The most important highlight of 2023 besides the museum getting Non-Profit 501(c)(3) status and saving the General Electric High Voltage Laboratory (both significant events!) was being granted a patent I have been working on since the onset of the COVID pandemic in late 2019.  The patent pertains to novel ways of generating wavelengths within the UV spectrum that were previously unexplored.  It dates back to the earliest days of spectroscopy when flame, arc, and spark spectroscopy were all used to determine characteristics of metals and elements.  Using a bit of reverse engineering, I decided to explore alloys not traditionally used for UV lamps, the first of which was Muonionalusta, a meteorite that is older than Earth at 4.5653 billion years.  It produces the exact spectra of UV-C to kill viruses.  Many elements were not well-suited for condenser discharge "spark spectroscopy", because they are too soft or too fragile...and this is where my binary condenser or binary capacitor comes into play.  

I should state that all elements will produce ultraviolet radiation when used with either spark, flame, or arc spectroscopy; however, the UV-C and UV-B portions of the ultraviolet spectrum is the first to "disappear" when heat is introduced into the gap and/or electrode materials.  Introducing heat sinks around the electrodes help to a certain extent, however by adjusting the capacity of the discharge circuit so that the discharge is less disruptive, it enabled me to study elements that would be completely unsuitable for spark gap electrodes under normal circumstances.  To add additional levels of refinement to the patent, the air enclosing the gap can be replaced with a variety of gases, such as argon, hydrogen, hydro-carbons, other inert gases, mercury vapours, etc. (either under vacuum, atmospheric pressure, or pressurized) to further modify the spectra.  

To add one additional level of complexity, an intense magnetic field perpendicular to the gap can bring out various weak lines of the spectrum adding yet additional areas of exploration in the art.  And still another aspect of the patent is to include an RF coil to act as a choke, which also modifies which lines of the spectrum are dominant, as the oscillations become damped.  If a suitable secondary coil be placed within this RF choke, corona discharges may also be introduced into the mix.  For many months on end I left no stone unturned in this exploration.  

The use of the binary condenser in combination with a spark gap and flat spiral high frequency transformer can also yield corona discharges of an intensely fractal nature, both positive and negative discharges, which can be manipulated in the air to form both discharges simultaneously, discharges of mixed polarity, or even conjoined discharges, as in the appearance of Sprite Lightning.  This research was the object of my focus for more than a decade, and additional patents will be filed as to the particulars of the discharge apparatus best designed to invoke these curious effects in the air surrounding the terminals of high frequency coils designed to produce spark leaders and the precursor of sparks (without the actual spark discharge).  

One form of UV lamp with magnesium fluorite window


Click here to view 43 MB patent, 172 pages.


Upper atmospheric phenomena replicated with flat spiral coil detailed in the patent.
This photograph is a direct exposure on photographic paper.


Binary capacitor construction and custom transformer building; modified Kinraide-type pancake high frequency coil in the background


Details of binary condenser built using doorknob capacitors


A second form of lamp under hermetically sealed quartz.


Setup that includes binary condenser and element samples


Custom made electrodes...

 
Left:  The first prototypes for the patent models.  Quartz prism UV spectroscope can be seen to the left which generated the spectra in the patent.
Right:  One to five second exposures were used to kill concentrated bacteria solutions in Petri dishes.


Research cabinet of elements, mercury, amalgams, and misc. elements.  The front clear mineral is Icelandic spar,
a traditional lens transparent to UV that also exhibits double refraction.


The beginnings of what would become a hundred or more books on UV spectroscopy purchased since 2020.  
Some are copies from the original institutions of the pioneers in Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom.
Some are books which were written but never formally published.  (Eder, Valenta)


Muonionalusta Meteorite slices


A 1000-hole dividing head used to adjust the spark gap in millionths of an inch.  The threaded machine screw to adjust the gap is 3/8-100.
For most work adjusting the gap in 1/10,000ths of an inch is enough to modify the polarity of the discharges; however, by fine-tuning
the gap the fractal nature of the discharges are enhanced and in the case of the positive discharges the branches can exceed 1/2" in thickness 
and extend more than 12" from the terminal of a coil consuming less than 30 watts of power.


More recent experiments include a quartz lens and prism spectroscope from Adam Hilger Ltd. in London.
It is more than 6 feet long.  The liquids are fluorescent compounds which glow under different wavelengths of UV.


Simplified spark gap for studying electrical discharges made with 100 threads-per-inch machine screws.
Note the discharge chamber has a thick filter to prevent stray light from the spark gap.  The left screw adjusts the gap
0.010" per full revolution while the right screw adjusts the gap by 15 millionths of an inch for finer adjustment.


Flame spectroscopy, of which there is little UV present.


Showing discharges predominantly positive in nature


Showing discharges predominantly negative in nature


Showing discharges which are positive and negative conjoined


Showing discharges of mixed polarity


Appearance of the vague corona before tuning the circuit.  Tesla "Phantom Streamers", fine grained oscillatory corona discharges


Positive discharges - Photo:  Kelly McJilton


Mixed polarity discharges - Photo:  Kelly McJilton


Negative sparks inducing positive discharges - Photo:  Kelly McJilton


UV Spectrograph of meteorite Muonionalusta, 4.5653 billion years old


UV spectra of synthetic meteorite composition made of nickel and iron


Creating new alloys in the lab using high temperatures.