An electrifying experience
So armed with a fluorescent tube and a box full of low voltage long life bulbs I went in search of a significant electrical field to try to witness them powered by the electricity in the air.I remembered years ago seeing a huge sub-station a few miles away - can you believe that back then the school children used to go to a woodland learning centre that was sited right next to this station? This sub-station is so large that it is shown on the Multimap section for the area. So my son and I set off in search of it.
Of course the actual station is off limits but there is a footpath that skirts round it - so we tramped through the beautiful woodland towards the pylons that were clearly visible. We were able to approach amazingly close to this place, where death warnings were posted all along the fence.
The sound of so much electricity being fed along the power lines was deafening and my whole body was tingling - not sure if my hair was standing on end but it could have been!
We 'planted' my small fluorescent bulb under some of the power cables to see if it would light up, but sadly it didn't. There are so many potential reasons why this did not happen - the end of the bulb was not in close enough contact with the ground, the tube was not long enough to create the right conditions, the huge power source in the station was setting up multi directional electrical fields, the ground itself may have been charged so there was no potential difference between overhead and the ground....
Faced with so many variables we could not find a suitable solution - I have emailed Richard Box to see if he is willing to share his knowledge and help me track the right conditions.
Everything about that experience was electrifying and very scary. The fluorescent bulb itself is dangerous because the longer it is the more fragile and it is filled with carcinogenic material.
I may not wish to follow up with this, but I'll see if Richard can help.
These images may show the nature of the place...
How puny is this? And it didn't even light up!!!
posted by Lynda Cornwell @ 11:27 am
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