oscillations. The oscillating frequency is that to which the resonant circuit is tuned. This explanation has not been confirmed by physicists, but is presented only as a means for visualizing possible actions in the tube. When the engineers disagree, the physicist must experiment.

Much work has yet to be done before standardized tubes will be available for experimental use. Television Laboratories Ltd. has licensed two factories for commercial production. But it will probably be a matter of some months before tubes are available for amateur use.

finis

Editorial Commentary from BSRF

Mrs. Elma “Pem” Farnsworth has recently lent Eric Dollard and Borderland a Multipactor Tube for testing in our lab. The Multipactor holds promise in the “free energy” field as a truly workable electronic device that may produce over 100% efficiency. The test as noted in the above article claims that “an undistorted output of 25 watts was obtained from an input of 25 watts.” This does not take into account radiated heat and possible residual losses. The Multipactor that Borderland is testing is a perfected model of the unit referred to in this article. It appears as though it actually was used in radio frequency broadcast equipment. Preliminary tests show the tube to be good and further tests are being planned. More information will be released through this Journal as we progress on this project.

For those interested in obtaining more information on the Multipactor Tube the related U.S. Patent numbers for P.T. Farnsworth II are: #1,969,399 – Electron Multiplier, Aug. 7, 1934; #2,071,515 – Electron Multiplying Device, Feb. 23, 1937; #2,071,517 – Multipactor Phase Control, Feb. 23, 1937; #2,135,615 – Multipactor, Nov. 8, 1938; #2,140,285 – Multiplier Coupling System, Dec. 13, 1938; #2,140,832 – Means and Method of Controlling Electron Multipliers, Dec. 20, 1938; #2,141,837 – Multistage Multipactor, Dec. 27, 1938; #2,141,838 – Split Cathode Multiplier Tube, Dec. 27, 1938; #2,143,262 – Means for Electron Multiplication, Jan. 10, 1939; #2,161,620 – Two Stage Electron Multiplier, June 6, 1939; #2,172,152 – Radio Frequency Multipactor Amplifier, Sept. 5, 1939; #2,174,487 – Self-Energized Alternating Current Multiplier, Sept. 26, 1939; #2,179,996 – Electron Multiplier, Nov. 14, 1939; #2,203,048 – Shielded Anode Electron Multiplier, June 4, 1940; #2,204,479 – Means and Method for Producing Electron Multiplication, June 11, 1940; #2,217,860 – Split Cathode Multiplier, Oct. 15, 1940; #2,260,613 – Electron Multiplier, Oct. 28, 1941; #2,274,194 – Apparatus For and Method of Electron Discharge Control, Feb. 24, 1942; #2,286,076 – Electron Control Device, June 9, 1942; #2,311,981 – Electron Control Device, Feb. 23, 1943.

The work of Philo Farnsworth II is as important to energy researchers as that of Nikola Tesla. All of us at Borderland wish to thank the Farnsworth family for allowing Eric Dollard access to the technology. There is much yet to be learned from the work of P.T. Farnsworth II. Among his outstanding achievements he developed television and also a way to produce nuclear fusion electronically (see U.S. Patent #3,386,883 – June 4, 1968).

Related articles:

1. The Farnsworth Fusor
2. Introduction to Dielectricity and Capacitance
3. Eric Dollard on “The Fallacy of Conductors”

1.

When electro-magnetic energy is conveyed from one point in space to another point in space a closed loop is required to connect the point of generation with the point of utilization. This closed loop is called the electric circuit and consists of a boundary formed by what have become known as electric conductors. This boundary encloses a definite quantity of space.

When electro-magnetic energy flows through the space enclosed by the electric circuit phenomena take place inside the circuit material as well as the space outside this material.

Within the circuit conductor material, during the passage of electro-magnetic energy, this energy is continuously being consumed within the molecular space and converted into thermo-dynamic energy (heat). This may be represented by the passing electro-magnetic wave dragging into the electric circuit material. This drag is analogous to frictional losses and is called the resistance of the electric circuit, R.

In the space outside the circuit conductor material, during the passage of electro-magnetic energy, a condition of aetheric stress exists, which is called the electric field of the electric circuit. The energy contained by the electric field is continuously being transferred through this space from the point of generation which supplies energy to the electric field to the point of utilization which abstracts energy from the electric field.

The electric field of the circuit exerts physical magnetic and dielectric actions. The magnetic action is orientated parallel to the surface of the conductor material (in its immediate vicinity). That is, a needle shaped magnetic body tends to set itself in a direction parallel to the surface of the conductor material.

The dielectric action is orientated perpendicular to the surface of the conductor material (in its immediate vicinity). That is, a needle shaped dielectric body tends to set itself in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the conductor material. Thus, the electric field of the circuit, over which passes the flow of electro-magnetic energy, has three fundamental axes which are at right angles with each other:

The dielectric axis, perpendicular to the conductor surface,

The magnetic axis, parallel to the conductor surface,

The electro-magnetic axis, co-axial with the direction of the electric circuit.

The space outside of the conductor material, bounded by the electric circuit, has the property of propagating a wavefront of light at a definite velocity, C. This velocity is a characteristic property of the aether in which the electric circuit exists. The inverse square of this velocity is called the capacitance of the electric circuit.

		C = 1/c2	(4 10-9 pi-1) Farads

The capacitance is a measure of the ability to store energy in the dielectric field of induction, of the electric circuit.

The quantity of space enclosed by the bounding electric circuit is proportional to the total length of the electric circuit, l1, multiplied by the distance between the bounding conductors, l2,

		l1 l2 = l02	(centimetre)2

and has the dimensions of an area. This area in square centimetres defines what is called the inductance of the electric circuit.

		l02 = L		4 10-9 pi Henrys

The inductance is a measure of the ability to store energy in the magnetic field of induction of the electric circuit.

Together, the capacitance and the inductance representing the dielectric and magnetic fields of induction of the electric circuit, serve as a measure of the propagation characteristics of the electric circuit for the transmission of electro-magnetic energy.

		- LC  = t02	: natural period
		- L/C = Z02	: natural impedance

2.

The popular conception of electro-magnetic energy transmission as it exists today is; energy is transmitted through the interior of the conductor material, that is, electricity flows through wires like water flows through pipes. This transmission is said to involve the flow of charged sub-atomic particles called electrons.

According to this theory the materials possessing the most “free electrons” serve as the best conductors of electro-magnetic energy. Conversely, the materials possessing the least “free electrons” serve as the poorest conductors of electro-magnetic energy. These materials are called insulators. Insulators are said to block the passage of electricity.

The conclusion drawn is that electricity is the flow of electrons and that the space outside of the conductor material is empty and dead. It follows that a superconductor is that material which offers no opposition to the flow of electrons and hence no opposition to the flow of electricity. Conversely, free space devoid of matter offers total opposition to the flow of electricity. Nothing could be further from the truth, yet this is the concept of electricity propounded by the scientist of today.

The real actions of the conducting material presents itself when it is in the so-called superconducting state. If a section of a superconducting material is suspended in space, free to move, and a magnetic field of induction is made to approach this material, it is found that the material is repelled by the approach of the field. If the material is indeed superconducting it will maintain a definite distance, l, for an indefinite period of time t -> infinity, from the source of magnetic induction. Any tendency for the material to sink into the magnetic field, l -> 0, indicates the material is not perfectly superconducting but has a finite resistance R.

It may be concluded that the so-called conducting material does not so much conduct as it does repel or reflect magnetism, or electro-magnetic energy in general.

If an electric circuit is conveying electro-magnetic energy as previously discussed it is found that a force or pressure is exerted upon the circuit material. This pressure tends to repel opposing parts of the circuit material and cause the circuit to expand. The quantity of this pressure in the space bounded by the circuit is called the magneto-motive force of the circuit.

It can therefore be seen that the conducting materials serve as the walls of a container holding magnetic pressure. If the conducting material is in the so-called superconducting state and the ends of the circuit are shorted the electric circuit will hold this magneto-motive pressure indefinitely, in analogy with compressed air stored in a tank. In order for this to be the result of electron flow requires that this flow be in perpetual motion, an unlikely proposition.

It may be concluded that materials called electric conductors might best be called electric obstructors and serve not to conduct electro-magnetism but serve to reflect it back on itself. The flow of electro-magnetism is conducted by the aethereous space bound by the obstructing material.

The character of this aethereous space is represented by its inductance L and its capacitance C. Since pure space is considered a perfect insulator by atomic theory, is it not ironic that it offers the least resistance to the flow of electro-magnetism? It is then the insulators that are the true conductors of electricity.

Related articles:

1. Eric Dollard’s “Radio Archaeology”
2. Introduction to Dielectricity and Capacitance
3. The Farnsworth Multipactor Tube