Setting up
Our plan was to have victims :') walk up the path, be distracted by my wife in a monster mask, then ZAP the sparks would fly. We placed the coil in the middle of this area which is sized at 2x the maximum spark length and placed grounded targets between the coil and the people for safety. We also placed a small bump on the toroid to help direct the sparks. In the dark the distances seemed much closer (especially when the sparks were flying).
Sparks
We scared a couple of grown men who jumped back and fell in the bushes, teenage girls squealed, and teenage boys were either terrified or amazed. We were told that the discharges could be heard half a mile away (there isn't much noise where we live). Often times the noise would startle the people then they would look and not quite comprehend what they were seeing.
Lots of strikes to the ground rod on the right. I'm sitting in the dark with Einstein hair and a lab coat on.
A very slight breeze caused the streamers to move as the ionized channel was blown away. This created a very interesting picture.
This is my view from behind the coil with the streamers shooting towards the little devils...
