Tesla's Vacuum Tube Universe

[Double Live Gonzo]

Refer to the link for reference to this idea. 

http://www.tfcbooks.com/tesla/1932-10-13.htm

This is not an entirely original half-bakery since the idea itself for the vacuum tube model of the universe came from Tesla, but I wanted to add my thoughts to Tesla's original idea.

Vacuum tubes as most of you already know operate using thermionic emission.  A cathode heated in a vacuum tube creates electron flow at the plate of the tube.  Given that knowledge, the most basic of all tubes of course is the diode or rectifier tube.  The cathode is heated and electrons flow to the plate etc.

Now consider a triode tube which has a cathode, screen and plate.  Consider for a moment the filament in such a tube, the 12AX7 being a good example of a dual triode.  6.3 VAC is the nominal heater voltage for one half of this dual triode tube, with a B+ voltage of around 150 to 180 volts nominal operating range.

That is a lot of plate voltage derived from such a small filament voltage but the filament indeed consumes much more current than the plate, if my tube theory serves me right. 

On to the tube model of the solar system/universe:  Picture the Sun as the filament in our "perfect vacuum."  Now let the Earth be the plate in our triode, with the screen being our atmosphere.  The filament Sun is heated in the vacuum, therefore electrons are given off via thermionic emission.  The plate Earth is thermionically radiated by this enormous filament, and the atmosphere acts as a screen of sorts, gating the amount of whatever gets to the plate.  The screen grid in a triode is where the small input signal to be amplified is applied to the tube.  A plate load resistor takes the current from the plate and "enables" the voltage portion of the signal to be amplified (just tube FYI).

Now picture the pentode or kinkless tetrode, which has additional screens between cathode and plate.  We have a supressor grid with one layer of the stratosphere, then perhaps a buncher grid with another layer and so on.  We can also think of the Moon as another screen, which is variable in nature since it orbits our plate Earth.  Therefore the Moon will gate the electron flow somewhat depending on its orbital location with respect to the earth at any given time.

Now for our "input signals" for our Amplified Solar System:  A microphone signal is applied to the input grid of our vacuum tube amplifier, and the signal modulates with a larger amplitude version of this signal appearing at the plate.  Modulation for our vacuum tube universe occurs not as a voice speaking or guitar pickup playing, but as the celestial motion of the "screen" portions, "filament" and "plate" portions of our model.  Hence the solar system and even perhaps the universe can be thought of as a large vacuum tube with each screen, plate and filament in constant motion, each affecting the other electrically.

The stratospheric layers are moving with rotational relation to the earth, as is the Moon and all celestial bodies.  These movements of our "screen" elements provide the initial signal modulation to be "amplified" in our model.

Other notes:

Given these statements above, we will experience interelement capacitance, due to the spacing between the plate, screens and cathode each with respect to the positon of the other.  The higher the frequency in the vacuum tube, the more it tends to look like a dead electrical short in the tube due to the "skin effect."  We will also experience "grid leak bias" from the plate to the screen grids.  Spurious emissions from the screens themselves acting as a plate will occur as well.

This gives thought to the various lightning and thunderstorms that occur around the planet.  The grid that is nearest our planet's surface is the first layer of the stratosphere (can't remember what to call it but its there).  Our vacuum tube likes to arc when the conditions are right, and most of the arcing is seen as lightning, which was (I believe) shown by Tesla to be capacitive in nature.  There are also lightning bolts that occur in the upper layers of the atmosphere, which are other screens arcing in our vacuum tube.

Now why do I mention this half-bakery?  This is something that I have thought about for quite some time as a meager attempt to explain to myself cosmic rays from the Sun and from other outer space entities such as quasars, pulsars and the like.  I understand vacuum tubes, and I am trying to construct a correlary based on Tesla's statements.  His being a genius IMHO, I'd like to think he is onto something.

I also like to think of our universe as being primarily electrical or electro-chemical in nature.  Thus its a great way to show perhaps how the Moon affects tides electrically, for one example.  I do personally believe that each celestial body or entity in our universe plays a part in control and maintenance of each of the other parts as a system, hence a "clockwork universe."

I posted this here as food for thought since after all, this is a forum for half-baked ideas?  Thanks for your time.

[wattsup]

@DLG

Congrats on your first post.

Good correlations and analogies of the vacuum tube and the universe.

Maybe look at this youtuber.
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=4773590301316220374&q=Thunderbolts+of+the+Gods

[Double Live Gonzo]

Thanks for the kind words and the excellent movie.  It is a must see indeed and I enjoyed it. 

[mapsrg]

The analogy with a electronics has quite alote of thought behind it......the basic principle is good i think since Tesla described the earth as a large capacitor with the atmosphere acting as a dielectric between the charged ionosphere and the earth itself.....