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AS> I heard that Tesla himself build a 10 story coil that was
AS> capable of lighting up bulbs 20 miles away....
The tower of the Wardenclyffe commercial plant built in 1901 was
167 feet tall (air terminal) on a stone and concrete foundation
that exended 50 feet below the water table (the ground terminal).
The power station built near the tower had footings poured for
four massive multi-phase generators to drive what at the time was
the largest capacitor bank in the world. The coil was steam
powered, with one boiler and generator operational.
AS> ... (the coil) caused all the corn fields within a 20 mile
AS> radius to spontaneously combust :) -Andrew
Nothing like this ever occured, though many of the effects of his
oscillators were even stranger. He experimented with mechanical,
and electromechanical, oscillators in addition to the purely
electrical devices such as the Tesla coil.
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Date: 06-01-94 06:48
From: Bob Patten
To: Andrew Sempere
Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
AS> Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I could find
AS> plans or a book on building a small tesla coil? (Is this a
AS> stupid question?) I really don't want a monster, just a small
AS> scale coil that would make a good summer project.
How about an ignition coil using a K-Mart universal coil (abt
$12) and a 555 timer chip? Makes about 40KV, easy to build, and
cheap. For an S.A.S.E., can copy the book and send it to you.
Bob Patten
2841 N.W. 112 Terrace
Plantation, Fl. 33323
! Origin: Bashful Pervert BBS (305) 472-7715 (1:369/120)
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Date: 06-02-94 07:10
From: Bob Patten
To: All
Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
I'm interested in building a Tesla coil using a ham transmitter
as the power source (if it's possible). The lowest frequency
available to me is 1.8Mhz at 100w or 3.5Mhz at 1000w, both at an
impedance of 50 ohms.
I know that the conventional Tesla coils with spark gaps operate
at much lower frequencies. Does anyone have any experience in
this area?
! Origin: Bashful Pervert BBS (305) 472-7715 (1:369/120)
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Date: 06-03-94 00:17
From: Michael Diresta
To: Richard Quick
Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Richard, hope it's ok to jump in. Many years ago (30) I built a
Tesla Coil for a school project. The unit got packed up and put
away. After seeing so many messages here it renewed my interest.
I unpacked it and although it looks perfect it don't work. I
never saved the schemetic and haven't a clue where to find one. I
do remember that it came out of a Popular Science/Mech mag back
in the 60's. The unit has from memory a 30" coil of # 32 wire
that I wound by hand on a wooden Dowel. There a big transformer,
can't remember where I found it and a smaller 6.3V transformer
used to run two 611A tubes. There are also a couple of barrel
type caps that I got from an old B/W TV set, a couple of switches
one of each transformer and a few other parts. Have you any ideas
where I should start??
! Origin: AEOLUS - Andover, MA, USA - (508) 474-0328 (1:324/114)
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Date: 06-03-94 11:15
From: Andrew Sempere
To: Bob Patten
Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
>monster, just a small scale coil that would make a
>good summer project.
BP> How about an ignition coil using a K-Mart universal coil
BP> (abt $12) and a 555 timer chip? Makes about 40KV, easy to
BP> build, and cheap. For an S.A.S.E., can copy the book and
BP> send it to you.
BP> Bob Patten
BP> 2841 N.W. 112 Terrace
Great! I'll send you an SASE ASAP Thanks! -Andrew
! Origin: AEOLUS - Andover, MA, USA - (508) 474-0328 (1:324/114)
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Date: 06-03-94 11:29
From: Dave Halliday
To: Andrew Sempere
Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
DH> I friend of mine is building a "tabletop" coil - 3"
DH> diameter, 12" long. You will need to collect some neon sign
DH> transformers (12-15Kv), build a spark gap, put together a
DH> capacitor and wind the primary and secondary coil. Key
DH> thing with coils - stay away from PVC pipe
AS |Thanks for the help, a 3 X 12 sounds like a good size...
Hi Andrew - I saw that Richard QUick also responded to your
question - he has a lot of great information that he has posted.
I was initially interested in Tesla Coils back when I was in High
School and built one along the "classical" lines and was very
disappointed with the results. The "classical" school of thought
then was to go for a long skinny secondary, just a few turns on
the primary and a large capacitance. This turns out to be 150%
wrong! You need a short squat secondary, about 5-15 turns and a
smaller capacitance for optimal performance.
The secondary should be about 1:4 ratio dia to height.
! Origin: Grey Matter * Seattle, WA * (206) 528-1941 (1:343/210)
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Date: 06-03-94 18:37
From: Roy J. Tellason
To: Andrew Sempere
Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
30 May 94, Andrew Sempere writes to All:
AS> Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I could find
AS> plans or a book on building a small tesla coil? (Is this a
AS> stupid question?) I really don't want a monster, just a
AS> small scale coil that would make a good summer project.
Some years ago there were a couple of articles published on this
in Popular Electronics. One was about 3 or 4 feet tall, and
would generate anywhere from 250,000-750,000 volts depending on
how many glass-plate capacitors you added to it. The other was a
somewhat smaller unit which sounds like it would be what you're
looking for.
If anyone out there has a copy of this magazine, I'd sure love
to get copies of the articles again, I lost my copy of it years
ago...
That big one would light a flourescent tube 6 feet away with no
wires! <grin>
! Origin: TANSTAAFL BBS (1:270/615)
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Date: 06-05-94 00:24
From: Andrew Sempere
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA TESLA COIL
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* Original From: Norman Cardillo (1:324/114)
* Original To : Andrew Sempere (1:324/114)
Somebody once said that power should be transmitted with Tesla
Coils instead of using wires, because those wires running every-
where cause a health problem. This would probably cause more
problems than transmission lines.
! Origin: AEOLUS - Andover, MA, USA - (508) 474-0328 (1:324/114)
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Date: 06-04-94 00:37
From: Terry Smith
To: Bob Patten
Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
BP> I'm interested in building a Tesla coil using a ham
BP> transmitter as the power source (if it's possible).
BP> The lowest frequency available to me is 1.8Mhz at 100w
BP> or 3.5Mhz at 1000w, both at an impedance of 50 ohms.
BP> I know that the conventional Tesla coils with spark gaps
BP> operate at much lower frequencies. Does anyone have any
BP> experience in this area?
You could quite easily turn a Tesla coil into a transmitter,
generating signal types not approved for HAM use, at strengths
well above Part 15 limits. Below 9 kHz such limits would not
apply.
Other than by only operating it well inside the boundaries of a
BIG piece of private property, I wonder what kind of induced
and radiated signal strenghts are produced by large Tesla coils.
I'd guess that what sounds like a 50 KVA unit discussed here
probably substantially exceeds Part 15 unintentional radiator
emmissions limits.
If Richard, or the others playing with toys, notice...
Over what range of frequencies are you guys producing emmissions,
and at what kind of field/distance? I'd imagine some coils
produce an unstable (in terms of frequency) output over a 10 or
100 to 1 range, while others may be stable within 5% or less.
Is this a reasonable presumption?
Have any of these coils been monitored with field strength
meters, or spectrum analyzers with calibrated antenna sets?
Terry
! Origin: Charges filed under Ohms Law! (203)732-0575 BBS
(1:141/1275)
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Date: 06-05-94 00:26
From: Andrew Sempere
To: Dave Halliday
Subj: Tesla Coils
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DH> I was initially interested in Tesla Coils back when I was in
DH> High School Sounds like me... I always thought I was the only
DH> high school kid who thought that building a tesla coil might
DH> be fun... Oh well :)
DH> and built one along the "classical" lines and was very
DH> disappointed with the results. The "classical" school
DH> of thought then was to go for a long skinny secondary,
DH> just a few turns on the primary and a large capacitance.
DH> This turns out to be 150% wrong! You need a short squat
DH> secondary, about 5-15 turns and a smaller capacitance for
DH> optimal performance.
DH> The secondary should be about 1:4 ratio dia to height.
Thanks for the tips, as I am entirely new to Tesla coils,
anything is helpful, this promises to be quite interesting...
-Andrew
! Origin: AEOLUS - Andover, MA, USA - (508) 474-0328 (1:324/114)
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Date: 06-05-94 00:29
From: Andrew Sempere
To: Roy J. Tellason
Subj: Tesla Coils
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RJT> Some years ago there were a couple of articles
RJT> published on this in Popular Electronics. One was
RJT> about 3 or 4 feet tall, and would generate anywhere
RJT> from 250,000-750,000 volts depending on how many glass-
RJT> plate capacitors you added to it. The other was a
RJT> somewhat smaller unit which sounds like it would be
RJT> my copy of it years ago...
I think I'm going to check my local library, they offer a service
that can fax a copy of almost any article you want for a small
charge, I used it to get a few other old Popular Electronics
articles. If I find it I'll let you know (If you want a copy just
let me know) Anyway, thanks for the note -Andrew
RJT> That big one would light a flourescent tube 6 feet away
RJT> with no wires! <grin>
Cool! 8-)
! Origin: AEOLUS - Andover, MA, USA - (508) 474-0328 (1:324/114)
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Date: 06-06-94 18:25
From: Richard Quick
To: Bob Patten
Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
-=> Sez Bob Patten to All <=-
BP> I'm interested in building a Tesla coil using a ham
BP> transmitter as the power source (if it's possible).
There are at least two ways that I can think of to run a coil
from a driver such as this. But I would not advise doing it.
The ham equipment, powerful as it is, is not designed to drive
a coil to spark.
You would be better (and it would be much safer for the HAM
xmittr) to design a tube driven or spark gap excited tank circuit
to drive a coil.
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Date: 06-06-94 18:25
From: Richard Quick
To: Michael Diresta
Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
-=> Sez Michael Diresta to Richard Quick <=-
MD> Richard, hope it's ok to jump in.
We love to jump in!
MD> Many years ago (30) I built a Tesla Coil for a school
MD> project. The unit got packed up and put away. After
MD> seeing so many messages here it renewed my interest. I
MD> unpacked it and although it looks perfect it don't work. I
MD> never saved the schemetic and haven't a clue where to find
MD> one. I do remember that it came out of a Popular
MD> Science/Mech mag back in the 60's. The unit has from memory
MD> a 30" coil of # 32 wire that I wound by hand on a wooden
MD> Dowel. There a big transformer, can't remember where I found
MD> it and a smaller 6.3V transformer used to run two 611A
MD> tubes. There are also a couple of barrel type caps that I
MD> got from an old B/W TV set, a couple of switches one of each
MD> transformer and a few other parts. Have you any ideas where
MD> I should start??
I will start by telling you that I am not an expert on tube
coils; though I am familiar with them, I have never designed or
built one. With that out of the way, I will let you know what I
can, and reference the rest.
Most likely the project you are looking at was titled "Lil' Tesla
Coil",(or somesuch), and was built by a lot of Popular Science
readers of the era. The design is so dated by modern standards
that I would scavenge the tubes, caps, and power supply; the rest
I would scrap and rebuild. The reasons for this are nearly too
numerious to list...
1) Wood is at the bottom of the list of suitable coil form
materials. This coil should be wound on acrylic, polyethylene,
polystyrene, polypropylene, or some other high Q plastic.
2) The wire (#32) is too thin for excellent efficiency. Move up
to #24, or larger, double Formvar covered magnet wire.
3) The coil form is too skinny; it needs to be fatter for a
higher inductance, higher Q coil, using the heavier wire. The
new plastic secondary coil should have an aspect ratio (height
to width ratio) of no more than 4:1, 3:1 being close to ideal.
4) The primaries need to be rebuilt to match the new higher Q
secondary design. Greater surface area conductors (thin wall
pipe, coax shield, strap, strip, etc.) should be substituted
for the solid bare copper wire typically used on early tube
coils.
By far and away the most exhaustive reference on tube circuits
was done by James and Kenneth Corum and is titled "VACUUM TUBE
TESLA COILS", published by Corum & Assoc, 8551 State Route 534,
Windsor, Oh. 44099, available from the International Tesla
Society, P.O. Box 5636, Colorado Springs, CO. 80931.
A second book that features what I believe is the same or similar
coil is "Tesla Coils! 100 Years of Electrical Magic" by Brent
Turner, and most likely available at the address above. Mr.
Turner's book has a lot of info on the solid state drivers for
inductively coupled Tesla coils. His coil is a historical
reproduction of the tube coils popularized in the 60's.
Harry Goldman at The Tesla Coil Builders Association will have
additional book sources: TCBA, 3 AMY LANE, QUEENSBURY, NEW YORK
12804. (Tell him I refered you)
This will get you started, if you need any more help please let
me know.
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Date: 06-06-94 23:34
From: Andrew Sempere
To: Richard Quick
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
RQ> From what I have read it is chloroflorocarbons that have
RQ> been firmly identified as responsible for atmospheric ozone
RQ> depletion, products such as "freon" used in the chillers of
RQ> air conditioning systems and propelents in spray cans.
I suppose that I really was rolling two issues together: Ozone
depletion and global warming. One of the biggest "greenhouse
gasses" is carbon dioxide, a result of combustion, while the
ozone aspect is mainly the result of CFC's...
RQ> The tower of the Wardenclyffe commercial plant built in 1901
RQ> was 167 feet tall (air terminal) on a stone and concrete
RQ> foundation that exended 50 feet below the water table (the
RQ> ground terminal).
Wow :) Sounds like a very large, very expensive project.
Incidentally, was it ever operational?
AS> ... (the coil) caused all the corn fields within a 20 mile
AS> radius to spontaneously combust :) -Andrew
RQ> Nothing like this ever occured, though many of the effects
RQ> of his oscillators were even stranger. He experimented with
RQ> mechanical, and electromechanical, oscillators in addition
RQ> to the purely electrical devices such as the Tesla coil.
Too Bad... I heard the story at an electricity demonstration
using a three story Van de Graph generator, a tesla coil, and
a few other devices at the Boston Museum of Science. While I
had my doubts, the image of exploding cornfields amused me...
Oh Well... -Andrew
! Origin: AEOLUS - Andover, MA, USA - (508) 474-0328 (1:324/114)
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Date: 06-06-94 19:36
From: Richard Quick
To: Terry Smith
Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
-=> Sez Bob Patten <=-
BP> I'm interested in building a Tesla coil using a ham
BP> transmitter as the power source (if it's possible).
BP> The lowest frequency available to me is 1.8Mhz at 100w or
BP> 3.5Mhz at 1000w, both at an impedance of 50 ohms.
BP> I know that the conventional Tesla coils with spark gaps
BP> operate at much lower frequencies. Does anyone have any
BP> experience in this area?
-=> Sez Terry Smith to Bob Patten <=-
TS> You could quite easily turn a Tesla coil into a transmitter,
TS> generating signal types not approved for HAM use, at
TS> strengths well above Part 15 limits. Below 9 kHz such
TS> limits would not apply.
He wants to drive a coil with xmitr outputs, not set up a coil to
mimic xfrmr output (ie make a transmitting Tesla Coil). There is
a big difference in making a coil transmit, and making a
transmitter drive a coil to spark.
TS> Other than by only operating it well inside the boundaries
TS> of a BIG piece of private property, I wonder what kind of
TS> induced and radiated signal strenghts are produced by large
TS> Tesla coils. I'd guess that what sounds like a 50 KVA unit
TS> discussed here probably substantially exceeds Part 15
TS> unintentional radiator emmissions limits.
The only large coil I have heard discussed here is mine, and it
is 10 KVA (where did 50 KVA come from anyway?) coil. As for
induced and radiated signal strengths... Oh there is some, I
won't deny it. Up close the field strength will damage modern
electronics. But my REAL emmissions are neglible, most everthing
I generate goes to ground.
TS> If Richard, or the others playing with toys,
^^^^
I love this guy!
TS> notice... Over what range of frequencies are you guys
TS> producing emmissions, and at what kind of field/distance?
TS> I'd imagine some coils produce an unstable (in terms of n
TS> frequency) output over a 10 or 100 to 1 range, while others
TS> may be stable within 5% or less. Is this a reasonable
TS> presumption?
Uh, yeah I guess so...
TS> Have any of these coils been monitored with field strength
TS> meters, or spectrum analyzers with calibrated antenna sets?
Oh, man... You put a calibrated antenna set anywhere within 50-60
feet of one of my experiments and you are going to instantly fry
some real expensive equipment. Spectrum anyalizer??? I can
usually measure field strength with volt/ohm meter, and I
register on the volts scale, (not milivolts) with a resistor and
rectifier in the probe antenna. Better yet, just grab the closest
tube with any vacuum in it, does it glow bright? Yup, the coil is
firing.....
Of course, whether or not I am causing anybody any problem is
another, completely different, story. My equipment is responsibly
built and operated. I have had ZERO complaints about RFI, and I
have checked. My biggest complaint? My sparkgaps sound like
unmuffled chainsaws, and people complain about the noise...
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Date: 06-05-94 05:13
From: Bob Patten
To: Andrew Sempere
Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
-> BP> How about an ignition coil using a K-Mart universal coil
-> BP> Makes about 40KV, easy to build, and cheap.
-> BP> S.A.S.E., can copy the book and send it to you.
-> BP> Bob Patten
-> BP> 2841 N.W. 112 Terrace
-> Great! I'll send you an SASE ASAP Thanks! -Andrew
I think you'll have fun with it! You can get all the other parts
at your local Radio Shlock and the whole project won't cost you a
ton of time or money... 73, BP
! Origin: Bashful Pervert BBS (305) 472-7715 (1:369/120)
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Date: 06-05-94 18:47
From: Roy J. Tellason
To: Bob Patten
Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
02 Jun 94, Bob Patten writes to All:
BP> I'm interested in building a Tesla coil using a ham
BP> transmitter as the power source (if it's possible).
Why would you want to do that? TANSTAAFL BBS (1:270/615)
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Date: 06-05-94 19:16
From: Roy J. Tellason
To: Andrew Sempere
Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
05 Jun 94, Andrew Sempere writes to Roy J. Tellason:
RJT>> Some years ago there were a couple of articles published
RJT>> on this in Popular Electronics. One was about 3 or 4 feet
RJT>> tall, and would generate anywhere from 250,000 -750,000
RJT>> volts depending on how many glass-plate capacitors you
RJT>> added to it. The other was a somewhat smaller unit which
RJT>> sounds like it would be my copy of it years ago...
AS> I think I'm going to check my local library, they offer a
AS> service that can fax a copy of almost any article you want
AS> for a small charge, I used it to get a few other old Popular
AS> Electronics articles. If I find it I'll let you know (If you
AS> want a copy just let me know).
Great! Sorry I can't be more specific about what issue it was
in, or even the year. I'd say that the odds are pretty good
that it was 1965 or earlier, if I had to take a guess. Yeah,
if you get this let me know what it amounts to and I'll get back
to you about copies, etc. ! Origin: TANSTAAFL BBS (1:270/615)
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Date: 06-06-94 02:41
From: Bob Patten
To: Terry Smith
Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
BP> I'm interested in building a Tesla coil using a ham
BP> transmitter power source (if it's possible). The lowest
BP> frequency available is 1.8Mhz at 100w or 3.5Mhz at 1000w,
BP> both at an impedance of 50... I know that the conventional
BP> Tesla coils with spark gaps operate lower frequencies.
BP> Does anyone have any experience in this area
-> You could quite easily turn a Tesla coil into a transmitter,
-> generating <signal> types not approved for HAM use, at
-> strengths well above Part 15 limits. Below 9 kHz such limits
-> would not apply.
Well, in my case, I could always key it and make some CW QSO's
whilst demonstrating the effects of the Tesla coil. I imagine it
would radiate a clean CW signal...
! Origin: Bashful Pervert BBS (305) 472-7715 (1:369/120)
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Date: 06-06-94 19:57
From: Randy Dixon
To: Andrew Sempere
Subj: Tesla coils
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I knew a Guy whom made one and lit up a guy 2 houses down whom
was using his telephone, so please be careful when testing
these toys... Randy ! 1.58/004124 Pleasure Palace BBS
(1:3642/506)
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Date: 06-06-94 23:03
From: Michael Diresta
To: Andrew Sempere
Subj: Tesla Coils
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Hi, If you get the plans I'd like a copy. I built one years ago
and it not longer works and naturally I lost the plans. I love
to see if I could get it running again.
! Origin: AEOLUS - Andover, MA, USA - (508) 474-0328 (1:324/114)
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Date: 06-06-94 23:46
From: Andrew Sempere
To: Roy J. Tellason
Subj: Tesla Coils
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RJT>> Popular Electronics. One was about 3 or 4 feet tall,
RJT>> and would generate anywhere from 250,000-750,000 volts
RJT>> depending on how many glass-plate capacitors...
RJT> Great! Sorry I can't be more specific about what
RJT> issue it was in, or even the year. I'd say that the
RJT> odds are pretty good that it was 1965 or earlier, if
RJT> I had to take a guess. Yeah, if you get this let me
Well, I checked one database, and the only entry they had was
for Radio Electronics, Sept '91, p33: "plans for construction
of a solid state Tesla coil" The issue was checked out so I
didn't get a chance to look at it, although I don't think this
is the same artical you are talking about...
I'll keep looking and keep you posted... -Andrew
! Origin: AEOLUS - Andover, MA, USA - (508) 474-0328 (1:324/114)
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Date: 06-07-94 21:59
From: Richard Quick
To: Andrew Sempere
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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RQ> The tower of the Wardenclyffe commercial plant built in 1901
RQ> was 167 feet tall (air terminal) on a stone and concrete
RQ> foundation that exended 50 feet below the water table (the
RQ> ground terminal).
AS> Wow :) Sounds like a very large, very expensive project.
Yes.
AS> Incidentally, was it ever operational?
Briefly at reduced powers. The transmitter had it's own power
plant and shop. Tesla remarked in foreclosure hearings and
depositions relating to this work on the coal expense at
Wardenclyff. During depositions, he submitted photos of multi-
phase high speed generators weighing several tons...
"Reduced power" on the Wardenclyff machine would be around 250
KVA guesstimate. Note that this is not the Colorado Springs
machine which processed around 250 KVA when maXed.
AS> ... (the coil) caused all the corn fields within a 20 mile
AS> radius to spontaneously combust :) -Andrew
RQ> Nothing like this ever occured...
AS> Too Bad... I heard the story at an electricity demonstration
Not that I am aware of anyway. There are some pretty wild
"eyewitness" reports of effects. Most people don't pay attention
to the solid evidence such as photographs, notes, court hearings,
etc., that document the size and power levels of his equipment.
The facts are so commonly distorted that what is popularized is
almost as damaging as what was left unsaid.
Tesla is the father of an entire age of man's history.
Long before lightning at Colorado Springs, Tesla had designed and
patented key aspects of the nations 60 cycle power grid. His work
with higher frequency electricity led him to key patents in
Radio, confirmed by the US Supreme Court in 1943. His list of
related diagrams and patents for mechanical, electro-mechanical
and electrical equipment leaves little to the imagination when
taken as a whole. His work was revolutionary.
Long before Marconi could send a "click" across the English
Channel; Tesla had equipment that was capable of sending and
receiving signals hundereds, if not thousands, of miles. As the
inventor of the first commercial alternating current power system
at Niagra Falls, now in use worldwide, he was quite familiar with
industrial scale operations. His work with the experimental
oscillator at Colorado Springs, and later the unfinished (but
operational) commerical plant on Long Island (Wardenclyff), were
his efforts to globally supply both information and energy
without wires. These plants required conventional (hydro, steam)
power supplies. No energy was "created" or "free". In the
Wardenclyff plant, the coal bill for operations was a stress on
Tesla's finances, and the plant later went into forclosure.
The major components of these systems were simple: Ground,
primary coil, secondary or "driver" coil, extra coil, air
terminal, and power supply components to drive the primary coil;
such as high voltage pulse discharging capacitors, step up xfmrs,
and primary spark gap or break device.
The principal of operation would take another post of this length
to cover in any detail, but suffice now to say that the ground
and air terminal currents were very very large. Side effects from
operation of the coil system at Colorado Springs were noted by
Tesla as well as others, and were frequently repeated. These
effects included; people reported drawing electrical arcs (not
static electricty) from water pipes to their bodies throughout
the town of Colorado Springs, insects took flight covered in St.
Elmo's Fire, horses were pulling electrical arcs (not static
electricity) from the ground to their shoes, local atmospheric
illumination (corona type effects) around the machine, etc..
Like I said, too much has been sensationalized, but the true
facts really strike home.
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Date: 06-03-94 17:52
From: Richard Quick
To: Andrew Sempere
Subj: 10KVA Tesla Coil
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You were posting this to Blair Groves, but I finally succumbed..
AS> (hence the burning of fossil fuels that destroy the ozone
AS> layer)