FW: DC Tesla Coil

To: "'Tesla List'" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Subject: FW: DC Tesla Coil
From: Tesla List <tesla-at-stic-dot-net>
Date: Fri, 2 Jan 1998 18:53:50 -0600
Approved: tesla-at-stic-dot-net


From: 	Alfred C. Erpel[SMTP:aerpel-at-op-dot-net]
Sent: 	Friday, January 02, 1998 9:30 AM
To: 	Tesla List
Subject: 	DC Tesla Coil 

Hello All,

    If my tank capacitor is charged with DC only, it seems to me that it
would be much easier to get a solid resonance occuring in the tank circuit
with a fixed spark gap (well quenched).
    For instance, lets say my TC is resonant at 100 khz, it seems to me that
all that is necessary to get a solid resonance is a fixed spark gap that
will quench and fire 100,000 times per second, and capacitor power supply
combination that exactly replenishs at this same rate.  DC avoids having to
have your spark synchronous with a (AC fed) capacitor that 60 times (USA
60hz) every second has *no* charge on it.

    Can a fixed spark gap be quenched at that rate?  I don't see much
discussion of tesla coils being built this way. Why not? Is there any merit
in this approach or some modification thereof?  To get DC into the tank
capacitor, is it as simple as feeding rectified AC into your transformer?

Regards,
Alfred