Re: Avalon

["Gomez ADDams" <gomez-at-netherworld-dot-com> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

on that fateful day 8/11/00 9:24 PM, Tesla list uttered:

> Original poster: "Christopher Boden" <chrisboden-at-hotmail-dot-com>
> 
> Well, word came down from the city today. If all goes well we should be in
> the building as the snow melts :) (These things take a LOT of time, red tape
> BS and all that). But with 16 buildings sitting on 30 acres it's well worth
> it.

In a word, "Wow".  How are you paying for this property, or have you come to
some kind of mutual benefit (via education) agreement with the city?

> Can the building frame itself (the steel superstructure) be used as an
> isolated RF Ground seperate from the main building electrical ground?

I doubt it.  Although the building might make an effective capacitive
counterpoise at RF, you will also want very effective actual grounding, and
steel structures often have surprisingly poor connections to "True Earth",
because of the poor conductivity of the concrete foundations.

In the last large facility to which I had access (an abandoned K-Mart), the
building frame a low-impedance (checked with an ohm meter at DC, and a
GenRad impedance bridge at 200kHz) connection to electrical ground, but a
surprisingly poor connection to an earthed grounding rod.

If I were you, I'd set up my own idealized RF ground system, interconnected
with the foundation rebar, if you can get at it.

> This entire building will be remodeled as a dedicated use, strictly HV
> experimentation and research. What types of things should we be thinking
> about in the early phases of design?

How to pay for the machine shop.

> If you could make your dream Tesla
> workshop, what would you have?

Everything.

> Electrical service? Would it be preferable to
> have a 14.4KV feed direct inside the building?

Actually, no.  Aside from the obvious safety issues (do you know what the
fault currents are like- like a bomb going off!  let the utility worry about
that), there is the issue of cost of switchgear.  HV switchgear for a given
KVA is much pricier than LV switchgear for the same KVA.  Bring it in at
440/480 three-phase.  You probably already have some of the transformers
you'd need for that, on site.

> (There is a pad transformer
> RIGHT next to it with a 14.4KV primary.) My thoughts are to bring it in at
> LV (480VAC) to make switching and voltage regulation easier in the power
> supply. 

Bingo.  If running a step-down transformer followed by a step-up transformer
was good enough for old Nikola, it's good enough for you.  ;)

> My thoughts are that, with the flat roof, a telascopic roof would be
> feasible. With overlapping sections about 5' each riding on rails similar to
> a gantry crane, they could be either pneumatic or cable controled.

Sounds great.  You must have won the lotto jackpot.

> Give me ideas guys, this is an oppertunity to make the dream Tesla research
> facility.

OK, if I'm a-gonna dream, let me dream big.  Let's assume for the moment
that Bill Gates decided to cash out of Microsft and get into building Tesla
coils full time...

 I'd want non-ferrous, maybe even non-metallic walls.  (fiberglass panels
over Sitka spruce framing?)

 I'd want lots of big porcelain insulators, for all kinds of purposes,
not least of which making sturdy platforms to get my primary away from the
rebar in the floor.

 I'd want the local electrical utility, and maybe a distributor or
manufacturer of electrical switchgear, distribution transformers,
insulators, etc, to come on board as sponsors.

 I'd want a flatbed load of Sitka spruce for building ridiculously large
coil forms.
 
 I'd want a "compleat" (look it up) machine / tooling shop with nothing less
than:

* an engine lathe big enough to turn a naval gun barrel

* at least one precision machinist lathe

* large knee mill

* heavy duty horizontal mill

* surface grinder

* big metal cutting bandsaw with built-in blade welder and grinding wheel

* two drill presses

* a row of at least four grades of grinding wheels, 3-4 wire wheels and a
  complete series of finishing, buffing, and polishing wheels, all on a
  common shaft, driven by a single (1hp+) motor, mounted on a nice long
  bench.

* lots of carbide, HS steel, and ceramic cutters and bits for the above

* a gauge and measurement room, complete with granite surface table, various
  calipers, inside gauges, outside gauges, gauge block set, and so on

* 100 - 400 amp arc welder with HF arc stabilizer attachment
* 40 - 150 amp wire welder with gas
* a plasma cutter and/or a gas cutting rig

* an open account with the local Matco, Proto, or Snap-On tools dealer

* various woodworking tools, ala a well-equipped hobbyist wood-worker's shop

* no need to sleep, except when I felt like it

* an on-site kitchen & break room, well stocked

* temporary sleeping (not necessarily living) quarters for ten

* a hot tub

* a certified massage therapist on call


- Gomez (Bill Lemieux)

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