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Re: bi-polar (center-fed) TC

Brent:

Ah...here we have evidence of an underlying difference of purpose
between coilers such as yourself, and "those who use equations and fancy
math stuff". The intent of the people who build coils, measure and
examine the results, feed their observations into theoretical models and
compare, is ultimately to understand -why- the coils are behaving the
way they are, in order to improve the mathematical modelling, so that it
is more accurate, and can be applied to other things, and added to our
fundamental understanding of the universe around us. Those who simply
build, will in the long run, simply add ozone. 

Remember, that while you did not use the aforementioned programs or
equations, you got close somehow, probably by imitating the techniques
of others on the list and elsewhere who themselves used the math. These
programs are intended as tools to make the design easier, and to
facilitate research. If you did indeed somehow spirit a tesla coil into
existance without relying on the hard work and research of others (Tesla
included) then accept my sincere apologies.

Let's return to your little anecdote...If the intent of these numerous
PhD's was simply to build a working tesla coil, then your "Good Will
Hunting" figure did indeed foil the nasty enemy who was foolishly using
math. However, as you stated, they were looking to apply the principles
of Tesla coil operation to another pulsed power project. Did your Lab
Tech. manage to apply what he had learned to development of a new power
supply, or did he simply bask in the purple glow of a glorified plasma
globe?

I will admit that I too build coils largely for the entertainment and
feeling of success of a fun hobby. HOWEVER, I am in no way in ignorance
of the hard work and hours of experimentation of others that got me
99.99% of the way there, and I do not make the mistake of attributing
this progress to my own tinkerings. I am forever in the debt of those
who are breaking new ground, and hope that someday I myself may
contribute to the advancement of science, instead of just basic
improvising of design for some self-gratifying sense of accomplishment.
The scientific process is is used to improve on everything from the
computers we use to communicate, to the switches we use to turn the
light on. 

Einstein too dropped out of school, but I would not reccomend this as a
reliable route to greatness in physics, or anything else, for that
matter. 

My 2 cents
 Wells


> Ralph:
> 
>         In your post you mentioned your calculations of the inductance and of
> the coupling constant.
>         Here at Texas Tech, several professors and post-doc's were trying to
> create a mathmatical model of a tesla coil's behavior, to use as a
> starting ground for a math model of another, similar pulsed power
> project.  Anyway, one thing that everyone quickly realised was that the
> classical, physics II formulas for calculating solenoid inductances don't
> work well for inductors operating at high frequencies.  It seems that
> inductance is frequency dependent, too.
>         I haven't done a great deal of investigation of any of the wheeler
> equations, to see how they measure up, so I can't speak for them.
> Furthermore, I don't know how programs like WinTesla do their
> calculations, and I have never used any of them, so I can't say anything
> about them either.
>         At any rate, most of the highly mathmatical professors and
post-docs and
> engineers here at Tech did not like the idea of trial and error tuning,
> because it wasn't "sophisticated" enough for them.  They all tried to
> calculate the inductance using formulas mentioned above, and NONE of the
> numerous Ph.D's in physics and electrical engineering, who worked on our
> tesla coil, ever got it to work.
>         The only person here that could ever get the coil to resonate was
a lab
> technician self taught amateur scientist with only and eighth grade
> education, (kind of reminds me of Maxwell).  This technician knew very
> little math, needless to say, and was not distracted by all the fancy
> stuff, and wasn't afraid to tune by trial and error.
>         On this list you may find people who rely heavily on theoretical
> calculations, and I imagine this post will stir up some dirty looks and
> comments from those who do, but I can tell you that I have personally
> observed that equations, as sophisticated and complicated as they may be,
> do not always produce useful results, especially with tesla coils.
>         If you do use equations and fancy math stuff, I know that you must be
> very careful to use them right, as they can be quite deceptive and
> misleading sometimes.
> 
>                                                 Brent