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Re: TESLA COIL DESIGN

Dick,

Thanks for the indepth discussion on coil design.  Fortunately, this design
is still on paper.  I have ordered John Couture's Tesla Coil Design Manual.
 Is this a good book?

When I built my first and only Tesla coil about 25 years ago I did use tight
windings on a 6.0" dia. acrylic coil form.  It produced 13.0" discharges.  I
did not know how to tune it then and used only one plate glass capacitor
about 24 " square.  I also did not use any capacitors or RF chokes for
filters, which probably explains why I lost one transformer.  My next coil
will be much better.

Re: Grounding

The copper pipe that comes in from my well is connected to all the other
grounds in the house, including the circuit breaker box.  I will use a
separate copper ground rod for the Tesla coil ground.

Is it necessary to use a torroid form discharger?  Can I use a coppper sphere
6.0" to 8.0" in diameter?  From the discussions I've read, it seems the
larger shape is necessary to achieve the desired capacitance.  Someone should
go into busisness building copper torroid dischargers.  Have you tried wound
copper tubing on a spherical form - like we see in Tesla's old designs?

I am sure I will have more questions after more reading.

Thanks,  Ed