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RE: TESLA-COILS ETC.



 > I can also recommend additional sources of high quality, high-
 > powered Tesla video if you wish.

 Ku> Yes, that would be useful.

You will need to write to:
                           
                          Richard L. Hull
                        7103 Hermitage Road
                        Richmond  VA  23228  USA

Richard Hull refuses to use an E-Mail address so you will have to 
send him a letter air mail. He has an extensive Tesla video library 
that is nothing short of superb.

 > Please make use of the images in whatever manner you see fit as
 > long as my name is associated with them. I would appreciate it 
 > if you would see to it that I received copies of the converted
 > images. I do not have the ability to economically convert the 
 > video to digital. I would trade permission to convert and
 > duplicate any images in exchange for all the converted mpegs. 

 Ku> That is fine - can I mail you the converted images as mime-packages
 Ku> or can you get them from the ftp-site? (ftp.funet.fi) ?

I would prefer if they were mailed to me. I am new at this, and do not 
have on-line real-time access to the internet.
 
 > I just sent Jim Oliver my latest archive. If you don't have a
 > copy please let one of us know so that a copy may be transmitted

 Ku> I don't have a copy - but Chip A. mentioned that there is an archive
 Ku> of old messages.. Is this archive ftp:able? if not, can I put the
 Ku> files to the ftp site to be available for the rest of the world?

Well I am not sure what ftp is, so I can't say if the data is 
"ftp:able". But the files are in the public domain and I have 
placed no restrictions on them other than the content not be altered.

 Ku> My current plan is as follows:

 Ku> Secondary: 
 Ku> 16cm diameter, 38cm long, wound using .3 mm wire, about 1000 turns,
 Ku> insulated with acrylic spray and epoxy resin on the upper half of
 Ku> the coil.
 Ku> (I did this before reading you postings about secondaries)

OK, you are building what I call a "six inch" (or 6" coil). Your 
dimensions need some adjustments:

16cm diameter secondary coil is fine. The coil should be lengthened
to around 75cm or so, giving an aspect ratio (height to diameter) of
around 4.5 : 1 for this diameter. You planned wire diameter is way
too small. Please check my figures but: I would never wind any coil
with a wire diameter less than .025 inches which I convert to .635mm.
I would not use .3mm wire for any coil unless it was for some very
specific experiment, and the experiment required a tiny coil. Use
from 900 - 1000 turns (approximate) and a wire diameter closer to
.635mm or a little larger.

 Ku> Primary:
 Ku> flat spiral coil wound of 8 mm dia copper pipe, inner diameter
 Ku> 20cm outer 47cm, 11 turns

8 mm hollow copper tubing is OK, but I would go with 9 - 10 mm 
outside diameter copper tubing for the primary conductor. I figured 
a little closer to 24 cm for the inner diameter. I never wind a 
primary any longer that has less the 15 turns. I would expand the 
outer diameter accordingly.

 Ku> Transformer
 Ku> One or more 4kV 45mA neon-sign transformers

You can try. I have had very poor luck with voltages this low in
spark excited Tesla tank circuits unless I was using special gaps.
Figure the bottom end practical voltage is around 7 kV. Remember
the peak power produced in the tank circuit by capacitive discharge
depends greatly on the input voltage. 

 Ku> Capasitor
 Ku> 8nF, made from pvc-plates 1mm thick and copper plates between
 Ku> them, the pvc has a voltage rating of 50kV/mm (dc). This will
 Ku> be immersed into oil.

DO NOT USE PVC (Poly-Vinyl-Chloride) for capacitor dielectrics!
The capacitor dielectric must be a low loss material (we are talking 
RF losses) such as: Teflon, polyethylene, polystyrene, or polypropy-
lene, which are much more satisfactory. In addition to being high loss,
PVC also has moisture absorbtion problems that can effect this material 
when used in Tesla rated capacitors. PVC may be used as a material for
secondary coil forms after proper treatment, but it is not suitable
for capacitors. This coil will need from .01 to .03 microFarads in
the tank circuit to really drive it well, but you will need the 15 
turns in the primary to tune the tank circuit with the smaller 
capacitance.

 Ku> Capasitive hat
 Ku> Toroid, made from plastic pipe and aluminium tape as you described,
 Ku> a little bit small - 17cm diameter, 5 cm cross section diameter

This will start you out. You will want to add a larger toroid, and then
a larger capacitor ( the .03 ) to bring this coil up to peak performance.

 Ku> Spark-gap
 Ku> Made from two brass bolts with adjustable distance.

It will work, but a series of gaps will work much better and put
less strain on the capacitor dielectric. I have two, GIF format
digital image files that detail two very simple, but much better,
gap designs. Send me your mailing address. The spark gap plans and
some good wiring diagrams are on my Tesla Archives disk. I would
be happy to send you a copy airmail.

 Ku> Those are the basic facts of the system so far - does that sound
 Ku> reasonable at all? 

Do my suggestions/replys sound reasonable? 
 
 Ku> I do know that 4kV is a low primary voltage but we don't have 
 Ku> neon-sign x-formers with higher voltages around here in Finland. 
 Ku> :( I might be able to get 10kV 20mA oil-burner transformers 
 Ku> though - but the 4kV would sound nice for the first prototype..

I would try to grab four of the oil-burner xfmrs, and use heavy RF
choking to protect the high voltage windings. 

 Ku> What about the secondary form - I've read from other sources that
 Ku> about 2:1 - 2.4:1 would be optimal but you have written than
 Ku> 4:1 - 5:1 would be more reasonable..  

For this diameter of secondary 4:1 - 5:1 is correct. On larger coils
( 20cm diameter and larger ) go down to 3:1 aspect ratios.

 Ku> What is the effect of fatter secondary coil?

A fatter coil tends to be much higher Q, and it also couples better
with the primary. But too fat and the coil overcouples, the coil 
frequency "splits" and the coil begins to break down electricaly. Also
the spark gets caught up in the primary/secondary field flux and cannot 
get away for a good strike.
 
 Ku> How do I connect the toroid to the secondary - what should be the
 Ku> distance between the top of the secondary and the toroid - shall
 Ku> I just use aluminium tape to attach the wire from the secondary?

I leave an extension (or "tail") of wire at the top of the coil. I
"air wind" this extension up to the toroid. The air wound turns are
the same diameter as the secondary winding, or slightly smaller. The
turns (2 - 4 in number) are widely spaced. The wire meets the toriod 
off center, but it may then be brought directly in to the center of 
the toroid for a hard connection. The ideal distance from the top of
the secondary to the toroid is best determined experimentally, the
ideal distance and will change with power levels and toriod size.

 Ku> Thanks a lot in advance for any help!

I try to do the best I can. I always have.
 
 >  Ku> Jim Oliver mentioned to me that you might have practical     
 >  Ku> information about coil-guns and high-power lasers as well -  

 > Some, but I don't consider myself an expert in these areas,
 > rather more of a student.

 Ku> I'm thinking about making some experiments with coil-guns as I found
 Ku> a nice source for 1-2 kJ caps (1kV) that are suitable for this..

I wish I could be of more help. I have not constructed a capacitor/coil
rail gun such as you are describing. I fired one; once; and did not
have the good sense to ask detailed questions of the builder (ahh youth).
However, plans for this type of device may be obtained through a company 
called Information Unlimited here in the states:

                      Information Unlimited 
                      P.O. Box 716
                      Amherst  NH  03031  
                      USA

 Ku> btw: I read that Tesla had given extensive series of interviews to
 Ku> magazines around 1910 about his "destractive weapon capable of
 Ku> destroying people and things anywhere around the world" (from Kee-
 Ku> lynet archives) .. The texts where these things are mentioned sound
 Ku> like "propaganda" to me (false information) but references are
 Ku> mentioned..   What do you think?   Here is a quote :
 
 >  1907: When commenting on the destruction of the French ship Iena,
 >  Tesla noted in a letter to the New York Times that he has built and
 >  tested remotely controlled torpedoes, but that electrical waves
 >  would be more destructive.  "As to projecting wave energy to any
 >  particular region of the globe ... this can be done by my devices,"
 >  he wrote.  Further, he claimed that "the spot at which the desired
 >  effect is to be produced can be calculated very closely, assuming
 >  the accepted terrestrial measurements to be correct."
 > 
 >  1908: Tesla repeated the idea of destruction by electrical waves
 >  to the newspaper on April 21st.  His letter to the editor stated,
 >  "When I spoke of future warfare I meant that it should be conducted
 >  by direct application of electrical waves without the use of aerial
 >  engines or other implements of destruction."  He added: "This is
 >  not a dream. Even now wireless power plants could be constructed by
 >  which any region of the globe might be rendere uninhabitable
 >  without subjecting the population of other parts to serious danger
 >  or inconvenience."

Ahhh, another person seeking Tesla's "Holy Grail". I will comment.

I find no basic flaws in Tesla's ideas. What we lack are the exact 
descriptions and drawings of the devices in question, as well as
details of the power supplies these devices would have relied on. 
Having read him, duplicating some of his "easy" experiments, and 
then re-reading him again; I think I can say with some assurance
that the systems to which you are referring would use a powerful
Magnifier circuit as the basic starting point. 

Tesla began his path to these advanced devices/ideas with the 
invention of the 1/4 wave resonate coil. This is where we must get 
on the path to follow in his footsteps. The next step Tesla took was 
developing the 1/4 wave coil into the three coil Magnifier system 
(primary/secondary -> uncoupled resonator). This is the direction 
we must go if we wish to find out if the "Holy Grail" of resonance 
and focused energy waves exists on a grand scale.

Testing much of the basic theory, and setting up working experimental 
applications, do not require Colorado Springs sized equipment. Power
levels from 2 - 10 kVA in small, closed, and highly efficient, (read 
modernized) Magnifier systems should be sufficient to repave many 
missing sections of the road Tesla left behind for us.

Richard Quick

... If all else fails... Throw another megavolt across it!        
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12