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Heh. It must have been a blast to have you around. Upvoted.

Did you manage to generate some kind of EMP that affected the electronics, or did you manage to generate radio wave interference?

Interference, surely.

It was a combination of the spark gap used to create the high frequency needed to drive the inductor coils, plus the 8+ inch sparks I was creating off the top of it.

Also - I was able to light a 3' fluorescent bulb held at a distance of 7 feet away. No wires.

I have remarkably tolerant parents. :)

It was a homemade spark gap transmitter!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark-gap_transmitter

"Another problem with the spark transmitter was a result of the shape of the waveform produced by each burst of electromagnetic radiation. These transmitters radiated an extremely 'dirty' wide band signal which could greatly interfere with the reception of other transmissions on nearby frequencies. Receiving sets located relatively close to such a transmitter would have entire sections of a band masked by this wide band noise."

Temporarily or forever? :)