Tesla Technologies
Devices based on Nikola Tesla's pioneering work — bifilar pancake coils, radiant energy capture, longitudinal wave propagation, and resonant power transmission. Tesla's foundational insights into high-frequency, high-voltage phenomena underpin much of alternative energy research.
Bedini SSG Motor/Energizer
John Bedini
A monopole pulse-motor/energizer using a rotor with permanent magnets passing by a bifilar coil, triggering transistor-based pulse charging of secondary batteries. The high-voltage back-EMF spikes ('radiant energy') from collapsing magnetic fields are directed into a charging battery through a diode. Primarily explored for battery desulfation and rejuvenation of dead lead-acid batteries. Battery desulfation is a real, documented electrochemical phenomenon.
Tesla Bifilar Pancake Coil & Radiant Energy
Nikola Tesla
Two wires wound in parallel as a flat spiral (pancake) coil, connected end-to-beginning to maximize self-capacitance and self-inductance. At its natural resonant frequency, the coil exhibits dramatic voltage multiplication. Used in circuits designed to capture back-EMF 'radiant energy' from collapsing magnetic fields. The foundational Tesla technology underlying many other devices.
Joule Thief (Advanced Variations)
Community-developed
A minimalist blocking oscillator circuit that boosts voltage from a 'dead' battery (below 1V) to light an LED. The basic circuit uses just 5 components. Advanced variants include MOSFET-driven versions and multi-stage cascades. The basic Joule Thief is a legitimate, well-understood boost converter. Patrick Kelly recommends it as the very first project for newcomers.
Tesla Hairpin Circuit ('Stout Copper Bars')
Nikola Tesla
From Tesla's 1893 lecture 'On Light and Other High Frequency Phenomena'. Two thick copper bars connected through a spark gap discharge system. Demonstrates fundamental high-frequency phenomena including lighting bulbs on apparently shorted conductors (impedance/skin effect), harmlessness to touch at high frequencies, and standing wave nodes along the bars.
Don Smith Magnetic Resonance System
Donald Lee Smith
High-frequency, high-voltage resonant systems using Tesla coils, neon sign transformers, spark gaps, and specialized coil configurations. Smith claimed power output scales with the square of voltage times the square of frequency (P ∝ V² × f²). Multiple designs described in his lectures and documents, all based on converting 'ambient magnetic radiation' into usable electrical power.
Eric Dollard Tesla Longitudinal Wave Experiments
Eric Dollard (researcher), based on Tesla
Demonstrates longitudinal magneto-dielectric (LMD) waves distinct from conventional transverse electromagnetic (TEM) waves. Includes scale models of Tesla's Colorado Springs Magnifying Transmitter, single-wire power transmission, and parametric amplification through properly configured LC networks.
Lakhovsky Multiwave Oscillator
Georges Lakhovsky
A broadband RF device using split-ring antenna geometry to expose biological systems to a wide spectrum of electromagnetic frequencies. Lakhovsky hypothesized this could restore cellular oscillation balance. Primarily of interest for its RF engineering challenge and historical significance.
Tariel Kapanadze 'Kapagen' Generator
Tariel Kapanadze
A high-frequency Tesla-style resonant system using spark gaps, ferrite cores salvaged from CRT televisions, copper coils, and heavy earth grounding connections. Claims to capture ambient/earth energy for self-sustaining multi-kilowatt electrical generation. Multiple high-profile video demonstrations showed powering significant loads.
Alfred Hubbard Coil Generator
Alfred Hubbard
A multi-coil electromagnetic generator reported in early newspaper accounts in the 1920s. Allegedly powered a boat motor in Seattle, but no surviving reproducible schematics exist and claims were not independently verified.