[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Re: Plans in 1969 Magazine
From: mikey1[SMTP:mikey1-at-gladstone.uoregon.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 1997 11:40 AM
To: Tesla List
Subject: Re: Plans in 1969 Magazine
Tesla List wrote:
>
> From: Rod Clark[SMTP:clarkr-at-MR.Net]
> Reply To: clarkr-at-MR.Net
> Sent: Sunday, November 02, 1997 7:21 PM
> To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
> Subject: Plans in 1969 Magazine
>
> I built a Tesla coil way back around 1969 or 1970. It was a neon sign
> transformer driven, glass plate cap, spark gap type. I think the
> magazine was called 'Electronic Experimenter's Handbook' or 'Radio
> Experimenter's Handbook'. It could have been some other magazine. I
> just don't recall.
> Does anyone know what the magazine might have been, and how I can get a
> copy of this article again?
>
> Rod Clark
>
> clarkr-at-MR-dot-net
My first Tesla Coil was Charles Caringella's infamous "BIG TC", from the
1965 fall edition of the Electrical Experimenter's Handbook. I built
this coil in 1989, and, of course, was instantly impressed with the
whopping four inches of spark coming from the bolt atop the
candlestick. The system uses a solenoidal primary made from test prod
wire, a _single_ sheet of window glass as the primary capacitor, and
boasts an extravagant h/d ratio of over 10!
Nonetheless, this phallic extruder of the purplish sparklies was rather
efficient at illuminating fluorescent lamp tubes up to 12 feet away (did
someone say intentional radiator?), and was once pressed into service to
do a fundraiser for the local ballet at the fancy hotel by the river,
(their theme was futurism), complete with silver ensconced dancers
waving fluoro tubes around to the beat of some of that early 90's
electonic music. Quite the spectacle, I must admit, but the ballet got
their donations, and I ended up with a pretty blonde as my date that
evening (but that's another story).
I brought the graceful yet lanky contraption out of retirement a while
ago, and with help from the list (and especially the archives -thanks
Chip), was able to coax just a little over 18 inches out of the car
battery terminal cleaner on top (hey, it's great if you can't tolerate a
topload), just before the wire caught fire where it entered the
paper-covered cardboard tube! Sure was pretty, though.
Mike Rusher
--
-----Pithy statements available for a nominal fee-----