Tuning Problem

To: tesla-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com
Subject: Tuning Problem
From: Richard Quick <richard.quick-at-slug-dot-org>
Date: Sun, 1 Sep 1996 21:42:16 GMT

Quoting coco-at-astroman-dot-com

-> I have recently changed my spark gap on my 6" secondary,
-> 120mah neon sized coil, to an air blast gap, and changed
-> the gap to now be in parallel with the transformer.
-> I have noticed a differnace in spark output ..from 24" to
-> about 32" (although this still seems low to others with similar
-> sized coils)...but now with the added output, I am getting
-> interturn sparking on the secondary...I figured this was due
-> to not properly being tuned so I began attempting to tune the
-> tap on the primary...no matter where I go I cannot seem to
-> eliminate this problem.

Your coupling is too tight with the new configuration. You need
to raise your secondary coil in relation to the primary, or you
need to lower the primary in relation to the secondary.

-> With the largest output I am only on the fourth turn of the
-> primary...? Perhaps I need more turns on my primary?  (I
-> only have 6 turns total)  Rob D.

With only four primary turns tapped, and your secondary over-
coupling, your system is crying out for a larger toroid terminal.
With the larger toroid you will be able add in your two available
primary turns, increase the current thru-put in the secondary, and
get those longer sparks.

I generally find the best performance comes when the primary
coil is tapped between 8-15 turns and the rest of the system
is synergistically tuned.

Richard Quick