Questions (fwd)

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Original poster: Tesla List Moderator <mod1-at-poodle.pupman-dot-com>



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 18:08:27 EST
From: MaverickIce00-at-aol-dot-com
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Questions

Hi all,

I have a few questions regarding a couple of different topics.

1) How much do new NSTs usually run? I went down to Advance Neon Sign Co. in 
Denver and got an estimate on a 6 kV 30 mA NST for my first TC. And I must 
say, the price didn't exactly thrill me: $102.68 :-( I've heard of people 
getting new NSTs for relatively cheap compared to this, I think something 
like $80.00 for a new 15 kV 30 mA NST and $60.00 for a new 9 kV 30 mA NST, so 
I'm wondering if they're totally ripping me off... BTW, the NST is a 
Franceformer 6030 P2G. I haven't bought the thing yet, so I'm looking for a 
little advice. I'll probably end up getting a used one if all else fails.

2) What exactly do Faraday Cages do? I've heard that they virtually eliminate 
electromagnetic and radio frequency interference, and if this is true, I'd 
like to find out how to build a nice-looking one for my coil since RF 
grounding is somewhat out of the question (this is going to be a smaller coil 
being run mainly indoors away from any suitable RF ground, and I'll be 
transporting it to lots of places which would require a small setup time).

3) Will non-current limited transformers automatically stop drawing excessive 
current when shorted after a certain amount of time? I would believe that the 
current would stop flowing excessively after a certain point, such as 
saturation of the core, or after it reached the maximum current allowable by 
the inductive reactance of the primary winding.

4) Are there any negative effects of placing various components (NST, Tank 
Cap, Filter, Spark Gap, etc.) in close proximity to the primary coil (a 
couple inches)? I don't think this would have much effect on anything
except 
for small changes in the frequency of the coils, but I want a quite compact 
unit for easy transportation.

I think that's about all for now, but I'm sure I will come up with some more 
in a while. I think I should also note that I'm 14 and have a pretty limited 
budget for this project (~$275) and I don't have easy access to a machine 
shop or that many power tools for that case. Thanks for all your help in 
advance!

- Joshua -

AOL Instant Messenger: MaverickIce00