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Re: 2nd Annual TCBOM Tesla/Sweat-thon
From: richard hull[SMTP:rhull-at-richmond.infi-dot-net]
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 1997 8:29 PM
To: Tesla List
Subject: Re: 2nd Annual TCBOM Tesla/Sweat-thon
At 10:54 PM 7/28/97 -0500, you wrote:
>
>From: Steve Roys[SMTP:sroys-at-umabnet.ab.umd.edu]
>Sent: Monday, July 28, 1997 12:16 PM
>To: Tesla List
>Subject: 2nd Annual TCBOM Tesla/Sweat-thon
>
>Well all,
>
>The second annual Tesla Coil Builders of Maryland Teslathon went off
>swimmingly. It was held in some truly user-unfriendly 90+ degree heat and
>100+% humidity, after a long tiring morning of trudging around the
>Timonium, MD hamfest looking for unbelievable bargains. In attendance
>from the Maryland group were myself and Barry Benson, and one of my
>friends and his young son (who stuck around for just a little of the
>festivities and who helped me finish wiring up my system), Larry Adams
>from Virginia right around DC (who had called me the day before and asked
>if I had enough cinder blocks to build a wall to hide behind for some
>large capacitive discharge experiments he might bring along...I didn't, so
>his caps stayed home), Richard Hull and Kim Goins from the TCBOR group, a
>professional astronomer who works on the Hubble Space Telescope project
>and two other of Kim's friends who who showed up at the hamfest and
>trailed along for the arcs-n-sparks.
>
>A great time was had by all despite the heat, with the swimming pool,
>burgers, dogs, and condiments provided by yours truly and a dirod
>electrostatic generator demonstration by Richard Hull (which worked just
>great even considering the heat and high humidity!). Later, after tweaking
>my coil which was using my new 60A, 240V controller that I had just
>finished wiring up the night before, a new gang of neon sign transformers
>(2 x 15kV-at-60mA, 277V input! - figure THAT one out), my existing conical
>primary of 3/8 Cu refrigerator tubing, a CP condenser (.025 uF, 20kVac), a
>Cu tube gap cooled/quenched by a vacuum plenum, Barry's secondary and a
>slew of aluminum dryer duct toroids piled on top (which brought the
>resonant frequeny in right around 230kHz), we were hitting 48" every now
>and then, and 40" easily. I was only grabbing the inner half of my
>primary at resonance, and there were multiple breakouts occurring from the
>pile of toroids on the secondary, so it was obvious that I needed more top
>loading to really get the system cranking. Richard Hull then whipped out
>his portable Keithley electrometer and gave us all a demonstration of the
>DC wave that a coil pumps out, pegging his meter even 30 feet from the
>coil (coil in the garage, electrometer OUTSIDE of the garage...). Kim
>also had some really nice lichtenberg figures in plexiglass that she made
>at the accellerator, and the kids were kept busy making vortices and
>anti-vortices in the pool while we were coiling and no one was swimming.
>
>The last pilgrim drove off at about 9:00PM. All in all a great day, even
>if Richard had glommed onto 6(!) assorted keithely meters and current
>sources at the 'fest - and I had only seen 1!
>
I'm sorry Steve but I gotta kick in on this one....
Lots of people ask me how to join the TCBOR. There is only one criteria to
being a TCBOR member... attend the monthly mettings in Richmond regularly!
No dues, no officers, no parliamentary proceedings, etc. Just be there
regularly.
Larry Adams, monthly, drives to Richmond from DC. (two hour drive) He is a
regular TCBOR member. Kim Goins two friends are actually all of our friends
as they were T.R. Leary and his sidekick Tom. These fellows hail from Va.
Beach and attend every TCBOR meeting as regular as I do. (2 hour drive) So
all are true TCBOR members in good standing. Thus, there were 5 actual
TCBOR regular members at attendance at your Teslathon.
I wasn't kidding Sunday when I noted that the TCBOR members outnumbered the
TCBOM members. I was sorry that Mitch and the older gentleman in the TCBOM
couldn't make it.
Again, I had as much fun as I have EVER had at any Teslathon! Carefree and
floatin' in th' pool. I deserved it though as I had to hussle to beat you
out of all those Keithleys and in that 95 degree heat, I needed that pool
action after the fest.
Your Tesla buddy and proud owner of six new Keithleys,
Richard