[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

Re: Setting Up


RQ said,

>I grabbed a couple of homemade capacitors, small 15 amp power
>cabinet,

was that 110v or 110MV;)  >>... If all else fails... Throw another 110
megavolts across it!

>[snip]
>
>There is no RF ground in my brother's house. I made a
>counterpoise system using some scrap Al flashing from an old
>capacitor project, two galvinized steel trash cans, and a
>stripped car chassis.

I love it, and to think I was trying to figure a way to get only a couple of
ground rod in! It sure beats having to dig 60' trenches in all directions to
get a good ground like I used to have to do in the desert! 5000'+- of sand,
in spots no one has hit bottom!


>I was getting an easy 24 inches of good hot spark.
>
Richard,
        Is their a table of notable achievements for spark lengths that
neophytes can gauge their results against?


>About this time my gap shorted, burned out, and ended up in the
>"scrap" junk box. I have seen this failure before on old cylinder
>static gaps. What happens is that copper is sublimed from the
>electrodes and is deposited on the PVC plastic ring above the
>electrodes. Little brown "plumes" of sublimed copper are an
>indication of gap age.[snip]
>
Last month I called EG&G and asked for their thyrotron and Spark Gap
Catalog. It came with a nice Introduction to both. Guess how their sealed
gaps fail --- through deposition of the electrode material on the insulating
structure. In fact EG&G rates their gaps by   "Total Collombs" (sp)
transfered rather than hours or number of sparks.


>[snip] we were pulling off nearly 3 feet of spark. I'm enveous!
>
>A wonderful time was had by all [snip]  You get the idea. 
>
I've been hooked, only 2 months and I have to get my fix every night;)

>All piled up in one place it looks like a pretty impressive
>collection. Give me a few weeks and I should have some barn
>burners up and firing. 
>

I'll bet I does. I'm waiting for you to get settled before asking for a
video. How about a picture of you new shop?

>Richard Quick
>
>
>... If all else fails... Throw another 110 megavolts across it!
>___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
>
>
>
                                respectfully

                                jim