We live in a wireless world, and it was just a matter of time before someone realized that power could be transmitted wirelessly. Transmitting power using resonant technology is far from new, and dates back about 100 years to Tesla's ground-breaking work. More than thirty years ago I had done this myself using a Tesla coil and an antenna I made consisting of a large coil of wire nearby. It was able to light a 120V light bulb. Something about it didn't feel right so I discontinued my work on it. It wouldn't be until a few decades later when I would learn what that problem actually is, and it would turn out to be a good thing I dropped it. More on that later.

There is a recent news announcement of a company that has solved the problem of transmitting power without wires. This is the exact breakthrough that created a chasm between Nicola Tesla and JP Morgan and caused Tesla to die broke. Morgan was extremely upset that Tesla's new power system couldn't be controlled and metered. Even today, any wireless power source cannot be secured. Power is a different form of energy than data which can be encrypted. With wireless power, anyone can create an antenna, pick up the energy and use it. I would is essentially impossible to protect it from those who don't pay for it.

Now I realize that the power this new company wants to transmit is short range and is probably measured in tens of watts, and not kilowatts to run a home. But there is more to this than meets the eye.

A few months ago my wife and I were guests at the Waldorf Astoria, and we stayed on the very floor Tesla lived on. It was a moving experience, since this tower of the hotel has retained and restored the art-deco in the rooms of the early 20th century. This has always been an extremely expensive hotel, and is currently at more than a thousand dollars a night just for a small room.

Most know the legendary story of how Tesla died a poor and broken man because of Morgan. Yet how Tesla LIVED at the Waldorf Astoria for a long time is a mystery. New York City has never been known for being generous and compassionate to those who can't pay the rent. I'm not quite sure what the definition of what poor and broken is, as it applies to Tesla. The Waldorf also has suites in another tower, which is another story in itself.

Now back to wireless power. There is much more to this than meets the eye. Wireless power transmission in it's most efficient form requires the use of scalar pulse technology or microwave. Scalar is a special form of alternating current, where the electric and magnetic fields are in phase with each other. There is no simple form of shielding that shields against scalar energy.

Scalar technology also is the same technology used in some types of advanced electromagnetic weaponry. The defunct Soviet Union did considerable work in this area. These weapons can make people become quite ill, cause disease or even kill. Apparently the new company that wants to transmit free wireless power has little regard for the health of power users. Perhaps it's not relevant to their strategy to have repeat customers.

Effects of alternating current on human beings are well known. There are many people who are extremely sensitive to electromagnetic smog. These individuals have no wi-fi, cordless or cell phones anywhere around them or in their homes. Some do not even have any electronic devices, such as television or radios. Can this actually happen? The cause of it isn't that big a mystery and is really quite simple. Our bodies are complex and are based on microvolt and millivolt electrical impulses. As human beings, all our systems depend on every electrical signal working correctly, from your brain to your bowel tract and even to your toes. Even your big toe, which is known to act as a temperature sensor for your entire body among other things.

Apparently the new company has determined that your health is not important, and is blatantly ignoring the health aspects wireless power transmission. This is madness.

Is all transmitted electromagnetic energy considered radio frequency and require a license? Not so according to the FCC, which for almost a century has enforced the regulations. The FCC requires complex and uniform testing of any new product if the frequencies used in a product are high enough. I designed a product back in the late eighties that employed a simple 3MHz microprocessor, and I wasn't sure if it would require laboratory emissions testing. So I called the FCC.

An engineer at the FCC clearly stated to me when I asked him about the need for product testing, his exact answer reply was, "Anything that uses or generates a frequency greater than nine kilohertz requires testing." That includes just about everything. Even your digital watch, which internally operates at 32.768 KHz! This is what the Part 15 sticker you've seen on the back of televisions and radios for decades is all about. Today, it's largely been replaced by a Part 15 class A or B computing device sticker because almost every product today contains a microprocessor.

So how much energy is allowed to radiate from any product generating a frequency greater than 9KHz? Just a few microwatts, which is a fraction of the power required to power anything useful. In technical terms, they test for emissions from products in the 9KHz to 3GHz. In the 1980's this was required, which might be different today.

How efficient are power transmitting systems? Unless you are using microwaves (which cook people) lower radio frequencies are highly inefficient. Any power receiving antenna only picks up and uses a fraction of the power transmitted at frequencies lower than a directed microwave beam. It's important to note here that your body will be absorbing far more wireless transmitted power than a small antenna sitting on a table beside a computer. Can that be good for your health with what we already know?

I guess my gut feeling 30+ years ago was right after all.

As for me, I will stay far away from wireless power systems for the foreseeable future.

Ted Twietmeyer