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Measurement Techniques




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From:  Tony Lekas [SMTP:tony-at-lekas-dot-org]
Sent:  Sunday, August 16, 1998 1:46 PM
To:  tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject:  Measurement Techniques

I am getting close to final assembly of my first coil and I am looking
for information on measuring various characteristics.  I have a DMM.  I
can borrow an I-Scope, a current probe, and a signal generator, but I do
not have access to a high voltage probe.

The coil will be powered by 3-4 15 Kv 30 ma NSTs.  The secondary is
8.4"x40".  The cap is a .0228 ufd pulse discharge cap.

I have seen bits of information on this in other posts, but I am looking
for more complete ideas on measurments.  There are many things I would
like to measure but the following is an initial list in decreasing order
of importance:

-Secondary coil resonant frequency
    I plan to do this with the equipment I have

-Primary current waveform
    I need this to monitor gap quenching.  I am using NSTs and don't
have any part of the primary grounded.  How can I measure this without
damaging the O-Scope?

-Secondary current waveform
    I should be able to measure this at the base of the coil with the
current probe.  I may need to build a new current probe from a small
toriod and shield the leads so that I can get the O-Scope far enough
away for safety.

I have seen comments about building field probes.  I am looking for
details on this.  I am also looking for practicle suggestions on
triggering.

I hope to measure the secondary resonance next weekend, 8/22, and have
the coil running sometime in September.

                Thanks,
                Tony Lekas