Re: How many STSG's in service?

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Jason Petrou by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jasonp-at-btinternet-dot-com>

Weazle,

> Lately there hasn't been much discussion on the list concerning
> the triggered gaps and I was wondering how many are now running
> them and what your results/comments where?
I have been waiting for someone to ask :o)

> Has anyone switched to a triggered gap from a sync rotary, and
> if so, what differences did you notice?  Has there been anyone
> besides myself that has been experimenting with the "dimmers"
> to finalise a design or are we still beta testing?
I have compared TSGs to sync rotaries and have found that in every situation
a well made sync rotary is better than a TSG:
My TSG actually uses my RSG to trigger: the flying electrodes on the TSG are
replaced with carbon brushes, and the stationary electrodes are replaced by
pieces of partially flattened cpper pipe. I use a 100 ohm resistor in series
with the dimmer and the mains, and as the brushed connect it feeds a pulse
thru the igntion coil. This allows me to directly compare my 200BPS rotary
with a triggered gap <sorry all no photos yet :(>
    With a 200bps SRSG, I get 34" strikes to a grounded rod. With the
grounded rod in the same position, the TSG will not allow the streamers to
connect - I hve to move it at least 6" closer. My TSG uses two rounded M10
brass bolts set into a thick nylon base, and the trigger 'ode is an M4 bolt
that has been filed quite flat. Total spacing is set for about 30KV, and
this runs best. Any closer and power arcing appears and any further the gap
doesnt fire.
    I always run my coil now with my sync rotary because the results are
noticably better. I think that the disc size of the rotary has a lot to do
with it... with a TSG the make-break is very fast, as it is with a large
rotary disc. My disc is a little over 10" wide and this makes it much less
likely to power arc than a 6" disc. However the make break of a rotary is
faster than a TSG which is why I choose a rotary.

To be honest, I really dont think that using a TSG really degrades
performance that much - to compare between TSG and RSG you really need to
make them to a high quality. For powers over about 500VA I would easily
reccomend an SRSG, principally because the power transfer is more efficient.
Weaxle, is this youre 900W coil??? If so, then what are your findings??? I
run an 800W coil and I get better performance from my rotary than my TSG.

> I'd like to hear from any and all about your findings, as I've
> found my own experiments not only interesting but rewarding in
> the way my coil performs with a STSG.
As would I...
    My advice to anyone building a SRSG would be to make the disc big.
Although it is harder to balance and construct, I believe the resualts are
definitely better.

Best regards,
Jason