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oct-93.txt
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To: tesla
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Subject: oct-93.txt
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From: chip (Chip Atkinson)
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Date: Tue, 1 Nov 1994 13:17:41 +0700
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Date: 10-05-93 12:54
From: Richard Quick
To: David Tiefenbrunn
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
I get some good results, not many people can hold a candle to it.
Need to move into a warehouse with some headroom and more power.
A dedicated substation would be nice... RQ
DT> Where are you running this thing now, out of curiosity?
DT> Don't the neighbors complain about the RFI?
DT> Do you have any pictures or .GIF files of this unit in
DT> action?
I run either in the garage for low power tests, or set up outside
in the back driveway for the real high powered stuff. I have had
no RFI complaints, but have had complaints about the noise: the
spark gaps sound much like an unmuffled chainsaw run flat out,
wide open. I made peace, and am allowed to fire up until 10 P.M.
with a days notice. But no more 2-3 A.M. testing...
> I have used forced air cooling (ozone city) with good results
> up to about 5 KVA. RQ
DT> Have you tried cooling the air before it is blown into the
DT> spark gap? You could run the air (I'm assuming that your
DT> using an air compressor) through a coil of copper tubing in
DT> your ice bath. The best part is when the air expands as it
DT> is blown into the gap, it will cool further. (basic physics
DT> of gasses type stuff)
I cool using forced air from a 220V industrial shop vac motor in
my old set of gaps, the new gaps are quenched by air blast from a
3.5 HP air compressor. The problem is the CFM of air flow
required is so large that I don't think pre-cooling is practical.
It would require another design modification. The expanding air
alone works pretty well. The real advantage to high speed forced
air is that it not only cools, but it physically disrupts the
high voltage arc, assisting the rotary in making the break.
Your idea for a forced air cooled rotary gap was excellent. The
only problem I see is in engineering the units to specs close
enough to get excellent performance and safety. My rotors are
dynamically balanced to 5000 RPM, and break rates need to be 450
BPS or better for good operation. In designing a rotating break I
try to keep the mass as low as possible on the rim: when they
come apart they resemble an explosion, with lots of hot shrapnel
and plenty of arcs and sparks!
> The research goes into several directions...Anybody know how
> to get lightning to excite a gas laser tube? RQ
This was misunderstood by several people. Specifically what I was
wondering about was the possibility of using the oscillator
output (which is similar to lightning) to excite a monopolar (one
wire input) gas laser tube.
DT> Do you know what the mix is in a standard NeHe laser tube?
No. I am not an expert on lasers. But I am more than willing to
learn. I am open to input from anybody with experience.
RQ> ... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through
RQ> it.
DT> With your equipment, it sounds like you actually could...
Absolutely, positively. Though I can't figure out how to make a
RF voltmeter that would not be utterly consumed by the output of
my machines. My guess is between 3 - 5 million volts output with
the setup we have been discussing.
As for proof. Yes, I can supply proof. I have some still photos
taken at about 3600 watts which are very impressive. But as my
work progressed I switched over to recording the experiments on
video tape so I can analyze the tests in the safety and comfort
of my living room. If anybody writes me I will happily provide
a two hour video tape in exchange for: One blank (high quality)
VHS tape, a postage pre-paid return mailer, $10.00 to pay for my
time and effort in seeing that you get a high quality, two hour,
recording of my work. Note this offer is not made on my behalf to
make any money, and I am not responsible for anybody's safety
should they decide to replicate any of the experiments I perform.
I will send a glossy print for $1.00 and a SASE.
Richard T. Quick II, 10028 Manchester Rd., Suite 253, Glendale,
Missouri, 63122, USA
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Date: 10-09-93 16:29
From: Richard Quick
To: Guy Daugherty
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
GD> I'd say if they're working that well for you, they're hardly
GD> junk. Is there, uh, any point to this stuff, or just
GD> blasting electrons across the ether?
Yes, there is a purpose. Actually more than a few.
High power particle accelerators is one. The typical linear
accelerator of the 30's and 40's were RF powered. They abandoned
the coils as they were not sufficiently frequency stable, and the
output was damped as opposed to continuous wave. But, a book was
published last year: NICKOLA TESLA ON HIS WORK WITH ALTERNATING
CURRENTS AND THEIR APPLICATION TO WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY, TELEPHONY,
AND TRANSMISSION OF POWER. Leland Anderson, Sun Publishing,
available through 21st Century Books, P.O. Box 2001,
Breckenridge, CO. 80424.
This work is the result of research into the files of several law
firms dating back to around 1915. Tesla was called to give
depositions for three days to prepare for patent trials against
the Marconi Company. Tesla clearly documented priority in
frequency stabilized continuous wave signal production and radio
signal transmission (and reception) on multiplexed circuits as
early as 1891. All of Marconi's patents pertaining to radio were
overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1942 or 1943. The key to
this is that Tesla's work in this area was extremely advanced,
and most of it has yet to be applied to high powered accelerator
work. His systems of continuous wave RF current production with
very high potentials is easily adapted to small, high powered,
linear particle accelerators. The peak powers of his Colorado
Springs machine (built, tested, and documented in 1899) exceeds
all but the largest accelerators in existence today. By the way,
the Tesla system is continuous, and the modern systems are
pulsed.
The misunderstanding is damped vs. undamped wave production. The
machine is capable of both, though the famous photos were taken
when the machine was set up to produce damped (disruptive) waves.
I don't think anybody really understood what Tesla was doing,
certainly he never clearly explained it until I read the work
above.
In addition to this, a moderately sized machine should be capable
of doing research into power transmission through earth resonate
ground currents at frequencies under 30 khz (see document above).
Later Tesla realized the particle accelerator potential of the
machine and designed a power head for a particle beam weapon
using the magnifier circuit as the signal generator. Lasers were
not invented yet when Tesla died, but I believe a low impedance
coil system can supply enormous peak powers to gas laser tubes.
The Maser is a derivative of this line of investigation, though
the frequencies of operation are much higher than can be supplied
from a coil system, the idea is exactly the same. Use a tuned gas
laser tube as a cavity resonator excited by the RF output of the
coil system.
Then there is ball lightning research...
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Date: 10-09-93 22:35
From: Dave Halliday
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
>a two hour video tape in exchange for: One blank (high
>quality) VHS tape, a postage pre-paid return mailer, $10.00 to
>pay for my time and effort in seeing that you get a high
>quality, two hour, recording of my work. Note this offer is not
>made on my behalf to make any money, and I am not responsible
>for anybody's safety should they decide to replicate any of the
>experiments I perform. I will send a glossy print for $1.00 and
>a SASE.
RQ>Richard T. Quick II, 10028 Manchester Rd., Suite 253,
>Glendale, Missouri, 63122, USA
Two comments:
1) - What IS your monthly electrical bill
2) - The $10 is in the mail Monday
have been a wee fan of Tesla for a looong time - talking with
some people now about maybe building a BIG one out in Seattle -
have done a few small ones.
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Date: 10-26-93 11:57
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
>a two hour video tape in exchange for: One blank (high
>quality) VHS tape, a postage pre-paid return mailer, $10.00 to
>pay for my time and effort in seeing that you get a high
>quality, two hour, recording of my work. Note this offer is
>not made on my behalf to make any money, and I am not
>responsible for anybody's safety should they decide to
>replicate any of the experiments I perform. I will send a
>glossy print for $1.00 and a SASE.
RQ>Richard T. Quick II, 10028 Manchester Rd., Suite 253,
>Glendale, Missouri, 63122, USA
DH> Two comments:
DH> 1) - What IS your monthly electrical bill
I'd rather not go into electric bills, let's just say it's going
to get worse...
DH> 2) - The $10 is in the mail Monday
I will be sure you get lots of Arcs & Sparks for your hard earned
money. I will get the tape out the following mail day. It would
help to know if you are more interested in seeing spark or
technique.
DH> have been a wee fan of Tesla for a looong time - talking
DH> with some people now about maybe building a BIG one out in
DH> Seattle - have done a few small ones.
Big coils are a challenge. But I really think (and experiments
prove) that the Magnifier System is more efficient as you scale
up. Large 1/4 wave Tesla coils are not nearly as efficient.
Send me a post and let me know what you think of the video.
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Date: 10-10-93 16:33
From: Richard Quick
To: David Bearrow
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
DB> How did you go about winding your coil? What are the specs?
DB> And how much did it cost?
The first step in winding a coil is to select a coil form. The
coil form should be a low loss material (we are talking RF
losses) like polyethylene, polystyrene, or polypropylene, Lexan,
or Plexiglas (acrylic): but a common material is PVC, which is
high loss. Thin wall tubing is best regardless of material.
Ratios of coil height to width are important. Small coils work
best with aspect ratios (height to width) around 5:1 - 4:1,
larger coils (over 8" diam.) have aspect ratios around 3:1. Now
we are talking about the actual winding length here, so allow an
extra inch or so of coil form on each end. Determine the length
required and cut the ends square.
The form must be sanded smooth of surface imperfections, dried
thoroughly, and if PVC is used, it must be sealed. A good sealer
is polyurethane, another is two part epoxy paint. By sealing the
surface of the PVC before you wind on wire you can negate the
excessive losses in PVC plastic coil forms. If necessary the coil
form may be sanded after the sealer had dried.
The coil should be wound with good quality magnet wire. I use
double Formvar enamel coated magnet wire. Magnet wire gives you
maximum inductance. A coil should have over 900 turns, but not
too much over 1000 turns. There is a little leeway here. Select a
gauge of wire which will allow the aspect ratio and number of
turns to fall within this range.
I plug the ends of the coil form and run a dowel through a center
hole so that it will spin. I set up the wire spool on one end of
a pair of sawhorses, and the coil form on the other end. I wind
the wire on by hand, making sure the windings are tight, smooth,
and even. I use a dab of hot glue or tape to hold the first turns
in place, and make sure to leave a tail of wire at either end.
Once the coil is wound, it is sealed to prevent corona leakage
and breakdown. I use the same sealers mentioned above. Coats of
sealer are applied until there are no ridges and valleys in the
wire. In other words the coats must build up until the wire is
completely imbedded in sealer.
The wound, sealed, coil is capped at both ends with plexiglas
plates glued down with epoxy. I cut circles out of plexi sheet
that is about the same thickness as the coil form. I rough up the
surface around the edges to give the epoxy a bite. One small hole
may be drilled into the bottom end plate to allow the air
pressure to equalize, but under no circumstances should any other
holes be drilled. The wire is never allowed inside the form.
I have numerous coils, my largest coil has specs as follows:
10.5" O.D. thin wall PVC flume duct, the coil form is 34" high.
The coil is wound with #21 magnet wire, 1024 turns, actual
winding length is 32", aspect ratio 3.05:1. The coil is sealed
with eight coats of polyurethane on top of the wire and five
coats under the wire so that the wire is not in contact with the
PVC but is suspended in sealer.
Coils take time more than anything to construct. I suppose the
material cost for my 10" coil is around $60.00. Smaller coils are
cheaper of course. What can be expensive is putting together the
rest of the oscillator components. Things like HV pulse
capacitors, xfrmrs, and power controllers like variacs. Beginners
can usually start with a few old neon sign xfrmrs, make some caps
(homemade salt water caps are very cheap) or buy some used, and
fire a small coil for under $150.00 from start to finish.
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Date: 10-13-93 00:46
From: Richard Quick
To: David Bearrow
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
>> The coil should be wound with good quality magnet wire. I use
>> double Formvar enamel coated magnet wire. Magnet wire gives
>> you maximum inductance. A coil should have over 900 turns,
>> but not too much over 1000 turns. There is a little leeway
>> here. Select a gauge of wire which will allow the aspect
>> ratio and number of turns to fall within this range.
DB> Did you calculate this so that the capacitive reactance
DB> equals the inductive reactance? I understood that's what was
DB> so interesting about Tesla's coils.
No. The balancing act that you are referring to occurs in the
primary tank circuit. High voltage pulse discharging capacitance
(capacitive reactance) is made to balance off the heavy primary
coil (inductive reactance). The primary coil is made to very low
resistance; like HEAVY cable, strap, or soft copper water pipe.
The inductive reactance is "canceled" by the capacitive
reactance, and a very low resistance "tank" is formed where heavy
currents can oscillate with low loss. In order to excite the tank
circuit, high voltage feed lines are brought in to charge the
capacitors. Voltage rise in the capacitors (as they charge)
breaks down the main system spark gap, and bang, the tank fires.
Currents of hundreds of amps, with voltages in the thousands of
volts, ring through the Tesla Tank Circuit.
The energy delivered can easily reach peak powers in the megawatt
range. Since the main system spark gap fires hundreds of times
per second, these high peak powers are, for most practical
purposes, continuous. This primary circuit energy is transmitted
through inductive coupling to the Tesla Secondary.
The secondary coil that I described in the quoted post is NOT a
balanced coil. On the contrary, this coil is pushing the extreme
of several design limits in the quest for more efficient power
processing. The secondary coil, wound as I instructed, results in
a very high inductance coil; but it has a significant internal
capacitance and resistance due to the closeness of the windings,
the length of the wire, and the number of turns.
The high inductance makes the secondary effective. The higher the
inductance, the more energy can be absorbed from the primary tank
circuit.
Resistance and internal capacitance limit the Tesla secondary for
obvious reasons. Current, especially RF current, reacts poorly to
resistance, which gets worse in small diameter wire. Internal
Capacitance in a coil also reduces throughput, as the capacitance
in the turns of wire slow the current peak.
Designing a potent Tesla secondary balances the maximum
inductance (a positive factor) against the resistance and
internal capacitance (negative factors). It takes into account
the need for "critical coupling" between the primary and
secondary (for good energy transfer), resistance of the wire,
internal capacitance between turns, and the breakdown voltages of
the construction. The design given is well researched and proven.
> BUT THE COIL IS UNBALANCED!!! YOU SAID SO ABOVE!!!
Yes, it is VERY unbalanced. Yes, the Tesla circuit depends on
balance for maximum efficiency. The high inductance of the
secondary is balanced by the addition of a large (even huge) top
capacitance. Donut shaped dischargers, called toroids, are used
as a large capacitive air terminal. This air terminal capacitance
"unloads" the secondary, and allows for current flow through the
high inductance coil. The secondary coil, as I instructed, will
not function well without an effective discharger; a capacitive
reactance to balance it. Without it the coil will not survive
much input energy and will self destruct. We have just pushed the
limits with modern plastics in 1/4 wave Tesla oscillators.
Back to the primary; the circuit is tuned. By changing the
location of the tank circuit "tap" connection to the primary, the
frequency of the circuit is altered. The more turns, the lower
the frequency. The secondary coil acts like an antenna. This wire
when excited by the primary, vibrates electrically, and produces
a quarter wave signal. The frequency is primarily a function of
wire length and the capacity of the discharger. The primary and
secondary are both adjusted to operate at the same frequency. So
there is a lot of balancing going on.
By the way, I make my toroids out of 4-6" ridged flexible black
polypropylene drain pipe. I make a circle and mount some
cardboard or thin masonite in the center, then cover the thing
with aluminum plumbers tape, and foil glued with adhesive spray.
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Date: 10-12-93 18:29
From: Bud Davis
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
>In a message of <Oct 09 20:51>, Richard Quick (1:100/4) writes:
> A twenty-two megawatt continuous fire gas laser...
BD> I just picked up this thread a week ago, your recent postings
BD> are saved to a file...This is very interesting!
MF> 22 MW is your input, with typical gas laser efficiency you'd
MF> be lucky to squeek a (one) measly MegaWatt out. Just enough
MF> to cut through armor at a few inches per second, or mabey a
MF> foot of steel. Don't know about lunar soil. Some gasses
MF> don't scale well to high powers, CO2 would probably be
MF> the best candidate.
>I kind of thought CO2 was the way to go, but I was not sure. I
>have not had much experience with high powered gas lasers,
>though I did build a ruby rod laser in high school powered by a
>xenon flash tube. I can't find the rod anywhere now...
BD>CO2 is a good choice for high power. I'm not sure which
BD>transition level for CO2 is used for lasing but I could find
BD>out.
>I have a feeling that with a properly designed system though,
>the efficiencies could get considerably greater. My assumption
>is based on some experiments which show that RF excites gases
>much more easily than high voltage, high currents, or both.
>Tesla went on and on about the advantages of using RF when
>energizing gasses.
BD> A Soviet researcher named Kapitza developed RF devices with
BD> plasma temperatures high enough to fuse hydrogen! They used a
BD> cylindrical resonant chamber driven by a room full of tuned
BD> circuits, the high temperature was observed in a corona
BD> discharge along the axis...I guess it went on the back burner
BD> along with the tokomak.
BD> Hmm...stick a CO2 filled tube in a properly sized RF
BD> resonator... a few mirrors, heat sinks...
BD> I wish I had your original post. :-((508)544-2402 (1:321/154)
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Date: 10-14-93 10:57
From: Richard Quick
To: Bud Davis
Subj: Re: 10kva Tesla Coil
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
BD> CO2 is a good choice for high power. I'm not sure which
BD> transition level for CO2 is used for lasing but I could find
BD> out.
RQ> Please check into it and let us know what turns up.
>I have a feeling that with a properly designed system though,
>the efficiencies could get considerably greater. My assumption
>is based on some experiments which show that RF excites gases
>much more easily than high voltage, high currents, or both.
>Tesla went on and on about the advantages of using RF when
>energizing gasses.
BD> A Soviet researcher named Kapitza developed RF devices with
BD> plasma temperatures high enough to fuse hydrogen! They used
BD> a cylindrical resonant chamber driven by a room full of
BD> tuned circuits, the high temperature was observed in a
BD> corona discharge along the axis...I guess it went on the
BD> back burner along with the tokomak.
I really feel that there is a lot of uncovered work in areas such
as this. The publication I referred to last week (A transcription
of a legal deposition Tesla gave in 1916, over a period of three
days) is only a year in print. Using some of the ideas that Tesla
presented in this deposition in work such this has not been
done.
BD> Hmm...stick a CO2 filled tube in a properly sized RF
BD> resonator... a few mirrors, heat sinks...
Yup, very close to my thoughts. Tesla states that low pressure
gas, being highly conductive to RF, can be used as the actual
resonator. So take a properly sized resonator, fill it with CO2,
a few mirrors, heat sinks...
The actual resonator can be the laser tube, and losses can really
be cut down. This is exactly how a MASER works, but needs to be
scaled up for low frequency work. I have been wondering about the
addition of a short coil to the resonate chamber to bring the
frequency down, thereby keeping the size of the resonate chamber
under control.
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Date: 10-14-93 16:53
From: Richard Quick
To: Bud Davis
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
P.S.
I would also be very interested in the source material for the
information you relayed on the Russian RF work. Experiments of
this nature (using RF inputs to excite tuned resonators) is
exactly along the line that my future work will be heading.
I don't know how much of this thread you were able to pick up in
a week (I have seen a lot of posts indicating new boards getting
this echo in the past week) but I am currently running and
improving very high powered equipment. Experiments of this nature
are not at all beyond my means. I have all of the power
controller circuits, the capacitors, and the HV xfrmrs. I am
developing a new liquid cooled, air blast gap to run in series
with my rotary, and I have plenty of coils, both primaries and
secondaries.
I have constructed and fired small Tesla Magnifiers in the 2.5
KVA power range, and feel (like Tesla did) that the magnifier
circuit is a clear and away breakthrough in RF power processing
efficiency. A properly designed and constructed Tesla Magnifier
system easily achieves 70% efficiency, and can be brought up to
over 90% efficient in larger systems. They will produce and
process damped and undamped (continuous wave) signals depending
on the setup and power supply. The currents and voltages this
circuit will handle are nothing short of mind boggling.
The Magnifier is designed specifically to drive a 1/4 wave
resonator, whether it be helical (coil), coaxial, or cavity,
makes no difference. I doubt that the Russian was using a large
magnifier to drive the resonator in the experiment you mentioned.
James & Kenneth Corum (PhDs) did not publish the mathematical
treatise of the Tesla Magnifier until just a few years ago, and
until the treatise was published, nobody was able to get the free
resonator to function properly as part of the lumped, tuned
circuit. These problems have been worked on and resolved by very
few people since. I can count myself as one of the half dozen or
so who have publicly documented success.
My best guess is that the Russian was using a large tube powered
RF signal generator to drive a coaxial resonator. I think that if
the experiment were redesigned, it could be done much cheaper, at
much higher powers and efficiencies, with a Tesla Magnifier
driver circuit. Tesla went on and on about this stuff too, nobody
listened then, and few listen today; hell, people ask me all the
time why I chase such "impracticalities". They don't understand
that Tesla was so far ahead of his time that we still haven't
caught up! My guess is that we stand today where Tesla stood in
1898, as far as RF power processing efficiencies are concerned.
But photos or data from the Russian experiment would be
invaluable for any work in this direction. What did he use for a
transmission line? How did he introduce the signal into the
resonator? From having done a little work with helical resonators
to produce large voltages at very high currents, I realize
technique is half the battle. Any additional information on this
work would be appreciated.
As for what you missed, well it can't be as much as what is most
likely still to come. Stay tuned!!! And feel free to ask about
anything you don't understand.
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Date: 10-16-93 18:39
From: Richard Quick
To: Ron Beam
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
>On Oct 10 16:33 93, Richard Quick of 1:100/4 wrote:
>Coils take time more than anything to construct. I suppose
>the material cost for my 10" coil is around $60.00. Smaller
>coils are cheaper of course. What can be expensive is
>putting together the rest of the oscillator components.
>Things like HV pulse capacitors, xfrmrs, and power
>controllers like variacs. Beginners can usually start with a
>few old neon sign xfrmrs, make some caps (homemade salt
>water caps are very cheap) or buy some used, and fire a
>small coil for under $150.00 from start to finish. RQ
>Richard, do you know what frequency (if not 60Hz) and voltage
>should be used for a coil such as you mentioned?
Frequency and voltage entirely depend on the aims of the
designer/builder. Since none of these systems are purchased
(nearly every component handcrafted) they can be built to nearly
any specification desired (within reason). Frequency, input &
output voltages, current, and impedance are just some of the
variables. The idea with a Tesla coil system is to covert 60
cycle line current into RF with very high efficiencies. My 10"
secondary coil has a natural 1/4 wave resonate frequency of 132.5
KHZ. I use a power distribution transformer run backwards (put
240 in and get HV out) to step up my line voltage to ~20,000
volts. This input RMS voltage is converted into RF (say 132.5
KHZ) by the Tesla Tank Circuit. The high frequency conversion is
achieved as a property of capacitive discharge through a coil
(tuned oscillating circuit). The main system spark gap acts as a
high voltage switch which allows the capacitor to charge over a
period of time, then discharge nearly instantaneously. Because of
the pulse discharge, the RF generated in the tank circuit has
much greater peak power than the HV feed line from the step up
transformer. The grounded secondary coil receives the EMF from
the primary and converts the energy back into electricity (air
core RF transformer). Since the secondary coil has a much greater
number of windings the voltage is stepped up considerably.
> What does the coil do (or look like) when you turn it on?
A 1/4 wave Tesla coil generates very long RF sparks that resemble
natural lighting in many aspects. These sparks do not need to
strike a grounded object but can terminate in air.
>What can a person do with such a device once constructed? Does
>it have any practical purpose other than to amuse your friends?
I first began to build small 1/4 wave (spark generating) Tesla
coils for fun. I loved the light show, and so did my friends. As
I gained experience in building coils I realized that most of the
"plans" were full of inaccuracies. I began to design my own
systems to increase efficiency. As my interest and experience
grew, I discovered more advanced coil systems that Tesla designed
(the Tesla Magnifier) and began initial research into other
areas: particle acceleration, lasers, wireless power
transmission, and particle beams. I am planning on making a very
serious study in these areas in the next few years.
Dave Archer is a painter in California who uses a Tesla coil to
electrically spread paint. He places his canvas on a grounded
plate and directs the Tesla discharge over it. The resulting
paintings are regularly featured as space backgrounds and hanging
art on Star Trek TNG, Omni Magazine and several other publica-
tions, as well as private collections. Tesla coils were also used
in the time travel scenes in both Terminator movies, and are re-
emerging in the special effects industry because they photograph
well and the sparks are more realistic than computer generation
or animation.
Two years ago a man (I don't have his name handy) was issued a
patent for a thermo-couple using a Tesla discharge.
Tesla coils were used in the first induction heaters, and were
employed medically for the treatment of arthritis and other joint
and muscle problems. The same coil could be adjusted to generate
sufficient voltage to produce X-Rays, and as such a Tesla coil
was a standard medical instrument in Dr's offices in the early
1900s. Nearly all of the first high quality X-Rays were produced
with Tesla driven X-Ray tubes until the 1930's. The first self
cauterizing "electric scalpels" were electrified with a Tesla
coil.
A Tesla coil is in your monitor (flyback transformer). Tesla
coils were also an important part of the first radio
transmitters. My feeling is that the Tesla coil has a major place
in modern physics, but has not been fully evaluated.
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Date: 10-16-93 21:30
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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This thread seems to be getting a lot of attention and responses.
I will try to give some basics here, and answer a few questions.
The modern 1/4 wave Tesla coil (sweet and simple, though there
are other configurations) is an oscillator driven, air core
resonate transformer.
The oscillating tank circuit drives the secondary coil. The tank
circuit consists of pulse discharging capacitors, air gap (break)
and the primary coil. In my previous post I said the setups are
very flexible, so I will focus on specs for the 10KVA coil.
The primary coil is wound from a single 100' length of 1/2" soft
copper water pipe placed on plexiglas stand off insulators. The
inside turn starts at 14" in diameter, and the turns wind
outward to form a flat pancake spiral, like the grooves on a
phonograph record. The outside turn is 36" diam.. There are a
total of 15 turns in this coil, spacing between turns is 1/4".
There are many ways to place the gap and capacitance in the tank
circuit. I like the "balanced" circuit Tesla developed in
Colorado Springs for his monster machine. In the balanced circuit
the capacitance is divided into two equal parts and placed on the
ends of the primary coil. The gap is placed across the HV feed
line feeding the caps.
I own two .1 mfd 45 kvac pulse discharging capacitors. These two
custom commercial units were purchased to supplement my 14
homemade polyethylene/aluminum flashing/mineral oil units rated
at .02 mfd 10 kvac pulse. With the 10 KVA coil I use these two
commercial "caps". In the balanced circuit the capacitance is run
in series with the primary, so the actual operating capacitance
is only .05 mfd..
I connect one cap to the inside turn terminal of the primary.
The second cap is connected to a movable "tap" lead which can
clip to any location on the heavy primary coil. By moving the tap
lead, the primary coil inductance is varied, and the tank circuit
frequency can be changed.
With one capacitor terminal connected to each end of the primary,
I still have two free capacitor terminals. Across these terminals
I place the gap, and the HV feed lines.
When HV 60 cycle current is fed to the capacitors they charge. As
the voltage rises, tension builds in the air gap. When the
tension is sufficient, the gap breaks down and the capacitors are
discharged rapidly. This spark gap acts as a high voltage switch.
When the gap is open, the capacitors charge. When the gap fires,
the caps are discharged in a pulse. Because of the voltage and
currents involved, the gaps on larger coils employ a rotary
break, almost exactly like a large car distributor at high speed.
This pulse discharging produces a large current (over 1000a-at-20kv
in my system) from a modest transformer output (.5 amp -at- 20kv).
The pulse "rings" from capacitor plate, through the coil, to the
second capacitor plate; and back again.
The frequency of the "ring" (oscillation) depends on the size of
the cap, and the inductance (# of turns) in the coil. Since my
capacitance is fixed, the coil size (inductance) is varied by
moving the tap to a different location. In this fashion the spark
gap oscillator is tuned. The parameters of this particular system
allows frequencies from ~200 - 57 KHZ.
Now the secondary coil (specs in previous post) has a natural
frequency of 132.5 KHZ. I load the secondary coil with top
capacitance, most commonly a toroid shaped conductive terminal.
This lowers the natural frequency of the sec. coil. My best
results were obtained using a 40" diam. X 4" thick torpid
discharger, lowering the frequency of the coil from 132.5 kHz to
79 kHz.
The secondary coil with discharger is placed upright in the
center of the primary coil. The secondary coil base wire is
ground to a heavy, dedicated, RF ground. The air terminal is of
course the other connection.
By tuning the frequency of the primary tank circuit to match the
frequency of the secondary coil, energy is transferred from
primary coil to secondary coil thorough mutual induction. This is
much like a common transformer, but at these frequencies an iron
core is wasteful.
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Date: 10-16-93 21:54
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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10KVA Tesla Coil cont.
In essence the primary coil is an inductive RF transmitter, and
the grounded secondary coil is an inductive RF receiver.
The secondary coil receives the energy from the primary and
become electrically excited. The coil develops a 1/4 standing
wave of the system frequency, hence "1/4 wave" Tesla coil, or
"1/4 wave helical resonator" are descriptive terms. What that
means is that the potential at the base of the coil (ground) is
"zero". The voltage rises up the coil until you reach maximum
potential at the top. This is essential to producing good spark.
If you look at a sine wave of one complete oscillation you will
see half of the wave above the "X" axis, and half of the wave
below the "X" axis. The point where the sine wave crosses the "X"
axis is ground potential or "zero" voltage.
On the "Y" axis you will find the peaks of the sine wave located
at the 1/4 points of the wave length. These "Y" axis peaks are
the locations of the maximum voltage. The "X" axis crossings
("zero" volts) are the locations of maximum current in the wave.
So to come back to lay terms, the base of the excited Tesla
secondary is at ground potential, but there is a lot of RF
current flow. For the coil to operate, this current must be
removed, hence a heavy RF ground is required.
The top of the coil is the high voltage end, where the 1/4 wave
voltage peak is located. Since the voltage is RF, and the
discharge terminal is air insulated, the voltage simply breaks
down the air. Large sparks and streamers and corona leave the
discharger in a display unequalled by anything else in my
experience.
The high voltage can be trapped in the system by adding
discharger capacitance until the spark will not break out. Energy
is constantly fed into the coil from the primary, and the only
escape is through radiation or the ground wire. Radiation alone
simply cannot remove the energy in the coil, so massive currents
are forced into the ground. This forms the basis of Tesla's
system for wireless power transmission.
Experiments confirming his ideas can be performed with small
coils. I took a single 6" Tesla secondary, no primary or tank
circuit, just a coil and a discharger; and walked over a quarter
mile, to a nearby creek. I grounded the coil by placing 10' of
aluminum flashing in the creek water. Back in my basement, an
assistant fired a Tesla coil that operated at the same frequency
as my "free" coil in the creek. The system being fired was loaded
with discharger, so spark could not break out.
Down in the creek I was able to light bulbs from the top of the
grounded coil, despite the 1/4 mile distance (and don't forget a
creek bank and a rebar wall) between my location and the power
supply. This coil was not receiving radiated signal, it was
resonating on base fed ground current.
Coils can be forced to operate at frequencies other than the
natural 1/4 wave by top loading "extra" coils or other resonators
on the end of the system. Tesla used this more complex "Magnifier
Coil" circuit in the Colorado Springs machine. In the Magnifier,
the secondary coil is forced to resonate at 1/8th, 1/16th,
1/32nd, or any other harmonic of the system frequency. A
transmission line is used to take CURRENT from the secondary to a
RESONATOR located away from the primary/secondary driver system.
The resonator may be helical (coil), coaxial, or cavity. In this
way the Tesla system may be used as an efficient driver for
experiments in other areas of physics. I have wondered about the
possible use of a tuned cavity resonate laser tube, or linear
particle accelerator. Another guy told me about a Russian using
coaxial resonators for fusion.
Tesla built a system for the worldwide transmission of electrical
power by top loading the "extra" coil (a base fed 1/4 wave
helical resonator) so spark would not break out. This forced the
tremendous energy to ground. He tuned the system so that the
ground current was also earth resonate. This was a double ended
resonator system of very high efficiency. The earth acted as a
cavity resonator on the base (for the ground current) the extra
coil was a helical resonator a with radiating discharger in the
air. He stated the system was to be used as a multiplexed
wireless transmitter from both the ground and air terminals (he
had tuning and harmonic coils in the ground path).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The High Voltage, Pulse Discharge
CAPACITOR
Many high voltage projects require a high voltage pulse discharge
capacitor. Whether your project is a laser, Tesla coil, or
particle accelerator, you will need a high voltage rated pulse
discharging capacitor in your device somewhere.
Commercial units are expensive. Manufacturers of these units do
not stock them. Each and every unit is built to order. Off the
shelf units do not offer the performance required for most high
voltage projects. Off the shelf capacitors get hot, have high
loss to output ratios, and will break down in spark excited tank
circuits. Some types are a potential explosion hazard.
You can build your own capacitors for these projects from
polyethylene plastic and aluminum flashing.
The following instructions are for a pulse discharging capacitor
with a .02 uf at 35-40 kvdc rating. The unit is rated for work in
spark excited tank circuits with up to 15 kv rms inputs, 12 kv is
the recommended AC rms voltage rating. This is an ideal unit for
small to medium Tesla coils up to 4 kva. The material cost is
around $100.00 per unit as opposed to $200 - $250 for a custom
commercial capacitor with this rating.
Materials for this unit are as follows:
Three yards of low density, 60 mil, polyethylene plastic.
This plastic is available from any good sized plastics dealer.
One ten inch by twelve inch sheet of 1/4" plexiglas.
One fifty foot roll of 14 inch wide aluminum flashing. This will
make 4.5 capacitors. Hardware store.
Eighteen inches of 1 inch schedule 40 PVC pipe. Plumbing supply,
Two: end caps for the 1 inch schedule 40 PVC pipe. The end caps
must have flat bottoms (not rounded) or you will need to cut
them.
Twenty inches of CLEAN, 6 inch PVC DRAIN PIPE. DO NOT USE
SCHEDULE 40! Six inch PVC DRAIN PIPE is available at any good
plumbing supply in ten foot lengths.
One: six inch PVC DRAIN PIPE END CAP.
One gallon of pure U.S.P. Mineral Oil.
Two: 1/4 x 20 brass machine screws and four nuts.
Two: #8 Pan Head Machine screws with washers and nuts. Screws
should be about 3/8ths of an inch or less long.
Loctite thread fastener (medium strength)
Six or eight: 12" long nylon wire ties
PVC cement (medium body, clear, works best)
PrepSol (Dupont paint store) or U.S.P. alcohol
Four inch stack of clean newspaper or BUTCHERS PAPER
Lint free wipes or good quality paper towels. Don't use the cheap
stuff.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
BUILDING THE CAPACITOR TANK
Start out by cutting the PVC drain cap in half. You want to cut a
ring 1-1/2" high off the end cap. The bottom of the end cap
should be saved intact with a 1-1/2" high side wall.
Lay the ring cut from the 6" PVC drain cap on the sheet of 1/4"
plexi and scribe a circle. Cut the circle out and glue it to the
ring with PVC cement. This forms the clear, see through, lid for
the capacitor tank. When the PVC cement has dried, drill two
holes through the plexi for terminals. The holes should be on
opposite sides of the lid. A small hole is drilled dead center
for venting.
Cut some strips of plexiglas, 3/4" wide by 2" long, out of the
scrap material.
Glue one of the 1" PVC end caps to the center (inside) of the 6"
PVC drain cap. Glue at least four of the plexiglas strips around
the 1" end cap. The strips are placed so that they are flush with
the 1" PVC end cap. They should form a "star" pattern radiating
out from the center and form a shelf, 3/4" high, for the
capacitor roll to sit on. This shelf prevents the roll from
resting on the very bottom of the tank and allows oil to
circulate. It is important that there is sufficient room between
the edges of the shelf and the side wall of the 6" drain cap to
allow the 20" section of 6" PVC drain pipe to seat all the way to
the bottom of the end cap.
When the end cap assembly is dried, glue and seat the 6" PVC
drain pipe in place. Use plenty of PVC cement to prevent leaks.
Once the end cap is firmly seated in the 6" PVC pipe, then cement
the 18" length of 1" PVC pipe down into the center ring. This
pipe saves oil, as well as providing a center post for the
capacitor roll. Glue the second 1" PVC end cap onto the top of
the 1" pipe to seal it.
Let the entire assembly dry thoroughly. Clean the tank out well.
This completes the capacitor tank construction.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THE CAPACITOR ROLL
The capacitor roll is made from the polyethylene sheet and the
aluminum flashing. It is important that these materials are
absolutely clean and free from defects.
Vacuum up a work area large enough to lay all of your plates and
dielectric out. If things are dusty you may want to mop. When the
work area is clean, lay down fresh newspaper, or even better,
butcher paper, over the entire work area. You will need a long,
hard, smooth, flat surface to roll your capacitor up on.
A clean, paper covered, concrete floor works well, as does a
couple of paper covered buffet tables.
Cut the poly sheet lengthwise into three equal strips. The
standard material width for this sheet is 48 inches. You will get
three 16" wide strips from the sheet, though only two strips will
be required to make one capacitor roll. The strips must be washed
and wiped on both sides with PrepSol or alcohol and lint free
wipes or high quality paper towels. Then they must be wiped dry.
Static may become a problem here, and the dielectric may collect
dust. A ground strap run to a water pipe may be wired to a copper
or brass brush. The plates and dielectric may be swiped lightly
to ground out static, but do not scratch the material.
Cut two lengths of aluminum flashing 102" long. The flashing must
be six inches shorter than the polyethylene strips. The material
is already two inches narrower. Use a good pair of heavy duty
scissors to cut the aluminum. The strips of flashing (plates)
must have the corners well rounded, and have all sharp edges
smoothed. Trim the corners off with the scissors, then sand all
edges you cut it #150 emery cloth. Drill a hole, 1/2" from one
end of each flashing strip for the terminal mount. Inspect your
plate. It should have no dents, sharp points, "ruffles" along the
edges, etc. Many flaws can be carefully worked out.
The aluminum capacitor plates must be washed and dried. Fill a
five gallon bucket with very hot water and a good squirt of
liquid detergent. Roll the plate up and "dip, swish, and swirl"
until all the sanding grit, manufacturing oil, and dirt wash off.
Rinse the plate well and stand it on its edges on clean newspaper
until it is dried. Don't worry if the plates oxidize a little.
Lay out your meticulously clean plates and dielectric sheets.
Lay one strip of plastic dielectric down first. Then lay a plate
on top and center it. The plate is centered so that there is a
one inch border of dielectric plastic evenly along the long
sides. Line up the end of the plate with the terminal hole flush
(even) with one END of the plastic. The far end of the plate will
be six inches short of flush with the bottom dielectric sheet.
Lay a second sheet of plastic on top so that it is exactly lined
up the bottom strip of plastic.
Lay the last plate down on the stack and center it. The plate is
centered so that there is a one inch border of dielectric plastic
evenly on both of the long sides. Now, the first plate you laid
will have the terminal end flush with one end of the bottom
dielectric, it makes no difference which end; line up the second
plate so that the terminal end is flush with the end of the
second dielectric sheet, but it must be at the opposite end from
the bottom plate terminal.
Cut two 1" strips of aluminum flashing 14" long. Tape them
together into a 1" strap. Round it and sand it. Then untape it
and wipe or wash the strips. Reassemble and punch a hole in each
end. One hole for a 1/4" or larger screw (tank terminal), the
other for the #8 pan head machine screw (plate terminal). Using a
#8 pan head machine screw, mount this strap into the terminal
hole on the top plate. Use a flat washer, a tiny drop of loctite
thread fastener, and then a nut. Snug the connection down firmly.
This strap serves as a high current lead from the plate to the
terminal mount on the capacitor lid. Make sure that it is the
smooth pan head of the screw pressing into the plastic capacitor
dielectric as the capacitor is rolled up; not the sharp screw
shaft. Do not allow the sharp threaded end to press into the
capacitor. It is a good idea to have a couple of spare patches of
60 or 30 mil plastic to place under the pressure points of the
terminal connector screws. This will help prevent breakdown.
Starting from the terminal end of the top plate on the stack, the
end with the terminal strap already mounted, roll the capacitor
up as tightly as possible. Make sure that the top plate does not
curl around to touch back on itself on the first turn. A strip of
extra plastic here can be helpful. If the first turn of the roll
looks poor, then unroll, line everything up, and try again.
When the capacitor is tightly rolled, do not loosen your grip.
Have an assistant put two wire ties together and slip them over
the roll. When the wire ties are cinched, you may loosen up.
As you rolled the capacitor up, the first plate in the stack
worked its way out of the roll a few inches. This plate should
present you with a terminal hole to mount a second 1x14" strap of
aluminum for the second lead.
Mount the second lead, making sure the smooth screw head is
against the capacitor, not the sharp threaded end. You will have
one lead coming up from inside the roll, and the other coming up
from the outside. Put at least three wire tie strips around the
roll. Two 12" wire ties connected together will give enough
circumference.
Set the capacitor roll into the tank. Fill with one gallon of
mineral oil. The roll must be covered by at least a quarter inch
of oil to suppress corona and prevent flashover. Note that the
oil soaks into the roll. The level will drop after filling, and
may drop again after use. Check on it occasionally until the
capacitor is fully broken in, a period of about six months.
Connect the leads from the capacitor roll to the tank lid. For
the tank lid terminals use at least 1/4 inch brass machine screws
and tighten down well. The head of the machine screw should be
inside the lid, the first nut on top will hold the connection
tight, the second nut is removable for connection to your
circuit. Do not seal or glue the lid in place.
Do not apply the full rated voltage to these units until they
have set for at least three days, and the oil has had a chance to
soak in to the roll. It is best to start them out at about half
voltage, or less, and run them for short periods for the first
few days on a smaller coil. These units run on the ragged edge of
their voltage ratings, yet they are quite serviceable. On larger
coils it is best to put these units in series/parallel to back
them up against kickback.
Because the material width of the polyethylene is 48", you get
three 16" strips of dielectric from cutting a length. You will
have one strip left over. Because of this, it is perhaps better
to plan on building at least two units at a time. This makes more
efficient use of material, but more so for the use of time. Once
a temporary "clean room" has been established it makes sense to
use it to fullest advantage.
When coiling in general it is best to "back up" this capacitance
by placing two tanks in series and then placing two series sets
in parallel. Thus you need four tanks to equal the value of one
tank alone, but the four tanks will withstand twice the voltage.
You will find it more economical to build three extra tanks, and
run them in series/parallel, than building one tank and having to
repair or replace it if it fails before it completes the long 6
month full break in period. Later you can risk the option of
running them at their full rated voltage, should you choose, or
increase power by playing it safe and building more caps.
The effort in building a first class cap is worth the extra time
and expense to do it right. The unit will last longer, withstand
more abuse, and give you more capacitance if it is well
constructed. Once this effort is expended, and the unit is in
service, don't blow it. Rather than risk the investment you
should build more caps, "backing up" your existing caps and
increasing power with additional caps as you go. Don't overdrive
these, you will blow them.
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Date: 10-24-93 20:25
From: David Tiefenbrunn
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
On 10-20-93 Richard Quick wrote to David Tiefenbrunn...
RQ> RQ> The following instructions are for a pulse discharging
RQ> RQ> capacitor with a .02 uf at 35 kvdc rating.
Thanks for the info.
I was talking to another engineer that I know, and I mentioned
your Tesla coil. He has a 150W T-coil. We got to talking about
spark gaps. It seems there used to be a rather large industry
for them, back before vacuum tubes (and even larger than 10KW).
One type was basically a stack of convex metal disks, with
heatsink fins on the outside. The disks were spaced rather close
together (maybe .05"?) but there were MANY in the stack. This
spreads the heat around. Maybe something like that with
compressed air cooling is a solution. I can try to get more info
if you want. He was also aware of *room* sized spark gaps in use
back then. Dave (1:320/5967)
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Date: 10-27-93 13:29
From: Richard Quick
To: David Tiefenbrunn
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
DT> Thanks for the rest of the info.
No problem, I hope you find it useful, I sure have. You don't see
plans for components like that everywhere.
DT> I was talking to another engineer that I know,
DT> and I mentioned your Tesla coil. He has a 150W
DT> T-coil. We got to talking about spark gaps.
DT> It seems there used to be a rather large industry
DT> for them, back before vacuum tubes (and even larger
DT> than 10KW). One type was basically a stack of convex
DT> metal disks, with heatsink fins on the outside. The
DT> disks were spaced rather close together (maybe .05"?)
DT> but there were MANY in the stack. This spreads the heat
DT> around. Maybe something like that with compressed air
DT> cooling is a solution. I can try to get more info
DT> if you want. He was also aware of *room* sized
DT> spark gaps in use back then.
I am always interested in more information. I live for the stuff.
As to the gaps you are describing, they are called "quench" gaps.
The metal discs are separated by gaskets of mica. The mica gasket
determines the gap distance between plates. The gasket prevents
air exchange, so as the gap breaks in, the O2 is consumed and
they run with in a nitrogen atmosphere.
These plates were machined to very close tolerances, and the
actual electrode surface was kept fairly small. The large plate
was used for a heat sink. The best gaps of this type were German
made by Telefunken.
The advantage of the quench gap is they produce a continuous wave
(undamped) oscillation in the tank circuit. They were employed in
the first long range Tesla transmitters. Most of the major ship
lines (with the exception of White Star I believe) used Tesla
transmitters with Telefunken quench gaps. Telefunken had
contracts with the shipping lines for gap service, and after so
many hours of operation the gap would be removed by a certified
Telefunken technician, cleaned and serviced. Per contract nobody
else was allowed to break the seals. Telefunken had facilities in
every major port.
Tesla used disruptive breaks in his demonstrations, but clearly
documented that continuous waves from quenched or CW gap systems
were used for transmission of electricity (both for power
transmission and radio). Now this is where is starts to get
interesting. 1/4 wave Tesla systems produce much less spark with
a quench gap, but they will light low pressure gas bulbs many
yards away, so they definitely radiate much better. But the Tesla
Magnifier with a quench gap produces excellent spark, AND
radiates over long distances, especially if sparks are prevented
by loading it up with discharger.
The problem with high powered systems running quench gaps is as
you say, the gaps get huge, and you would almost need a cooling
tower to remove the heat. This heat represents high loss from the
tank circuit. Tesla solved this problem too, but the solution is
not well known. He began running multiple phases directly into
his oscillators, up to 6 phases in the experimental Colorado
Springs machine, and 4 phases in the commercial Wardenclyff plant
on Long Island. By using a quench gap system in series with a
rotary break running at very high speeds (40,000 BPS and possibly
even higher) he was able to obtain CW output from a disruptive
(read rotary) gap system. This way he was able to reduce loss,
keep the size under control, and still get CW output; at the same
time he was able to really increase the power processed by the
system. This is the type of system required for more advanced
work with coil powered directed energy devices.
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Date: 10-20-93 21:35
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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A couple of weeks ago someone posted me some "new to me"
information about Russian RF resonator work that resulted in a
machine capable of fusion. I asked for some additional
information on this subject, and as of yet I have not heard back.
However, I have done some delving of my own and came up with some
very interesting information about this guy (P.L. Kapitza). I
stumbled across the name doing some related research (yes this
thread is based in fact, and Tesla's work has practical apps)...
His name is Peter L. Kapitza, and he shared in a Nobel Prize
in 1978 with Americans Arno Penzias and Robert W. Wilson for his
work in magnetism and the behavior of matter at extremely low
temperatures. His work on RF resonators was apparently done much
earlier, as I find a reference to "High Powered Electronics" in a
Russian periodical, Uspekhi Fizicheskikl Nauk, Vol 78 (November
2, 1962, pp. 181-265). In the same bibliography I find another
"more unusual" reference by physicist Jerzy R. Konieczny "New
Weapon 'X'" in a Polish periodical, Wojskowy Przeglad Lotniczy,
(November 2, 1963, pp. 72-75) apparently referring to a particle
beam device...
A little more research back to Kapitza, turned up Tesla's name in
a quote!!! (See Margaret Cheney, TESLA, MAN OUT OF TIME, pp.284,
Dorset Press, 1981, available from Barnes & Noble, 126 Fifth Ave,
New York, NY 10011, tel 201-767-7079)
The quote is too long to reproduced here (it refers to high
powered particle beams), but it clearly shows Kapitza was very
much aware of Tesla's work in this country. Tesla was, by the
way, the first to investigate "magnetism and the behavior of
matter at extremely low temperatures" in the search of super-
conductivity for his coils. Kapitza credits him.
Tesla lost a laboratory in New York, to fire, at 2:30 A.M., March
13, 1895. The fire is believed to have been caused as a result of
liquid air leaking from his equipment. Tesla stated to the fire
officials at the time that the air liquidation equipment was the
only thing left running in his absence. He used the liquid air to
cool his coils for experiments in high efficiency magnetism...
Now I'm not saying this means anything... but I keep finding
these references dancing around the subject of particle beam
weapons, fusion, high energy lasers, and power transmission
without wires. These are modern references mind you, not Tesla's;
but the deeper I dig, the more I find Tesla's name.
I am also finding out more information on involvement of
"National Security" interests in these references. I mentioned
about James & Kenneth Corum having a paper taken from them after
a presentation by the FBI. In Cheney's book (pp. 310) we find
this... "the U.S. government has deemed the material important to
national security and has been at great pains to conceal it's
existence." She is referring to all of Tesla's advanced (and of
course unpublished) research and papers taken into U.S. custody
at the time of his death.
Now I am sick to death of hearing about Tesla conspiracy, ad
nauseam. But I ask this based on fact (check em yourself). If the
work Tesla did in these areas does not yield workable devices,
then why would there be a "national security" interest? Tesla
laid the ground work for people like Kapitza, Konieczny, and our
own SDI projects.
Again, I will state that it is not illegal to build coils or
other resonators, lasers, particle accelerators, masers, rail
guns, etc. Though I sometimes feel that the government wants
everything but taxes made illegal.
I am still not able to locate any information in English on
Kapitza's RF resonator fusion machine. So whoever sent me the
post, please keep digging.
Now back to the topic...
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Date: 10-20-93 00:18
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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OK, back on topic.
I just dug up a catalog for some more source material. This one
is the Tesla Book Company, P.O. Box 121873, Chula Vista, CA.
91912. They have a 1-800-398-2056 information, catalog, and
ordering service. They carry a book "VACUUM TUBE TESLA COILS",
and I believe that this is the same book that I am going to be
referring to. The Book I am looking at, VACUUM TUBE TESLA COILS,
is written by James & Kenneth Corum. You may also contact Corum &
Associates, Inc. at 8551 State Route 534, Windsor, OH. 44099. I
have met the Corums, they are for real.
I see some other publications worthy of note in this catalog:
TESLA COIL DESIGNER is a computer program written by my friend
Walt Noon, I use this program to determine ball park frequencies
and inductances in mathematical simulation before I wind any
coil. This software is menu driven and Walt has been very helpful
in working out the bugs and adding features with me. It works and
saves hours of designing time.
I see an entry here for Dr. Nickola Tesla's Diary 1899-1900. This
was the time Tesla spent in Colorado Springs working on his
monster oscillator, but this does not sound like the preferred
reference, THE COLORADO SPRINGS NOTES which includes most of the
printable photographs of the lab and the machine. However, the
original prints of this work (as I look at my copy) are from
NOLIT, in Belgrad, Yugoslavia, and are now expensive. 21st
Century Books has copies, P.O.Box 2001, 100 South Ridge St. #101,
Breckenridge, CO. 80424-2001, tel. 303-453-9293, but they want
$100.00 where I paid $45.00 a few years back. I will have to take
better care of mine...
Both of these companies sell "new age science", "zero point
energy" and "scalar wave" material; which in my opinion is
garbage and not worth the paper the printing is on.
Now the Corum book which I will talk about briefly, is a piece of
hard core electronics engineer stuff, but it is worth trying to
muck through for those who don't believe coil driven RF equipment
can have "practical" uses in physics and electronics. It contains
most of the important facts on "A Technical Analysis of the Extra
Coil as a Slow Wave Helical Resonator". This refers of course to
the function of the "extra" coil in Tesla's Colorado Springs
machine. But the book is much more. Tesla driven X-Ray machines,
tapped coaxial helical resonators, particle accelerators, cavity
resonators, etc.
The book has charts and diagrams even the most novice electronics
buff would understand sandwiched between pages of calculus needed
to design and construct the equipment. One page (XI-10) shows the
development of conducting electrical resonators from Lord Kelvin
through Tesla, to Schumann's verification of the earth as an
electrical cavity resonator in 1952.
Books of this quality are rare, and make excellent reading for
anybody interested in high energy electronics. It has an
excellent bibliography.
In searching for material to lead to coil powered high energy
devices I can say that this points to the right directions.
"The coaxial geometries do have the advantage of compactness and
portability. And, this may be of significance to those interested
in directed energy devices."
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Date: 10-21-93 17:41
From: Richard Quick
To: All
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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The Tesla Magnifier
What exactly is the Tesla Magnifier, and how does it differ from
the standard 1/4 wave Tesla Coil? This question has been asked
over and over in the past 93 years. I think I can give some
insight into this for a better understanding of the system. A lot
of the information I will present here (to the best of my knowl-
edge, feel free to prove me wrong) appears in text form for the
first time.
I have explained in some detail the set up and basic operation of
my 10KVA 1/4 wave system. To get a mental picture of how the
coils are physically positioned for firing in this 1/4 wave
system, imagine a 12" phonograph record, with a Quaker Oats
canister sitting upright on the center. The phonograph record
represents the wide flat primary coil, and the oats canister
represents the 1/4 wave secondary coil. The secondary coil would
be topped with a toroid shaped discharger.
These coils are "loosely coupled", "coupling" in coil systems
refers to the mutual inductance between primary and secondary.
The coupling is kept loose because these coils are capable of
such high energy transfers that the secondary is overdriven or
"split" if placed in too close proximity to the primary.
Splitting of the secondary is seen in coils that are over driven
or "over coupled". The excess energy absorbed in the secondary
coil causes a frequency split with the result that harmonic 1/4
wave voltage peaks appear in the secondary coil windings. These
harmonic peaks show up as sparks that break out from the
sides of the coil. If the coupling is not loosened, or input
powers reduced, the coil will be destroyed in short order.
This is a serious limiting factor in 1/4 wave Tesla systems.
"Critical" or perfect coupling limits the amount of energy that
can be processed through the system. Large toroid dischargers
assist in unloading the secondary, and allow for closer coupling,
but this is like treating the symptom, not effecting a cure.
The problem with the 1/4 wave coil system is that all of the
energy processed in the system remains trapped in the secondary
until it is removed by spark. As spark lengths and input powers
grow, so do coupling problems. Strain is also put on the tank
circuit. Energy can flow in both directions in the 1/4 wave
system, and secondary energies can unload not only in spark from
the discharge terminal, but can also flow back into the primary
tank circuit. This results in nightmarish problems "quenching"
the arc at the main system spark gaps. In theory no more than 50%
of the input energy can be converted into discharge off the
secondary air terminal, as both primary and secondary energies
equalize before a break can be effected at the main system spark
gap. Once the break (open, non-firing spark gap) is made, the
secondary energy is trapped, and must be radiated or discharged.
Tesla realized that critical coupling limited the efficiency of
the system, and came up with a unique solution. He added an
"extra" coil to the secondary. The extra coil is a normal 1/4
wave helical resonator, or Tesla secondary. The coil was placed
away from any inductive effects of the primary/secondary "driver"
coils, and was bottom fed by transmission line with the output of
the driver secondary. Tesla was able to determine certain
"harmonic" shifts in the system, but nobody else was able to
figure out what was happening for years and years.
What is happening is this. In order for the "extra" coil to
function properly it must be fed RF current that matches it's
natural 1/4 wave frequency. In order to provide a working system,
the output of the secondary driver coil in his three coil Mag-
nifier must be shifted away from it's normal 1/4 wave output.
The normal 1/4 wave output (high voltage peak) of the Tesla
secondary must be shifted to a lower harmonic in order for the
extra coil to receive current. If you base fed an extra coil with
1/4 wave voltage peaks, all you would get would be sparks from
the transmission line, and a fire at the base of an extra coil
(I've done it). Experiments, and review of Tesla work show that
the 1/8 wave harmonic is preferred. The extra coil will cause
some shifting of the driver coil output, but the system operates
best when THE DRIVER COIL IS WOUND WITH THE PROPER LENGTH OF WIRE
TO FACILITATE 1/8th WAVE OUTPUT.
This boosts efficiency in several ways. First, the energy in
1/8th wave output is about 20% greater than the energy of a 1/4
wave peak. The 1/8th wave location on the sine represents 70%
of the wave energy, as opposed to 50% of the energy at the 1/4
wave point; the 1/8 wave point being the product of both current
and voltage at this location on the sine. While this may seem a
little technical to the novice, a 20% gain is realized by
shifting the output to the lower, 1/8th wave harmonic.
The second increase in efficiency is due to the fact that the
secondary, or driver coil, is no longer responsible for the end
processing of the system energy. The majority of the resonate
rise, or VSWR, occurs in the uncoupled resonator located some
distance away, and fed by transmission line. The secondary is no
longer stressed by a high voltage point at the top of the coil,
and the current produced in the secondary is removed rapidly by
the transmission line to the end resonator (extra coil).
The third boost to efficiency is the ability to tighten the
coupling between the primary and secondary driver set. The coils
can be placed with much greater mutual inductance (tighter
coupling). Energy can then be forced into the driver in much
larger amounts without the problems of splitting and breakdown.
The coils can be arranged more like two nested buckets, with one
inside the other, as opposed to a phonograph record with an oats
canister on top.
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Date: 10-30-93 09:55
From: Richard Quick
To: Guy Daughterty
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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GD> Well, yeah, Richard. We all think you're wacky, and keep
GD> looking toward your direction on the planet waiting to see
GD> the kaboom.
GD> So, once the atmosphere DOES light, how do we turn it off
GD> again? -!-
On your last question: Turn off the switch. I use multiple
interlocks in case one or two fuse closed. Had it happen on the
arc welder current limiter once. When I opened the cabinet to
repair the switch, I noticed the variable shunt was also stuck
and there were signs of arcing. But it is an arc welder...
First remark: Keep looking. Probably won't be a kaboom though,
more like a bazzzap. Obviously even you see the potential.
But if everybody thinks I'm wacky, should I stop posting? I don't
want to waste people's time. I just thought you all were
interested.
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Date: 10-30-93 10:02
From: Richard Quick
To: Guy Daugherty
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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GD> Well I have a Jacob's ladder on an old theater marquis neon
GD> transformer. Really makes the kitty stop and pay attention.
GD> Worries people who see it, too. My inner Beavis loves it.
Yeah, I have some videos of the pole pig settin on the garage
floor with 3/8" copper pipe rails. Pulls arcs clear to the
rafters. Running the tape in slo-mo shows plasmoids forming at
power levels over 5KVA.
I have also messed with doping the rails with salts which modify
the colors. You can get some pretty good Halloween effects with a
couple of old neons and some strontium or lithium salts.
By the way Guy, what grade are you in?
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Date: 10-30-93 16:13
From: Richard Quick
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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Dave,
I got your package in the mail today, and your tape went back
out. It is after the pickup time on Saturday, but you should have
the tape by midweek.
Let me know when you get it, and what you think. I am sorry I had
to cut a lot of material out, but two hours just doesn't seem to
be enough time to give you the tour, show you some techniques,
and show all of the systems. I cut back on a lot of smaller test
and prototype stuff to let you focus on the big coil.
If your interested in anything else, just let me know.
... And if all else fails... Put another megavolt through it