ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 28 Dec 93 12:51:00 From: Richard Quick To: All Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Well I hope everyone had a happy holiday. I am now recovered enough to post some more specific info on Magnifier construction and operation. I have covered some general material on this revolutionary Tesla coil system, but will now endeavor to throw out some specific pointers for those of you who have an interest in this much more efficient RF power processor. As I have mentioned the Magnifier is a three coil system. The primary is excited from a Tesla tank circuit, the secondary coil is inductively coupled to the primary, and the extra coil is top loaded on the secondary in such a fashion as to be uncoupled completely from the primary/secondary "driver" coils. The extra coil is base fed by transmission line, which can be anything from Litz wire, copper pipe, or heavy DC transmission wire. The keys to getting an efficient Magnifier setup in operation can be listed fairly easily: Close coupling between primary and secondary, good gap quenching, and proper impedances in the secondary driver and the extra coil. Coupling in Tesla magnifiers must be tight. Classic style vertical helix primaries are very practical for use in Magnifier systems, but heavy insulation between the coils must be used to prevent flash-over. The close coupling reduces somewhat the VSWR in the driver secondary, and the 1/8th wave output contains substantially less voltage than a normal 1/4 wave Tesla system, but the close physical proximity between coils means flash-over will be a problem. Use several layers of polyethylene plastic around the secondary, and insulate the top primary turns with heavy vinyl hose. It has come to my attention that tapping the primary coil from the bottom turns, and heavily insulating the top turns, reduces flash-over. (now gee, why didn't I think of that?) Good gap quenching is a must. Because the coupling is so much tighter in Magnifier systems, more strain is put on the main system spark gap. If ever there was a need for exotic spark gap systems this is it. Quench times must be low, low, low, in order to trap the maximum energy into the secondary driver. An un- quenched (closed) gap will allow energy in the secondary back into the primary/tank circuit. This must be prevented. In Colorado Springs, Tesla used a pair of air blast gaps in series with a massive rotary. He kept pushing his line frequency higher (he had a massive, variable speed alternator in the lab), increased his break rate (up to 50,000 bps) and kept the energy delivered per pulse down to a minimum. The reason he strove to keep the energy per break down was to prevent overloading his gaps. As energy per break (voltage * current) increases, quench times decrease and efficiency in the Magnifier drop off. The increase in the number of breaks per second allowed the total energy processed to climb to unheard of levels, with unheard of performance and efficiency. The next key point to building and operating a small to medium Tesla Magnifier is proper coil impedances in the secondary driver and extra coil. The extra coil must have a higher impedance than the secondary driver. The extra coil must be lower in resonate frequency. I have mentioned here that the 1/8th harmonic output of the secondary driver coil matching the natural 1/4 wave resonate frequency of the extra coil is the most efficient mode of Magnifier operation. This is true, but don't get bogged down with it. This system will work and fire (within reasonable limits) with any extra coil that has a higher impedance and inductance that the driver secondary. Let me give some tips. I have found that most high performance 1/4 wave secondary coils make lousy driver secondary coils in the Tesla Magnifier. The reason is the impedance and inductance are too high, and the 1/4 wave coil is not designed or constructed to handle high current outputs. 1/4 wave coils built per my instructions (posted here several times) are designed to produce excellent 1/4 wave voltage peaks, not 1/8th wave current. Your best bet is to wind a special coil for use as a driver. With this in mind what type of coil design would work best? Well my first decent driver coil was built for use as a 1/4 wave resonator, but it dropped into the role of a Magnifier driver without complaint; it had a nice low aspect ratio, and it was wound with heavy stranded wire... A good general purpose Magnifier secondary has a very low aspect ratio for good tight coupling over the entire winding length (say about 1.5:1). It is wound with heavy stranded insulated wire (say #18 or larger) to help carry heavy RF currents with lower losses. The frequency of the coil should not be too low, say in the area of 400 kHz for most medium systems. For the extra coil you want to pack a lot of inductance into a small unit volume, but not too much. You will end up with an amazingly short resonating coil if this is done properly. Use a 6" or 8" coil form with an aspect ratio a little over 2:1. For winding the coil use say #20 -#24 double Formvar magnet wire. The extra coil must be heavily top loaded with toroid discharger in order to produce really killer performance, as is the case when pumping a lot of energy through any magnet wire coil. The impedance in the bare extra coil must be higher than the driver coil by some margin, and the frequency of the extra coil should be brought down around 200 kHz by top loading the coil with discharger. The impedance of the driver must be low (heavy stranded wire spaced by insulation) while the impedance of the extra coil must be high (thin magnet wire, close wound turns) The tank circuit of the Magnifier must be tuned to the same frequency as the extra coil with discharger. Set the driver secondary inside the primary and run a transmission line some 6- 8' to the extra coil. The extra coil must be away from any field damping effects such as ground, large metal objects, other coils etc. It must be allowed to resonate as freely as possible. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 12-28-93 05:56 From: Patrick Kirol To: Richard Quick Subj: Re: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ -=> Quoting Richard Quick to Patrick Kirol <=- RQ> In case you missed my post yesterday that included RQ> information on the coiling software that you inquired about earlier here is a brief recap: RQ> Tesla Book Company, P.O. Box 121873, Chula Vista, CA. RQ> 91912. They have a 1-800-398-2056 information, catalog, and RQ> ordering service. Richard, I received your tape and disk today in the mail,... WOW that thing packs a wallop! Makes me want to go out and get to work on building a couple of your caps and getting things cracking! You could work out the rough edges and turn it into a "how to" film or maybe a "school demonstration" film for HS/College level physics classes. Have you received any requests for coils to power other devices, lasers etc.? I really think you should package the tape and some instructions into a how to thing for beginners. I was wondering about the shape/path that the sparks take esp the ground strikes. Are they in some way an expression of the way the charge is stacked up on the secondary? When you run the coil outside does wind have any effect on where the coil strikes? I realize from your discussion that my coil lacked so many things, notably a regulated power input, adequate tank circuit, grounding, dimensions I had about 70 ft #10 copper wire as a primary, 1500 feet of secondary on a 2.5 inch pipe (that stood too tall from the primary). I had no way to measure if I was getting anything off the secondary, the neon lights were a good idea. I will read through your disk files and try again. Thanks for your time. My dad would have loved your garage setup. Don't melt any nails! Pat Kirol (Patrick Kirol@lambada.oit.unc.edu) (1:3634/2) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 30 Dec 93 11:08:24 From: Richard Quick To: Patrick Kirol Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ PK> Richard, I received your tape and disk today in the mail,... PK> WOW that thing packs a wallop! Nobody who has seen the video will argue with you. Peak powers of 22 megawatts in a spark discharge look VERY impressive. Nobody who has sent for the tape has asked for their $10.00 back either. PK> Makes me want to go out and get to work on building a couple PK> of your caps and getting things cracking! Go for it! PK> Have you received any requests for coils to power other PK> devices, lasers etc.? Very few people out there believe it can be done, and even fewer are doing ANY research at all into these areas. One of the problems with the standard 1/4 wave systems featured on your copy of the video is that the impedance of the output is too high for powering lasers etc. directly. However the Tesla Magnifier circuit offers the means to increase the processing efficiency, decrease the impedance, and generate still greater peak powers. This is the direction the research must go. PK> I really think you should package the tape and some PK> instructions into a how to thing for beginners. I have thought about it, but as of yet have not done anything in this direction. The tape clearly shows it CAN be done, and I have been surprised with the number of respondents who built coils but could not get spark. With the information on the tape, the archives from this thread, and my availability here to answer questions, it should be possible to get a foot up into this very interesting (and neglected) area of RF power processing. PK> I was wondering about the shape/path that the sparks take PK> esp the ground strikes. Are they in some way an PK> expression of the way the charge is stacked up on the PK> secondary? I assume you are talking about strikes from the discharge terminal to the strike rail protecting the primary coil. The frequency of strikes to the grounded rail was partly my fault. The toroid discharge terminal needs to be lifted higher off the secondary as the diameter of the toroid grows. The last few runs show the coil operating with the toroid at less than optimum height. Had it been set higher the spark would tend to strike the ground rail less. The spark is caught up in the field flux interaction between primary and secondary and is following the lines of magnetic force in this field. Once they get away from the field however I assume they are pretty much random, hitting everything within striking distance, which is at least 11 feet in this instance. PK> When you run the coil outside does wind have any effect on PK> where the coil strikes? Most definitely. Weather conditions outside bear a lot on the coil performance. Wind will blow sparks all over, and will cause the system tune to vary. A corona cloud forms around the toroid as a result of the megavoltages present. With discharge present you cannot see this with the naked eye or on video, but time still photography will show the cloud clearly present. The effect is very pronounced when using small toriods at high power. This corona cloud affects the system by acting as a larger discharger, increasing the capacity of the toroid, and lowering the resonate frequency of the secondary. When wind blows it removes the ions, and the secondary tune seems to jump up and down with the gusts. I have had circuit failures that I believe were caused by this wild, wind induced, frequency changes, but my eyes never saw anything like the spark writhing around in the wind. PK> I realize from your discussion that my coil lacked so many PK> things, notably a regulated power input, adequate tank PK> circuit, grounding, dimensions I had about 70 ft #10 copper PK> wire as a primary, 1500 feet of secondary on a 2.5 inch pipe PK> (that stood too tall from the primary). I had no way to PK> measure if I was getting anything off the secondary, the PK> neon lights were a good idea. I will read through your disk PK> files and try again. Thanks for your time. My dad would PK> have loved your garage setup. Don't melt any nails! Well it should be pretty clear now, and you have the most up to date and comprehensive information on 1/4 wave Tesla coils available anywhere to the best of my knowledge. Take your time and look over all of the text files I sent, look at the spark gap schematics, look at the video. I have hidden nothing; it's all there. If you have any questions or comments just post me, I will be more than happy to answer. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 30 Dec 93 16:41:00 From: Richard Quick To: All Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ For the beginner: The best sized coil system for those of you who are interested in building your first really "hot" Tesla coil is based on a 6" diameter secondary coil. A coil this size runs very well at 1500 watts and can be driven to 2000 watts without much problem. Spark lengths of 55-60" can be easily obtained with such a coil. The parts for a unit like this can typically be accumulated for around $150.00 as I have posted before. Figure your designing and construction time will run from 40 to 80 hours depending on the shop facilities available. Most people who build a coil do not go on to design and build a second unit. The reason for this being that the first effort more often than not fails to work as the designer/builder had hoped, and the project gets relegated to a dusty corner somewhere. I lay blame for this on coil plans and designs advertised, published, or sold in the last 20 years that were based on plans and designs popularized in the 1920s and 30s. These plans made use of what I call "classic" coil components, which includes: long skinny secondary coils with space wound or insulated wire windings, plate glass capacitors, solid copper wire primaries, needle type spark gaps, and small sphere or knob type dis- chargers. "Classic" coils of this type are miserable performers frequently using unsafe tank circuits and grounding techniques. The prevalence of these coil designs persists to the present day and are responsible for many a budding coiler to quit in disgust after getting nothing but a nasty shock or two from what was advertised as a clean RF spark output from the secondary. That is if they got even that. My first coil was a huge effort to build while I was in high school. The plans for the coil came mail order from a company that advertised in the back of Popular Science some years back, and was plagued with every possible design fault I listed above. I never was able to get a single spark from the discharge terminal. I thought "performance" Tesla coils were nothing but a myth, and felt I had been taken in by a dream. Years later I bought another set of plans, and had similar results. But I associated myself with a group of people who were intent on bringing the 1/4 wave Tesla coil and the Tesla Magnifier out of the pages of history and into current practice. As a result of many many hours winding coils, building capacitors, and researching Tesla's original notes, I am happy to report success in bringing the Tesla coil into the 1990s. It is efficient, inexpensive, and capable of enormous peak powers off the discharge terminal. The modern design "reinvented" by trial and error is a very worthwhile project for anyone interested in high voltage or high energy RF. Since October I have been posting information and answering questions regarding coiling, and the modern designs that we have evolved from Tesla's original work. I have received many positive responses from regulars in this conference regarding my work, and have done my best to "set the record straight" regarding Nickola Tesla and his place in history. Much of the information regarding the coils themselves has appeared in print here for the first time, and my posts have added up to over 100 pages on this subject. So I guess what I am saying is: If you have built a coil, or you are thinking about building a coil, grab the archives from this thread. If you can't build a really hot coil system from the information that has been released here, you never will. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 03 Jan 94 13:31:24 From: Richard Quick To: Damian Wright Subj: Re: big magnetic pulse ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ JA> I'd like some ideas on generating a LARGE magnetic pulse or JA> field. DW> This'll create a magnetic pulse, don't know how big though, DW> it's a Tesla coil, (with lots of copper wire), it's not too DW> dangerous, it only kicks out about 40000Volts, but at a DW> pretty low A of course, if you're interested drop me a line DW> and I'll post the article I read on it up here on this net. I have been posting on high powered Tesla systems in this conference for some time. The Tesla Tank circuit is the pulse field generator. It uses a spark gap switch to pulse discharge a HV cap through a large coil. The EMFs produced are incredible as peak powers in this circuit can easily reach many megawatts. My largest Tesla system has peak powers of 22+ megawatts and will light florescent bulbs at 50-60' without any wire connections to the tube. It will erase bank and credit card magnetic strips at a few yards, and is lethal to digital circuits (watches, calculators, etc.) at a similar range. You do not need a secondary resonating coil (Tesla coil) inductively coupled to the tank circuit, the tank circuit is actually more effective alone than when coupled to the secondary resonator. I have a two hour video tape that shows the basic setup and operation of several of these systems. The video has shots showing gas discharge bulbs lighting at several feet away from systems that were tuned to produce sparks, not pulse fields. Modification to a system such as you desire would be very minimal. These systems BTW are designed and built for continuous duty operation. Even though the caps are pulse discharged, and the peak powers are very high, the system produces more or less a continuous field. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 03 Jan 94 13:49:37 From: Richard Quick To: Damian Wright Subj: Re: big magnetic pulse ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ JA> I'd like some ideas on generating a LARGE magnetic pulse or JA> field. DW> This'll create a magnetic pulse, don't know how big though, DW> it's a Tesla coil, (with lots of copper wire), it's not too DW> dangerous, it only kicks out about 40000Volts, but at a DW> pretty low A of course, if you're interested drop me a line DW> and I'll post the article I read on it up here on this net. I'd beg to differ on a point or two. First you are correct in pointing to Tesla systems as a potent source of EMFs. The primary coil/tank circuit produce the EM fields in question. But the HV producing secondary would not be required, or even desired, if maximum field strength are all that is wanted. In addition, the secondary coils are quite capable of producing voltages in the megavolt range even with coils as small as 6" diameter and 2' tall. My larger 10" diameter, 32" high secondary produces between 3-5 megavolts with ease and is capable of 11' discharges (common) with recorded discharges up to (and even exceeding) 15' in length. Low amps? NOT! These bolts come off as thick as the average mans leg. Running the large system with 10 kVA 60 cycle input I get peak powers of 22 megawatts average; with an output voltage of 5 megas this works out to over 4 amps current at the discharge terminal. While this may seem low, the system was designed to produce a null current 1/4 wave voltage peak on the discharger, and my figures are all conservative. Should I choose to alter the design parameters and shoot for a higher current output I see no reason why lower voltages at currents in excess of 1000 amps could not be produced. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-03-94 17:07 From: Richard Quick To: Dave Halliday Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Dave, I saw a post of yours up on the net today and thought I would drop you a line. How was your vacation? I am interested is following up on your coiling activities, and wanted to tell you that another conference regular has received a copy of my tape and is going to be jumping back into coils after problems with his first unit (failed to produce the promised results). I sent him all of my notes, the plans for the spark gaps and the thread archives. I know with this information he will get the results he is looking for, but it will probably take a week for him to read through all of the material I have sent. On another note I have seen a post from Jim Arconati wanting information on strong EM field generators. I tried to drop the hint that the Tesla Tank circuit is the only way to go if you want maximum peak powers. No other circuit I have seen or worked with can produce rapid, megawatt range, pulses. I hope you can find the time to get your cap, coil, and tank circuit together in the next couple of months. I really am looking forward to getting some video and/or photos of your work in the near future. Good luck, and remember to "Tune for Maximum Smoke!" ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-03-94 13:53 From: Dave Halliday To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Hi Richard - just got back a couple days ago. Great trip! Anyway, I'll be starting the actual construction of the capacitors and the coil in the next week and will keep you posted! I am going to be near Boeing Surplus tomorrow and if the high-voltage DC supply with the nice 39 Amp Powerstats is still there I'll offer 'em a hundred bucks for it and see what happens! ANyway, I will keep you posted as to what is happening and will be keeping the tape rolling all throughout the testing process. TTYL - Dave ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-03-94 17:31 From: Dave Halliday To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ>Dave, RQ>I saw a post of yours up on the net today and thought I would >drop you a line. How was your vacation? Hi Richard - just got back a few days ago. Vacation was fantastic! I was on a small ( 150 foot ) cruise ship with 50 passengers, 30 crew and 8 scientists nosing around the islands in the Sea of Cortez (between Baha and Mexico ) for 12 days. Seattle's cold and rainy and I wanna go back!!!!! RQ>I am interested is following up on your coiling activities, >and wanted to tell you that another conference regular has >received a copy of my tape and is going to be jumping back >into coils after problems with his first unit (failed to >produce the promised results). I sent him all of my notes, >the plans for the spark Great! It is really reassuring to know that it *can* be done. Especially since the time I tried in high school, I built the basic "classic" coil and was not concerned with ground or any- thing like that. Got a few inches of wispy discharge that was barely visible in daylight and the coil got promptly broken down and the 15KV neon sign xformer got turned into a Jacob's ladder for a local coffee house I was working in at the time. I left you another note mentioning that I will be starting up some serious coil building in the next couple weeks. I still need to make the capacitors and to wind the secondary and build the support for the primary. I will be calling local plastics places to find the best price on the polyethylene and some plexi scraps. I have some 3/4" bronze rod in my boat junk drawer and I'll turn the transformer protection gap out of that. I was wondering about some of the magnetically quenched gaps and was thinking of experimenting with embedding some cobalt-samarium magnets just under the gap faces. Maybe later... Anyway, needless to say, I will be keeping the tape rolling during the smoke test. My neighbors already think I am weird, this will cinch it. RQ>On another note I have seen a post from Jim Arconati wanting >information on strong EM field generators. I tried to drop the >hint that the Tesla Tank circuit is the only way to go if you >want maximum peak powers. No other circuit I have seen or >worked with can produce rapid, megawatt range, pulses. I did see someone asking about creating EMP, forgot the name but I replied mentioning using a capacitor and inductor triggered by a spark gap. I didn't know if they were just into individual pulses or a continuous oscillation. I'll keep an eye out. RQ>I hope you can find the time to get your cap, coil, and tank >circuit together in the next couple of months. I really am >looking forward to getting some video and/or photos of your >work in the near future. I am looking at about two months max to have everything working. My garage ( shop area ) is at the bottom of a driveway and I was thinking of just sinking a couple 10' sections of copper water pipe for the ground. I have a rotohammer and can punch through the cement drive. I was thinking of putting a valve on one end and running water through it while I was driving it into the ground. Should make it a bit easier. Also, I forgot if I had mentioned it but I picked up about 40' of really heavy 1" copper braid at Boeing Surplus as well as a big spool of #22 stranded Teflon insulated wire. The wire is kind of fat - 25 turns / inch but it should be wonderful for a larger coil and also a magnifier. The total cost for both plus some office litter was under $60 - definitely a good deal! RQ>Good luck, and remember to "Tune for Maximum Smoke!" Thanks! and I will keep you posted! TTYL - Dave ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-03-94 13:49 From: Richard Quick To: Damian Wright Subj: Re: big magnetic pulse ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ JA> I'd like some ideas on generating a LARGE magnetic pulse or JA> field. DW> This'll create a magnetic pulse, don't know how big though, DW> it's a Tesla coil, (with lots of copper wire), it's not too DW> dangerous, it only kicks out about 40000Volts, but at a DW> pretty low A of course, if you're interested drop me a line DW> and I'll post the article I read on it up here on this net. I'd beg to differ on a point or two. First you are correct in pointing to Tesla systems as a potent source of EMFs. The primary coil/tank circuit produce the EM fields in question. But the HV producing secondary would not be required, or even desired, if maximum field strength are all that is wanted. In addition, the secondary coils are quite capable of producing voltages in the megavolt range even with coils as small as 6" diameter and 2' tall. My larger 10" diameter, 32" high secondary produces between 3-5 megavolts with ease and is capable of 11' discharges (common) with recorded discharges up to (and even exceeding) 15' in length. Low amps? NOT! These bolts come off as thick as the average mans leg. Running the large system with 10 kVA 60 cycle input I get peak powers of 22 megawatts average; with an output voltage of 5 megas this works out to over 4 amps current at the discharge terminal. While this may seem low, the system was designed to produce a null current 1/4 wave voltage peak on the discharger, and my figures are all conservative. Should I choose to alter the design parameters and shoot for a higher current output I see no reason why lower voltages at currents in excess of 1000 amps could not be produced. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-03-94 15:39 From: Dave Halliday To: Jim Arconati Subj: Big Magnetic Pulse ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ JA>I'd like some ideas on generating a LARGE magnetic pulse or >field. Yeah, I know... "just set off a low-yield nuclear >weapon," etc, etc... JA>Save the bandwidth -- I want practical ideas (or non-nutcase >theory) on generating strong magnetic fields. How Big? >Well how big can I make one (without the nuclear device)? >What's the strongest magnetic field, and/or biggest magnetic >pulse I could make without esoteric devices (super-cooled >superconductors are included in my definition of esoteric.) You can make a really large magnetic field but how large of an area do you want this field to be in... That is where you get into hideous amounts of input power. Your best bet would be to have a large capacitor bank, charge it up to a couple tens of KV and then use some kind of flash discharge to connect it to your magnetic coil. Only problem would be the highly lethal voltage and current - not something to get into casually. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-03-94 17:37 From: Dave Halliday To: Jim Arconati Subj: big magnetic pulse ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ JA> I'd like some ideas on generating a LARGE magnetic pulse > or field. RQ>The Tesla Tank circuit is the pulse field generator. It uses a >spark gap switch to pulse discharge a HV cap through a large >coil. The EMFs produced are incredible as peak powers in this >circuit can easily reach many megawatts. RQ>I have a two hour video tape that shows the basic setup and >operation of several of these systems. The video has shots >showing gas discharge bulbs lighting at several feet away from >systems that were tuned to produce sparks, not pulse fields. >Modification to a system such as you desire would be very >minimal. Hi Jim - butting in here. I have been in correspondence with Richard for some time and I sent away for his tape. It is fantastic! Also, from your initial post, I thought that you wanted just a single pulse and not a continuous field. That is why I suggested what is essentially just a single shot tesla primary. If you can use a continuous field, then a straight Tesla Coil setup is definitely the way to go! Check with your local BBS to see back postings of the Tesla thread. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-03-94 13:59 From: Richard Quick To: Jim Arconati Subj: big magnetic pulse ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ JA> I'd like some ideas on generating a LARGE magnetic pulse or JA> field. DW> This'll create a magnetic pulse, don't know how big though, DW> it's a Tesla coil, (with lots of copper wire), it's not too DW> dangerous, it only kicks out about 40000Volts, but at a DW> pretty low A of course, if you're interested drop me a line DW> and I'll post the article I read on it up here on this net. I have been posting on high powered Tesla systems in this conference for some time. See the thread: 10KVA Tesla Coil The Tesla Tank circuit is the pulse field generator. It uses a spark gap switch to pulse discharge a HV cap through a large coil. The EMFs produced are incredible as peak powers in this circuit can easily reach many megawatts. My largest Tesla system has peak powers of 22+ megawatts and will light florescent bulbs at 50-60' without any wire connections to the tube. It will erase bank and credit card magnetic strips at a few yards, and is lethal to digital circuits (watches, calculators, etc.) at a similar range. You do not need a secondary resonating coil (Tesla coil) inductively coupled to the tank circuit, the tank circuit is actually more effective alone than when coupled to the secondary resonator. I have a two hour video tape that shows the basic setup and operation of several of these systems. The video has shots showing gas discharge bulbs lighting at several feet away from systems that were tuned to produce sparks, not pulse fields. Modification to a system such as you desire would be very minimal. These systems BTW are designed and built for continuous duty operation. Even though the caps are pulse discharged, and the peak powers are very high, the system produces more or less a continuous field. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-03-94 17:21 From: Richard Quick To: Damian Wright Subj: Re: big magnetic pulse ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DW> This'll create a magnetic pulse, don't know how big though, DW> it's a Tesla coil, (with lots of copper wire), it's not too DW> dangerous, it only kicks out about 40000Volts, but at a DW> pretty low A of course, if you're interested drop me a line DW> and I'll post the article I read on it up here on this net. P.S. I am interested in seeing the article if it would not be too much trouble to peck it out. The 10KVA Tesla Coil thread has more than a few followers who would also appreciate seeing the material. I will apologize in advance for critiquing the material (and your reply earlier) but I have seen too much misinformation published and repeated on this subject. I have built more than a few high power Tesla systems, and have many many hours of hands on experience with coils, HV pulse caps, spark excited tank circuits etc. to let misunderstandings go unchallenged. If I come on a little strong it is only because I run very high power equipment and designed and hand built nearly all of it. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 04 Jan 94 16:55:00 From: Richard Quick To: Jim Arconati Subj: BIG magnetic pulse ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Okay Jim, here we go: You set up your huge bank of HV pulse discharging capacitors and charge them from a heavily protected HVDC power supply. The caps are discharged through a coil of any desired dimension. The pulse is switched and controlled by placing two quenched spark gaps in series with the inductance. By adjusting the gaps you will be able to achieve a non-oscillating pulse through the coil. Since the pulse is not oscillatory, your capacitance may be as large as you desire without having to worry about frequency changes (or power limits) as the circuit is scaled up or down according to needs. This means that the pulse can become extremely powerful as the capacitor bank value can be increased virtually without limit. The key to successful operation of this circuit are the quenched spark gaps used in series with the inductance. They must quench extremely fast at very high power and they must be very high Q to produce a nice sharp pulse. This type experiment is something I have never exactly performed intentionally, but my Tesla work parallels these circuit designs very very closely. As I have mentioned, a slight modification to any of my present tank circuits would result with a spark excited EMP generator of exceptional power. If you are really serious in exploring this further I can offer specific help. I have designs on file (GIF) for a very high Q, air blast (quenching) spark gap designed for these high powers. I also have several files concerning the HV pulse discharging capacitors. I have archived the 10KVA Tesla Coil thread since 10/5/93 and the file contains over 100 pages of posts with specific and related information on these type systems and sub- systems. If you are interested in obtaining these text and GIF files send me a 3.5, 1.44 blank formatted disk and a SASE and I will send those to you post haste; there is no charge for the information. The video tape is also recommended for those interested in very high power spark gap oscillators, it details things like: HV power supplies, control circuitry, HV RF choking and 60 cycle filters for the power supply and control circuits, spark gaps, coils, Jacob's Ladder (20 kv @ 8 kVA), etc.. The tape shows everything in operation, complete with the monster discharges from my big coil. I charge $10.00 for a 2 hr SP recorded one-off master. You must send me a blank (high quality) VHS tape, and a self addressed first class postage pre-paid mailer. I mail the tapes out within 48 hours from receipt of your package and I will guarantee you will be glued to the TV for the entire tape. Every time I offer this tape I must make the following disclaimer: I cannot be responsible for the safety of anyone who replicates or attempts to replicate any of the systems or experiments featured on my video. The tape features nothing but high voltage, high energy systems any of which are quite capable of killing a person instantly or damaging valuable equipment. My address is: Richard T. Quick II 10028 Manchester Rd. Suite 253 Glendale, MO 63122 USA I am available in this conference to answer any questions or comments you may have regarding the contents of the video should you choose to pop for a copy but the thread archives offer detailed text explanations for much of the contents of the video as I have already sent out several tapes to some of the regulars here. I have had no complaints regarding the quality of the presentation. Good luck, and as always... ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-05-94 10:57 From: Dave Halliday To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil 1/2 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ>Hey Dave! RQ>Glad to have you back, and glad you had a good vacation. >I wonder how you fanangled such a trip??? I finagled it the old fashioned way, called up the tour agent and charged it. I like to get as far away from the telephone at least once a year whether I need it or not. Keeps me sane ( relatively ) RQ>Good Luck at Boeing with getting the heavy variacs, sounds >like you made some good choices on picking up the heavy 1" >strap and Teflon wire. Building up supplies took me months >before I got to the point that I did not have to run out every >15 min. looking for such and such as I expanded my coiling. I will be going to Boeing today ( office person was also out of town and her plane did not get in on time yesterday ) They have a really funny pricing on stuff, some things are absurdly low, other things are way over what they should be. The good thing is that if you catch someone in a good mood, they will be open to any offer just to move the item. I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one! Also, re: running out every 15 minutes... I know that feeling. I get to the point where I think that I have a good parts coll- ection and then my next project needs something that I never even heard of... My basement is getting to the point where space *is* the final frontier... RQ>Your ground idea sounds great. Space the pipes about 5' min >distance apart and wire them together with the 1" strap using >soldered connections. Water pumped into the pipes is an >excellent idea. OK - the garage is in the basement and the driveway slopes down to it. It is only 12 feet wide, I was thinking of spacing them closer than that. Another idea is that since the garage is on one edge of the house, I could just run pipes along that edge and bring the strap in through a window. My power panel is also in the garage so I could use it for the house ground as well... >idea. If you are going through the effort of pressure water >injection into the ground site go a step further and drill a few >small holes into the pipe sidewalls and get as much surface area >wet as possible. Salt added to the water (or poured into the >pipe Very good idea! Seattle is kinda wet most of the time but we do have a couple weeks in the summer when it gets dry. You can see the locals running around with spray bottles misting down the mildew and moss on the houses... >before it is pressurized) will increase the local conductivity The salt is also a really good idea! I could pack the pipes with sea salt or make an "injector" out of some large diameter PVC with a hose fitting on each end. I have a nice garden ( yet another #$%^&* hobby ) but that edge of the house is no- where near it so there would not be any damage to plants. >and improve your ground. A larger pipe or tin can may be set >around the grounding pipe where it enters the earth and may be >filled with water to trickle down around the ground. Use your >imagination. Just thinking that there is a gutter runoff is on that side too - divert the water from that... RQ>Constructing a good ground is very hard work, but essential to >performance coiling. You are wise to choose this often >neglected It does make sense - I was into ham radio a while ago and know a little bit about antennas and can appreciate what a good ground plane can do. I shudder to see some boats with fiberglass superstructures and see that people have mounted ground-plane whip antennas on them and they then gripe about how poor their radio is, can't get a good signal out of it... Also cars where the antenna is mounted on one corner of the roof - nice omnidirectional radiation pattern there... >area as your starting point, and your neighbors will be >thankful (it really does limit the RFI). Nothing ruins a guys >day like the neighbors showing up at the door with torches in >their hands > a la Frankenstein... Actually, considering the neighborhood, that's a fun image! The area I am in was built in the 50's and has a lot of the original owners in there. I can see my next door neighbors in particular. They are really good people but the guy retired about 20 years ago ( Boeing engineer ) and does not have any real hobbies except snooping into what I am doing. I'll have the garage door open and be working on something and he will totter over and talk for a long time, grousing about the state of the world in general. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 05 Jan 94 17:29:00 From: Richard Quick To: Dave Halliday Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ We are talking about placement and construction of a heavy RF ground using two 10' lengths of copper water pipe... DH> OK - the garage is in the basement and the driveway slopes DH> down to it. It is only 12 feet wide, I was thinking of DH> spacing them closer than that <5' apart>. Your ground will have lower resistance to heavy RF current (higher Q) if you space the pipes out about half of their length. If the placement does not allow separation you are better off just using one pipe. The reason for this is closely placed grounding points will effectively act as a single point. The more you space, the bigger the electrical ground produced. DH> My power panel is also in the garage so I could use DH> it for the house ground as well... Don't make permanent connections from the coil (RF) ground to the house ground. This will allow RF bleed-over and RFI problems. You may make connections here when coils are not being fired, but keep the control cabinet and the house ground at lower potential than the RF ground. In other words when the RF ground is in use grounding a coil it is "powered up" and full of RF current and hash (RFI). If you connect your power cabinet to it then RF will bleed into the house through the power cabinet 60 cycle ground connection. Isolate the RF ground from other equipment. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-05-94 17:25 From: Dave Halliday To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ>We are talking about placement and construction of a heavy RF >ground using two 10' lengths of copper water pipe... DH> OK - the garage is in the basement and the driveway slopes DH> down to it. It is only 12 feet wide, I was thinking of DH> spacing them closer than that <5' apart>. RQ>Your ground will have lower resistance to heavy RF current >(higher Q) if you space the pipes out about half of their >length. If the placement does not allow separation you are >better off just using one pipe. The reason for this is closely >placed grounding points will effectively act as a single >point. The more you space, the bigger the electrical ground >produced. OK - got that. Thanks for the info. I will probably put the ground on the outside wall of the house alongside where the garage is. There is a property line there so I have a good long run to play with. I will need to get some more of that braiding but Boeing seems to always have a lot of it on hand. They charge $1.50 / pound. RQ> DH> My power panel is also in the garage so I could use > DH> it for the house ground as well... RQ>Don't make permanent connections from the coil (RF) ground to >the house ground. This will allow RF bleed-over and RFI >problems. You may make connections here when coils are not >being fired, but keep the control cabinet and the house ground >at lower potential than the RF ground. In other words when the >RF ground is in use grounding a coil it is "powered up" and >full of RF current and hash (RFI). If you connect your power >cabinet to it then RF will bleed into the house through the >power cabinet 60 cycle ground connection. Isolate the RF >ground from other equipment. Got it! That makes a lot of sense - even though there is a good ground, there is still a *lot* of current flowing into it and there could be some problems with bleed-over. Nothing like being able to draw a three foot long arc from my refrigerator. It would be a great hit at parties... I will just keep the electrical panel just as it is and make the Tesla ground completely separate. I am also thinking of this summer renting a generator and setting up a coil at the pier near Lake Washington and using a couple foot square aluminum sheet in the lake for the ground. The park I live by is used a lot for picnickers and such so it might get a bit of attention... A Seattle man was arrested today for... ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-05-94 16:40 From: Dave Halliday To: Richard Quick Subj: Tesla goodies ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Hi Richard - just got back from Boeing Surplus. I took a good look at the high voltage supply. Made by HiPot, rated for 60KV at about 100-200 milliamps. It would have been really nice to get but it was *huge*. The main transformer tank stands about four feet tall and then there is the control unit, an eight foot tall enclosed rack. But the good news is that I also saw a triple-gang, motorized 50 Amp Powerstat unit there, priced at $300. I offered $100 and we settled on $150. Since it is motor controlled, I will just put it right near my main breaker panel and then run a conduit out to where I will be running the coil. This will be really nice too in that my control box can be smaller. For safeties sake, I will probably have a relay to disconnect the Powerstat and have a pushbutton switch on it that needs to be pushed every time I want to fire the coil. That way, if I have a small hand-held control box, I will not have the chance of it firing up accidentally. Also, going through the back mail from when I was away, I got the January issue of the TCBA News and my membership certificate. Looks really well written, I will send away for some back issues. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 06 Jan 94 12:34:30 From: Richard Quick To: Dave Halliday Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ DH> But the good news is that I also saw a triple-gang, DH> motorized 50 Amp Powerstat unit there, priced at $300. I DH> offered $100 and we settled on $150. Since it is motor DH> controlled, I will just put it right near my main breaker DH> panel and then run a conduit out to where I will be DH> running the coil. This will be really nice too in that my DH> control box can be smaller. For safeties sake, I will DH> probably have a relay to disconnect the Powerstat and have a DH> pushbutton switch on it that needs to be pushed every time I DH> want to fire the coil. That way, if I have a small hand- DH> held control box, I will not have the chance of it firing up DH> accidentally. Your looking good. You should have no problems with current overload with these units even running a pole pig. Powerstats are commercial cont. duty rated and will handle a run at twice the plate rating for 5 min. or more before they warm up. If required you can use a cooling fan for real high current experiments. Good job on hunting down the right component for the job. Power relay safety interlocks are a very very good idea. I run two in my power cabinet, one before the variac and one after the variac. The first power relay interlock is tripped by key switch to prevent unauthorized power up of the cabinet, the second interlock is switched with a toggle (cont. operation) and push button (manual pulse operation). Be sure to ground the variacs to the breaker box with #6 copper min. and to the water pipe with some more of that 1" strap. I use a separate 240 v breaker box with plug-in replaceable breakers (60 amps currently) on the feed to my cabinet/variacs. DH> Also, going through the back mail from when I was away, I DH> got the January issue of the TCBA News and my membership DH> certificate. Looks really well written, I will send away DH> for some back issues. Collecting back issues of the news is a good idea. I have issues dating back to 1988 and pop for another years worth of back issues every time I renew. I have seen some dynamite articles (I have been published here as well) and some really excellent coil projects... One issue had a guy's coil powered by a 455 Olds engine running a three phase 480 volt generator. The coil design was unfortunately "classic" in origin though modern construction and materials were used, but the article published the complete schematic for the generator/control circuits. You will find some really interesting stuff here. Back on that ground for just a second. Make sure the pipes are driven in away from basement foundation walls by at least 5'. If you are putting the pipe in near a garage (built on a slab with no basement foundation) it will be no problem to place ground pipe right near the structure. The reason for this of course is that a basement foundation wall only contacts earth on one side, and grounding rod or pipe driven here will only conduct 180 degrees of a circle instead of all 360. Keep up the good work! ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-07-94 11:05 From: Dave Halliday To: Richard Quick Subj: tesla stuff... ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ> DH> Hi Richard - I was wondering if you had Walt Noon's RQ> DH> address. RQ>Walt and I are good friends. RQ>Please do write to him and let him know I am recommending his >software in the conference. I owe him a letter still, so send >my regards and tell him the Halloween photos were appreciated. Will do! RQ> Walt Noon III > 3283 Belvedere > Riverside, CA. 92507 Thanks! RQ> DH> I got the PowerStat temporarily hooked up and it runs RQ> DH> fine! It seems to be in like-new condition. RQ>Cool dude, you be entering the world of high voltage soon. My hair is already standing on end... ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-07-94 11:18 From: Dave Halliday To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ>Just read your other posts. The ground seems to be well >planned and thought out. Go with it, it will work great and >will be expandable when you go to put a bigger coil on it. I was a ham for a while and also worked on some FM stations when I was in college and I can appreciate the value of a good ground. I am also into over building anything that I can get my hands on. Takes more time at the beginning but it never breaks later... RQ>Your safety and protection system ideas sound level headed, >and should work fine. Just don't forget to wire them in for >those first few test runs. This is a very astute comment. Patience has never been one of my virtues and I have to force myself to complete some of the things I work on instead of just running with them when they get to a certain level... Rest assured though that I fully appreciate the dangers of the high voltages involved here... I have been "bit" a few times with tube equipment and have no desire for that to happen again! RQ>The anniversary of Tesla's death should be celebrated with >everyone switching off the electrical mains into their houses, >then maybe people would begin to appreciate what he gave to >mankind.... RQ> That HE was the one that brought power to the world!!! This is so true! That would be something to do - turn off the main breaker for ten minutes. The more and more I read about his work, the more I realize just how much everyone *else* derived from his ideas! ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-04-94 21:00 From: David Tiefenbrunn To: Richard Quick Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ On 12-27-93 Richard Quick wrote to David Tiefenbrunn... RQ> DT> You might also try to find an old "dimmer" from a RQ> DT> theatrical setup. ... RQ> These are good. Most of the theatrical units are 120 volt RQ> rated, but again some units from the same manufacturer may be RQ> ganged for high current. Or, I suppose they could be ganged and each one could handle 1 side of the 120 / 240 V, making a 240 V assembly. Same power, either way. Next time I'm at my dad's, I'll have to get the ratings. They are physically bigger than my 15A 120V variac. RQ> As long as your neons are power factor corrected these 120 RQ> volt variacs are excellent for small (read about 6" diam. RQ> secondaries) coil systems. A good coil can eek out 4.5' of RQ> spark with one of these. Remember too that commercial RQ> variacs are rated for cont. duty and may be run with a RQ> cooling fan at twice the plate rating for 5 min or so RQ> without harm. RQ> RQ> The smaller variacs (like the 5 amp unit mentioned in the RQ> original post) will not withstand too much abuse. I do not RQ> consider these little variacs as "industrial/commercial" RQ> type. I have an assortment of smaller ones, too. It is amazing what you can pick up at a scrap yard. :) Dave ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 10 Jan 94 16:33:00 From: Richard Quick To: David Tiefenbrunn Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ RQ> Yes, I want the video of the generator. Let's work something RQ> out. DT> Sounds good to me. How about slipping a copy DT> of the Tesla disk into the box? If you want, DT> I can send a blank one or copy it & return it DT> with the tape. No problem sending the disk with the tape. No need to split hairs. I have been extraordinarily busy the last week and my schedule is looking crazier than I have ever seen it for the next few. It will be a couple of weeks before I can get to this. 1) Promotion, raise, and new schedule at work, plus responsibilities in a whole new department. 2) I am moving this coming weekend. 3) New girlfriend. I have to juggle just to get on here for 5 minutes to post replies (I have to catch a bus in 7 min and need to hit the rest room) Give me a couple of weeks to get things together here, then I will get that out. I need to get packed and unpacked into the new place before I can think about this. DT> My microwave oven died the other day, and while I DT> was tracing the problem, (shorted HV rectifier, new DT> one on the way) I noticed the 2.5KV 600W current DT> limited transformer. Kinda low for a Tesla coil, DT> but maybe close for a 3mW argon laser? :) DT> Or something else, perhaps. Run a few in series with the primaries in parallel. You can collect these from junk microwaves. DO NOT use the caps in a Tesla tank circuit. They will explode. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-10-94 08:45 From: Jim Arconati To: Richard Quick Subj: BIG magnetic pulse ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Richard, W O W !!! Thanks for the response. I had considered a bank of HV pulse discharging capacitors, but assumed the inductance/ capacitance equations would stop me -- that is, the inductance of anything but a very small coil would prevent me from getting enough through the coil fast enough to do what I want to do. Anyway, thanks a BUNCH for the info. I have seen (and used) much of the Tesla info you (and others) have posted. My tape -- and $ -- are on the way! Cindex BBS (314) 837-5422 (1:100/395) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 11 Jan 94 15:31:00 From: Richard Quick To: Jim Arconati Subj: BIG magnetic pulse ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ -=> SEZ Jim Arconati to Richard Quick <=- JA> Richard, JA> W O W !!! Thanks for the response. No problem, glad I could be of assistance. JA> I had considered a bank of HV pulse discharging capacitors, JA> but assumed the inductance/capacitance equations would stop JA> me -- that is, the inductance of anything but a very small JA> coil would prevent me from getting enough through the coil JA> fast enough to do what I want to do. Nope, should not be a problem. This specific circuit with two quench gaps in series was used by Tesla and others to develop very large EMPs without having to worry about the reduced frequency of the circuit as the capacitance of the circuit increased. This is called an "Impact" type circuit. I have seen a diagram of this circuit with two additional coils (secondary and extra coil/antenna) used in high power spark radio. Since there is no oscillation, and no frequency, there was no limit to the size pulse that could be used to excite an antenna circuit. Just run the tank circuit alone, with a little fiddling you can develop gigawatt range pulses. JA> Anyway, thanks a BUNCH for the info. I have seen (and used) JA> much of the Tesla info you (and others) have posted. My JA> tape -- and $ -- are on the way! -!- Allow some extra time for me to get this out. My usual turn around time is 24, no more than 48 hours. But I am moving this weekend, and all of my AV equipment will have to be broken down and re-set up. Give me a few extra days to get this together, but I will get it out ASAP. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 01-13-94 20:18 From: James Meyer To: Richard Quick Subj: Big Magnetic Pulse ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ On 01-11-94, RICHARD QUICK wrote to JIM ARCONATI and said: RQ> extra coil/antenna) used in high power spark radio. Since RQ> there is no oscillation, and no frequency, there was no limit RQ> to the size pulse that could be used to excite an antenna RQ> circuit. Just run the tank circuit alone, with a little RQ> fiddling you can develop gigawatt range pulses. I've been lurking in the background and following the discussion. So far I've been able to agree with most of your conclusions and statements. The stuff I quoted above however, is quite a bit far fetched. I work with multi-kiloamp and multi-megavolt pulses every day. When you talk about pulses, you must also talk about frequencies. There is no way to separate the two. The "speed" or rate-of-rise of a pulse is linked to its frequency. There is no way to configure any spark gaps that will give you the ability to ignore the inductance of the primary coil. When you speak from experience and tell us what you have done with your own two hands, I sit back and marvel. When you tell us about what you have read and then draw conclusions like those quoted above, I feel that I have to point out when you have gone overboard. 919-286-4542 - (1:3641/1) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Date: 18 Jan 94 17:21:00 From: Richard Quick To: James Meyer Subj: Big Magnetic Pulse ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ JM> On 01-11-94, RICHARD QUICK wrote to JIM ARCONATI and said: RQ> extra coil/antenna) used in high power spark radio. Since RQ> there is no oscillation, and no frequency, there was no RQ> limit to the size pulse that could be used to excite an RQ> antenna circuit. Just run the tank circuit alone, with a RQ> little fiddling you can develop gigawatt range pulses. JM> I've been lurking in the background and following the JM> discussion. So far I've been able to agree with most of JM> your conclusions and statements. Thank You! JM> The stuff I quoted above however, is quite a bit far JM> fetched. You think it is "quite a bit far fetched", I disagree. JM> I work with multi-kiloamp and multi-megavolt pulses every JM> day. When you talk about pulses, you must also talk about JM> frequencies. There is no way to separate the two. The JM> "speed" or rate-of-rise of a pulse is linked to its JM> frequency. There is no way to configure any spark gaps that JM> will give you the ability to ignore the inductance of the JM> primary coil. OK... According to my dictionary "frequency" is defined thusly: 1: the fact or condition of occurring frequently. 2: rate of occurrence 3: the number of cycles per second of an alternating current 4: the number of sound waves per second produced by a sounding body. 5: the number of complete oscillations per second of an electro- magnetic wave I find fault with your use of the term "frequency" in your reply. You state that the speed or rate of rise in a pulse is "linked" to its frequency. The rate of rise or speed of a pulse MAY be RELATED to frequency (but not closely enough to be included into any of the above definitions), but I maintain that if there is no cycling or oscillation, there is no frequency. The circuit in question will produce pulses that are not complete wave forms. The pulse will vary in speed or rate of rise depending on the capacitor and size of the coil; but if the pulse does not return (oscillate) through the coil or reverse polarity it has no true frequency. The pulse lacks key characteristics required to conform to any of the definitions taken from my Webster's. JM> When you speak from experience and tell us what you have JM> done with your own two hands, I sit back and marvel. So do I, and thank you for the complement. JM> When you tell us about what you have read and then draw JM> conclusions like those quoted above, I feel that I have to JM> point out when you have gone overboard. You perhaps give the mind less credit than may be possibly due. I don't think I have gone "overboard", but perhaps simply stepped just a bit into a "gray area" here, as did you. I take (and understand) your point about the relationship between rate of rise, pulse speed, to a given frequency. You are correct in that given the pulse speed or rate of rise in the pulse, you could calculate what the frequency WOULD be; IF the pulse were allowed to cycle, oscillate, or "occur frequently". But clearly if the pulse were to travel the coil once, with no reversal of direction or polarity, is has no "frequency". It would most definitely have a given speed, and the peak would vary in shape, depending on the circuit. You are not correct in your statement that spark gaps cannot be set up to allow a single pulse of this type in such a circuit. Two quenched gaps placed in series with the inductor can be adjusted so as to allow the cap to unload without a complete waveform being created. The gaps must be set with some care, and they must be actively quenched (airblast, magnetic, etc.) but this is not "overboard". I am curious about your experiences and the equipment you are familiar with. I would appreciate (as would many others I am sure) hearing more about this from you. How are you generating and controlling your pulses, and what are the specs for the pulses you create? Please take a few minutes and let us have some more details on this very interesting subject. ... If all else fails... Put another megavolt through it.