It turns out that, without even realizing it, I’ve been collecting plasma globes/panels, it started way back in the early '90s when I purchased one of the last remaining real Radio Shack Illuma-Storm plasma globes (newer globes have been “detuned” to a lower voltage, the plasma streamers are soft and “fuzzy”, and touching the globe merely focuses the soft streamers towards your hand)
My I-S has sharply defined streamers, and when the focus and intensity are set to maximum, the streamers tighten up considerably, and touching the globe produces a true electrical arc…
it’s tough to get decent footage of an Illuma-Storm, most are poorly focused, or have inane chatter, or stupid music in the background, so I decided to upload one
My latest toy, a Radio Shack Lightning Fury is a bit more powerful, and just plain cooler than the Illuma Storm, it’s apparently a solid-state Tesla Coil under a double-wall glass enclosure, and I’ve always wanted a Tesla Coil…
When you are, ahem… feeling up your orbs, do you have a strong urge to perform abhorrent acts against nature in the name of science? Reanimate the dead, vaporize the Moon with a gigantic ray gun or hang your toilet paper roll with the free end against the wall?
I actually have one of those too! Or at least it looks the same as far as can be told in a YouTube video. I got it as a Christmas gift a long time ago. I didn’t know that newer versions were fuzzier, do you know why they did that?
Ah that brings back memories of my Senior class’s “pet” orbs. We learned how to start fires with that thing, and play very painful games where if we all sat in a circle and touched the orb, we would have to maintain the skin connection with the people next to us because which ever person in the chain broke the link, there would be a tiny painful shock that would get both of the people who just let go.
So we’d all sit there and a circle just nervously looking at each other to see who was going to break, or who was going to run off to class first and thusly break the chain getting themselves and their partner shocked. Fun times. Probably was a bit dangerous though too.