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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)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  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
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
* 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
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  Date: 06-05-94  00:29
  From: Andrew Sempere                              
    To: Roy J. Tellason                            
  Subj: Tesla Coils
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 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)

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  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.

ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  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)
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
  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
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 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
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
 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)