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argh -- poor output on TC #2
Hello all, I have finished my TC #2. This one is 30.5 in of 22AWG wound
on 6" drain pipe. Toroid is 6"x20". Right now I'm using 3 15/60s and
an EMMC at 22.5 nF. Primary is .25" cu tubing spaced .25". Using the
original Victoreen ceramic gaps from my old coil, I get 45"+ which
rapidly diminishes because (I'm assuming) of too much power and
overheating for those gaps. So, I put together a 'blast gap'. I used
some L-shaped pieces of aluminum and ran stainless bolts through. I
epoxied an appropriate PVC reducer about .25" from the gap and plugged
my shopvac hose in. In short, the gap was horrible--I'd say 20" of weak
streamer.
So my questions are:
1) Anyone else used the Victoreen gaps at medium power levels? How good
are they compared to other possibilities? Why was my blast gap giving
such poor results or is it really that lousy of a gap?
2) How much would a SRSG help output? 45" seems poor given the amount of
power I'm dumping in. What else would those with experience with
various gaps recommend?
3) I know for my 3 15/60's I should be using aroun 30nF to be mains
resonant. Would I be better off removing one of the NST's to get close
to mains resonant with 22.5 nF?
4) Would it be unusual for a coil like mine to have a large tuning
range? It seems quite content from about 9.5 turns up to 11. My old
coil had maybe a 1/2 turn range where output seemed to peak.
I have noticed that this coil also seems much less drawn to typical
strike objects. For example, it seems happy to have its streamers go an
extra 6" to hit wooden shelving than to hit a grounded wire with a
pointy tip.
Am I missing something? I know I'll probably never match the efficiency
of aces like Terry but this is pretty bad!
Help! :)
-Stan