Re: Beginer building a small sstc.

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "D.C. Cox" <resonance@xxxxxxxxxx>


Flybacks don't really have enough driving current to do a great 
job.  Nice 12 kV 30 mA NST will give you a better output  --  20 inch 
spark with a 4 inch coil (better inductance equals high output and 
inductance goes up as square of the radius) with a 19 inch winding 
length of #30 AWG.  I have free plans if you contact me off-list.

Dr. Resonance


> I am 14 and have a few questions about a small Tesla coil I'm trying 
> to build. First of all, the dimensions for the secondary coil will 
> be 2.5 inches in diameter and 10 inches tall. I have a homemade 
> plate stack capacitor that can handle 10 kv playing on the safe 
> side. I measured it to have a capacity of 26 nf ut under my body 
> weight I can get  it up to 40 nf. For a coil this small I'll 
> probably leave it uncompressed. As for the power supply, I would 
> like to stay away from wall sockets and work off battery power. I'm 
> thinking of using a squre wave generator sending out pulses at 1-100 
> khz at 10-15 volts and running it backwards through a 3 volt 
> transformer, this should get me between 4 and 6 kv. My second best 
> choice for power supply would be a flyback transformer, but I only 
> have the newer types, encased with plastic and having cylindrical 
> secondar coils. I made a torid for the coil out of three feet of 
> dryer hose. it has a 9 inch diam eter and is 4.5 inches tall. Is 
> this too big for my coil? Since I'm working at this low a power 
> level, I plan on using 18 awg speaker wire for a primary coil and 28 
> awg for the secandary. Is 18 awg too thin? For the primary how many 
> coils should I use and how far apart should I space them? If you 
> have any comments or answers to even just one question, I would love 
> to hear them.