An arc converter generates audible or radio frequency energy using an electric arc between two conductors. It requires high initial voltage and constant current to sustain the arc. The arc generated contains a broad spectrum of frequencies and can be tuned to a specific frequency using a tuned electrical circuit. The resonant or tuned circuit in the radio frequency range is usually smaller than a single turn of wire with a diameter of about 12 inches.
An arc converter is a device that accepts electrical energy and generates audible or radio frequency energy. It uses an electric arc between two conductors that are part of an electrical circuit and requires a high initial voltage to generate the arc and a constant current to sustain the arc. The arc generated contains a broad spectrum of frequencies and can be tuned to a specific frequency using a tuned electrical circuit. It is also called a Poulsen arc after its inventor and also known as an arc transmitter.
The electric arc consists of highly ionized ions at a high temperature passing through a gas such as air, which is mostly inert nitrogen. It takes approximately 70,000 volts (V) to create an arc across a 1 inch (2.54 cm) gap. Once the arc is initiated and there is a build up of temperature at the ends of the conductors, there is a sustained arc. Care must be taken to ensure that the ends of the conductors are not melted because the temperatures of these ends can reach the melting temperature of conductive metals, such as copper.
Radio frequency alternating current (AC) was initially generated using an electric arc and a resonant circuit. The generation of radio frequency from an arc converter relies on the presence of the arc of a circuit tuned across the arc. This tuned circuit is a conductor with both inductive and capacitive characteristics, which are distributed and result in a parallel resonant frequency where the reactive characteristics cancel each other, causing a large decrease in the net current through the tuned circuit. The result in a parallel resonant state is a state seemingly disconnected from the arc at a certain frequency. The only arc energy that can exist in an arc converter is the energy at the parallel resonant frequency of the tuned circuit.
The resonant or tuned circuit in the radio frequency range is usually smaller than a single turn of wire with a diameter of about 12 inches (30.5 cm). This wire becomes a loop antenna, which has distributed capacitive and inductive characteristics. A higher output frequency requires a smaller loop diameter, while a lower output frequency requires a larger loop diameter. While the capacitive characteristics are brought about by the formation of capacitance due to the close proximity of two conductors separated by an insulator which can accommodate a significant amount of electric field strength, the inductive characteristics are brought about by the buildup of the magnetic field around a conductor which tends a to counteract a further change in the current flowing through the conductor. In early wireless communications, the only radio transmitter available was a direct current (DC) power supply with an arc converter.
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