“While I was perfectly convinced, from the outset, that success would be ultimately achieved, it was not until by slow improvement I evolved the so-called “Magnifying Transmitter” that I obtained convincing evidence of the feasibility of wireless power transmission on a vast scale for all industrial purposes.
"The chief discovery, which satisfied me thoroughly as to the practicability of my plan, was made in 1899 at Colorado Springs, where I carried on tests with a generator of fifteen hundred kilowatt capacity and ascertained that under certain conditions the current was capable of passing across the entire globe and returning from the antipodes to its origin with undiminished strength. It was a result so unbelievable that the revelation at first almost stunned me. I saw in a flash that by properly organized apparatus at sending and receiving stations, power virtually in unlimited amounts could be conveyed through the earth at any distance, limited only by the physical dimensions of the globe, with an efficiency as high as ninety-nine and one-half per cent.
The mode of propagation of the currents from my transmitter through the terrestrial globe is most extraordinary considering the spread of the electrification of the surface. The wave starts with a theoretically infinite speed, slowing down first very quickly and afterward at a lesser rate until the distance is about six thousand miles, when it proceeds with the speed of light. From there on it again increases in speed, slowly at first, and then more rapidly, reaching the antipode with approximately infinite velocity. The law of motion can be expressed by stating that the waves on the terrestrial surface sweep in equal intervals of time over equal areas, but it must be understood that the current penetrates deep into the earth and the effects produced on the receivers are the same as if the whole flow was confined to the earth’s axis joining the transmitter with the antipode. The mean surface speed is thus about 471,200 kilometers per second — fifty-seven per cent. greater than that of the so-called Hertz waves — which should propagate with the velocity of light if they exist. The same constant was found by the noted American astronomer, Capt. J. T. T. See, in his mathematical investigations, for the smallest particles of the ether which he fittingly designates as “etherons.” But while in the light of his theory this speed is a physical reality, the spread of the currents at the terrestrial surface is much like the passage of the moon’s shadow over the globe.
"It will be difficult for most people engaged in practical pursuits to measure or even to form an adequate conception of the intensity of inspiration and force I derive from that part of my work which has passed into history. I have every reason to consider myself one of the most fortunate men, for I experience incessantly a feeling of inexpressible satisfaction that my alternating system is universally employed in the transmission and distribution of heat, light and power and that also my wireless system, in all its essential features, is used throughout the world for conveying intelligence. But my pioneer efforts in this later field are still grossly misunderstood.”
–Nikola Tesla
“World System of Wireless Transmission of Energy.”Telegraph and Telegraph Age, October 16, 1927.
From June 1, 1899 to January 7, 1900, Nikola Tesla conducted experiments and research on high voltage and high frequency electricity to prove his theory of world wireless energy transmission. His previous 10 years of lectures, experiments, and research prior to this expedition had prepared him to further explore the most complex electrical forces any human had previously ever faced in history.
He chose Colorado Springs, CO as the location due to the high elevation and low air pressure suitable for electrical experimentation. Also, because this was a far more sparsely populated and open area compared to his lab in New York, he was free to experiment with the more extreme parameters of electricity.
[Fig. 1.] — Nikola Tesla’s building in Colorado Springs which he called his “Experimental Station.”
[Fig. 2.] — Tesla peaking out his laboratory. Notice the “GREAT DANGER–KEEP OUT” sign.
With his new and improved Tesla coils that he had invented previously, which could produce electrical power up to millions of horsepower, he was set to challenge the limits of electricity. It’s clear from Tesla’s notes that his principle initiative was to find ways to manipulate the forces of nature and to utilize them for the advancement of humankind. In his Colorado Springs Notes text, he expressed that he had three main goals:
1. To develop a transmitter of great power.
2. To perfect means for individualizing and isolating the energy transmitted.
3. To ascertain the laws of propagation of currents through the earth and the atmosphere.
In his seven months of work, not only did he accomplish all three goals and prove his theory of wireless energy transmission, but he made some of the most remarkable experiments in scientific history. He obtained voltage and frequencies in the hundreds of millions of horse power–producing sparks over 100 feet in length, and actually sent energy through the earth itself to light multiple lamps which were placed dozens of miles away from his transmitter. He discovered stationary waves deriving from natural lightning discharges which his receiver could detect hundreds of miles away from his station. This discovery proved that power could indeed be transmitted through the earth to far distances. He also discovered that the earth as a whole had certain periods of vibrations, and by using his large oscillator could impress electrical vibrations at the same periods upon it creating more energy within the earth. This process is now referred to as constructive interference (the interference of two or more waves of equal frequency and phase, resulting in their mutual reinforcement and producing a single amplitude equal to the sum of the amplitudes of the individual waves). By doing this repeatedly using massive amounts of energy unheard of before, Tesla was able to transmit energy from his transmitter around earth and back to his receiver traveling at a mean velocity of 292,815 miles per second. Over 100,000 mps faster than light. Many electrical experimenters have proven this velocity including Jonathan Zenneck and Arnold Sommerfeld. The mathematical equation to this speed is pi divided by 2 times the speed of light ( π/2( c ) ).
Witnessing this experiment, space, according to Tesla, was completely annihilated. This meant he could potentially throw the globe into oscillations of such magnitude that massive amounts of energy could be created, collected, and transmitted to any point on earth regardless of distance.
Fully confident that he accomplished what he initially set out to do, Tesla journeyed back to New York to patent his improved apparatuses and build a new system on an even larger scale than what he’d created in Colorado. This would lead to his World Wireless System, known as his Wardenclyffe Tower. Unfortunately, Tesla would not realize his dream of providing humankind with cheap, unlimited energy in his lifetime; however, his legacy and dreams live on through his experiments conducted in Colorado Springs:
“I am unwilling to accord to some small-minded and jealous individuals the satisfaction of having thwarted my efforts. These men are to me nothing more than microbes of a nasty disease. My project was retarded by the laws of nature. The world was not prepared for it. It was too far ahead of time. But the same laws will prevail in the end and make it a triumphal success.”
–Nikola Tesla
“My Inventions – V. THE MAGNIFYING TRANSMITTER.” Electrical Experimenter. February, 1919.
[Fig. 3.] — Experiment to Illustrate the Capacity of the Oscillator For Producing Electrical Explosions of Great Power: The coil, partly shown in the photograph, creates an alternative movement of electricity from the earth into a large reservoir and back at a rate of one hundred thousand alternations per second. The adjustments are such that the reservoir is fulled full and bursts at each alternation just at the moment when the electrical pressure reaches the maximum. The discharge escapes with a deafening noise, striking an unconnected coil twenty-two feet away, and creating such a commotion of electricity in the earth that sparks an inch long can be drawn from a water main at a distance of three hundred feet from the laboratory.
[Fig. 4.] — Coils Responding to Electrical Oscillations: The picture shows a number of coils , differently attuned and responding to the vibrations transmitted to them through the earth from an electrical oscillator. The large coil on the right, discharging strongly, is tuned to the fundamental vibration, which is fifty thousand per second; the two larger vertical coils to twice that number; the smaller white wire coil to four times that number, and the remaining small coils to higher tones. The vibrations produced by the oscillator were so intense that they affected perceptibly a small coil tuned to the twenty-sixth higher tone.
[Fig. 5.] — Burning the Nitrogen of the Atmosphere: This result is produced by the discharge of an electrical oscillator giving twelve million volts. The electrical pressure, alternating one hundred thousand times per second, excites the normally inert nitrogen, causing it to combine with the oxygen. The flame-like discharge shown in the photograph measures sixty-five feet across.
[Fig. 6.] — Illustrating An Effect of An Electrical Oscillator Delivering Energy at a Rate of Seventy-Five Thousand Horse-Power: The discharge, creating a strong draft owing to the heating of the air, is carried upward through the open roof of the building. The greatest width across is nearly seventy feet. The pressure is over twelve million volts, and the current alternates one hundred and thirty thousand times per second.
[Fig. 7.] — A double-exposure photograph of Tesla sitting in front of his electrical oscillator. Of course he’s not really sitting there with the machine on. He would die.
[Fig. 8.] — Experiment Illustrating an Inductive Effect of an Electrical Oscillator of Great Power: The photograph shows three ordinary incandescent lamps lighted to full candle-power by currents induced in a local loop consisting of a single wire forming a square of fifty feet each side, which includes the lamps, and which is at a distance of one hundred feet from the primary circuit energized by the oscillator. The loop likewise includes an electrical condenser, and is exactly attuned to the vibrations of the oscillator, which is worked at less than five percent of its total capacity.
[Fig. 9.] — Experiment Illustrating the Transmission of Electrical Energy Through the Earth Without Wire: The coil shown in the photograph has its lower end or terminal connected to the ground, and is exactly attuned to the vibrations of a distant electrical oscillator. The lamp lighted is in an independent wire loop, energized by induction from the coil excited by the electrical vibrations transmitted to it through the ground from the oscillator, which is worked only to five percent. of its full capacity.
