The phenomena you describe is what Jo Papp used in his engine to activate his electrodes, that is, to make them more reactive. Interestingly, lightning rods in the 1930s contained alpha emitters to better attract the lightning. I believe that this common practice back in the 30s is where Papp got his ideas for his electrodes.
On Mon, Jul 21, 2014 at 7:07 AM, Nigel Dyer <l...@thedyers.org.uk> wrote: > > I have built myself a marx generator which produces an output voltage of > the order of 20kV and which can produce a very nice fat spark if the output > electrodes are close enough. I have a conventional geiger counter and I > find it beeps if it is within 5cm of the high voltage output. The distance > suggests alpha particles, but a peice of card makes no difference so I > assume that this is an artefact picked up by the large and abrupt change in > the voltage gradient. Oddly I could not find any reference to this > artefact on the internet. Is this just something that everyone knows but > no-one writes down? > > Nigel > > > > >
