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new to list



Hello all

Since I'm new to the list I thought I would post the specs
on my current (#3) coil and pose a couple of questions.


Secondary     3.5 in OD PVC  approx 720 turns # 24

Primary       12 turns solid # 6  vertical helix

Cap           beer bottle salt water approx .006 uf

Transformer   single 12kv 30ma neon

Gap           static cylinder with 8 electrodes

Terminal      6 in diameter foam covered with foil

Discharges    Best was 17 in to grounded point. streamers 12-13 inches



Question # 1

Is this amount of output representative of the above configuration? I have
used this coil with a number of transformers. I started with 6kv 5ma,then
went to 7.5kv 30ma neon,9kv 30 ma, 12 kv 30ma and briefly 15 kv 30ma. After
each step up in power I tuned for best output and worked out the bugs before
moving on. Best results were at 12 kv. The 15 kv neon resulted in no
improvement.
Have I reached a saturation point with this size of coil?



Question # 2

I clearly need to replace the salt water cap with a better unit.However I
cannot find any polyethylene thicker than 4 mils.One place locally has 10 mil
clear vinyl available and its quite inexpensive. Is vinyl usable as a
dielectric?
If so what are its characteristics? (dielectric constant,dissipation factor,
breakdown voltage).I plan on a stacked plate arrangement using enough individual
high capacitance units in series to reach required voltage rating.





Mike Hammer
mhammer-at-midwest-dot-net