Tesla Coil Guitar Amplifier

High voltage is not just the name of a song and album from AC/DC.  The latest Another Geek Moment Video from Digi-Key shows how to use a Tesla coil to see and hear "high voltage rock and roll" without an amp or speaker.

This doesn't look safe to build for most DIYers, but I see from videos on YouTube a few people have tried this before.  It sounds a little harsh, with distortion a bit beyond a heavy metal sound, but the Digi-Key setup sounds better than most.  I wonder if you could use a tube amplifier somewhere in the circuit for a smoother sound.... If it didn't sound better, at least it would look even more extreme with the lights off.

Google Honors Heinrich Hertz Discoverer of Radio Waves

Today's Google Doodle honors the Physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz who discovered what are now called radio waves in November 11, 1886.  He name is well known because of a previous commemoration for this discovery.   The Hertz is the SI unit of frequency (which is why the abbreviation is capitalized as Hz).  Hertz made this discovery conducting experiments based on the work of James Clerk Maxwell.

Introduction to Radio Waves

Lec 27  MIT 8.02 Electricity and Magnetism, Spring 2002

Electromagnetic Spectrum Poster by UniHedron - click for links to online retailers