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Triggered Spark Gap
Hi All,
There have been numerous posts on vacuum gaps, laser triggered spark gaps, etc
lately.
I would like some comments on the following idea:
Would it be possible to take a glass container with two electrodes sealed
within a ionizable gas as a spark gap? Around this glass enevolpe you wind a
trigger wire. Maybe you could even use ceramic as a container. This would
shield your eyes from the gap and might be able to withstand produced heat
better.
In order to trigger the gap a trigger circuit could be easily made (variable
or in sync with the mains frequency, (so this shouldn´t be a problem) by
appling a high voltage discharge to the trigger wire. The thing would look
something like a gigantic flash tube.
Using suitablely sized electrodes (maybe platin or tungesten? coated?) it
shouldn´t be impossible to switch the current our Tesla coils work with. We
would need to experiment with the width of the gap. My only real concern is if
this gap could quench hard enough (fast enough). This would need a gas that
ionizes quickly at a certain level and de-ionizes pretty sharply below the
"trigger" level. Otherwise the gap might stay on too long or even continuesly
once triggered.
It would be sort of similar to the laser triggered spark gap. The trigger
circuit, however, would be much simplier. Not only do many coilers have no
access to a good sized laser (which would be needed), but secondly I think a
laser triggered gap would be too bulky, too expensive and complicate the whole
Tesla setup unnecessarily.
Would this be possible, or am I starting to go crazy? It would be neat if you
could do away with fast spinning (un)balanced rotors and the pain of adjusting
multiple gaps, etc.
Ideas, comments?
There has got to be a hook somewhere, or else all coilers would be doing this.
So what am I missing?
Coiler greets from germany,
Reinhard