Re: newbie to tesla stuff

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

Original poster: "davep by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <davep-at-quik-dot-com>


>OK, I have never built a Telsa coil before, so how do

>I get started? I think that I need a dummies for Tesla

>book or something. But, in the meantime could someone

>recommend a website or a book that could help me get going in the right 
>direction?


>I have lots of questions and I don't know where to start.

>Here are few that I have:

>What's this stuff about Tesla putting coils on a ship

>to make it dissapear from radar?

         Almost certainly fiction.

>Did this actually happen and did it work?
         cf above.

         (and, generally, not subject for this list, tho its
         not my place to say so.)


>What's so special about high frequency electicity?

         Many things.

>Can't it still kill you?
         Yep.

         Sometimes in the same ways, sometimes in New and
         Different way.

         It makes a heckuva light show.


>What is a spark gap?

         Whooooah.  Need more basics.
         A gap in a wire (sometimes a Very Complicated
         and sophisticated gap) which the electricity
         jumps.  If the rest of the bits are right, it
         works to 'create' the high frequency.

>Do I need one of these?
         For a spark gap type coil:

                 yes.
         For a 'cw' coil:
                 No.
         (Tesla used them, in part, because there was no
         better way to get HF.  They are still rugged, cheap
         and reliable.)


>Anyway, I am really new to this, so I don't even know what

>kind of questions that I should be asking.

         Many.
         Follow up recommendations on what to read & ask.
         Tesla coils can LOOK simple:
                 They are complex, and subtle; and can (in
                 many sizes) kill without mercy.  (as can
                 many other things.)
         In general, it helps to have a good basic understanding
         to know which questions to ask.

>My main goal is not to kill myself!!!!!!!
         A laudable goal.

         Plenty of help for that here.

-- 
         best
         dwp

...the net of a million lies...
         Vernor Vinge
There are Many Web Sites which Say Many Things.
         -me