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Many Things...

Hi All,

	I decided not to try and cut anything in the table saw but wood for which
it was designed.  I just didn't feel safe with playing around with the
power saw.  Instead, I got out the instructions to the little Sears band
saw and made all the little adjustments and now it cuts very well for my
coiling needs.  So reading the instructions paid off :-))

	We ran my coil and it's EMMC cap pretty hard today.  I have new higher
current breakers so I was able to turn the variac up to 140 VAC for most of
the runs.  The cap drifted from 27.7nF to 27.6nF.  So it appears that the
EMMC cap drift is slowing dramatically.  Perhaps it was just breaking in a
bit. :-))

	I use 14 x 1800 volt MOVs on my neon protection circuit.  Running the neon
at 140VAC in was pretty hard on them.  It was interesting.  They get really
hot and the output of the coil dropped way down as expected.  However, when
they cooled, the output returned to normal again.  Their voltage must drop
when they are hot.  I was thinking that I should add more to the string but
it kicks in now at 25200 volts peak so maybe I should just turn the power
down a bit. :-))  It seems to be doing a perfect job protecting the neon
from the coil and the operator!  I really like the MOVs...  I don't think I
damaged any of them but I'll have to take the filter to work and put them
on a curve trace or highpot to be sure...  The 1/4 inch ball bearing gaps
work very well and got plenty of testing today :-))  The gap width is 0.186
inch for each leg of the neon but the altitude here is 5300 feet so that
does not apply for most people at lower altitude.  The 50 watt 5K resistors
in the filter got hot but no hotter than I would expect them too.I have
them mounter on 1 inch aluminum stand-offs and they are able to heat
without concern.

	My new sync gap took a few hits from the coil (I think it hit the motor
case) and no damage was done.  My coil is designed to take hits anywhere in
the circuits and so far the real results show no damage from secondary
strikes.  All my grounding and line filters seem to be working very well as
does my control box with its now 15 amp breaker (was 10 amps) and larger
relay.  This allows me to crank the variac up into the ludicrous zone
without the breaker tripping :-))

	From the posts back on the inflatable torroid thing, is sounds like the
metalized plastic will burn right up.  So I'll forget that one.  However,
the posts about some flexible metal mesh under a truck inner tube are VERY
interesting.  My new aluminum duct torroid came back today with the usual
little dings and dents.  They seem to last about three sessions (with car
travel) before they need replacement.  Not a big deal but a super resilient
torroid would really be nice...

	Now that my coil is getting well tested, I will try to write up how it is
made with details of the rotary gap, EMMC cap, LTR charging circuit,
protection circuit, control box, and all.  It will put out about 45 (maybe
50) inch streamers from the 15/60 neon and seems like it is very durable.
It will now hit the primary, floor, gap, neon, and all so I think it is as
good as it needs to get...  I am very please with how it is working.  It
all seems well proportioned and all the fancy computer modeling that went
into it is proving out well...

	I took some no doubt fuzzy hand held pictures just guessing at the
exposure so if they turn out I will post them...

Cheers,

	Terry