Re: Measuring static gap BPS

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: Measuring static gap BPS
From: Raycroft <k.raycroft-at-worldnet.att-dot-net> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)
Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 11:40:04 -0700
Approved: twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net
Delivered-To: fixup-tesla-at-pupman-dot-com-at-fixme

Tesla List wrote:
> 
> Original Poster: "Lau, Gary" <Gary.Lau-at-compaq-dot-com>
> 
> Has anyone found an easy way to measure the firing rate of a static gap?
> I'm sure there's a way to devise some sort of optical or inductive pickup
> with a low-pass filter and limiter, and feed this into a frequency counter.
> But rather than re-invent the wheel, I thought I'd ask if someone else has
> done this.
> 
> Regards, Gary Lau
> Waltham, MA USA

I haven't tried this, but I think it may work:

You are familiar with what happens when the coil runs, aside from the
visuals.  There is a loud, low pitch noise.  Here's what you do:  find a
friend with a real nice digital tuner (the music kind) and set it to the
low frequency setting.  It will tell you which note you are playing with
the spark gap.  Convert note name to frequency.  For me, this would be
the easiest way to go (I have access to a tuner which tells frequency as
well as note name).

Just a thought,

Jason Raycroft