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First Light (was: Best case senario secondary output?)



    Well, I ran my second coil for the first time last night with a new, 
larger primary coil.  (In the intrest of making it easier to form the spiral, 
I accidently cut the copper pipe too short when I made the first primary, but 
secured it to a piece of plexiglass anyway, hoping the coil would still run 
well.  I only got 2"-3" arcs, not at all what I was hoping for.)  The new, 
correctly sized primary coil made a world of difference, and I am glad to 
report maximum of up to 7"-8" arcs were acheived to a grounded rod.  Anyway, 
here are the specs:

Secondary:
13.5" long
3" diameter
varnished cardboard mailing tube
26 gauge enameled magnet wire
about 780 turns.
Toroid:
3.5" diameter aluminum ducting
8" diameter of torroid from center to center
385Khz Resonant frequency w/ torroid

Primary coil:
pancake spiral of 9.5 turns tuned at 6.9 turns
1/4" copper refrigerator piping
1/4" spacing
Inner diameter: 5.5"
Capacitor:
.009uF MMC made with 81 6KV, .001uF hockey puck type capacitors
10 ohm bleed resistors across each capacitor
Spark gap:
Richard Quick style static multi gap

Power source:
9KV, 30ma NST

    The only problem I had with the coil is that the caps are apparently not 
very well suited for this kind of operation and overheated after only a 
minute or two of operation, shorting out a chain of three.  However, not 
before I finished a short video to show my physics class.  My last coil was 
small, powered with only a 12 volt battery and an auto ignition coil.  With 
it I acheived a maximum of 1.5" arc, so they'll surely be impressed with 
great step up this is from the last coil.
    I do have a few questions though.  I tried a experiment to show ionic 
propulsion from the coil with an S shaped wire balanced at midpoint on a nail 
on top of the coil.  I got great streamers from the ends, but no rotation.  
Has anyone had any success with this type of experiment?  Is the output I'm 
getting about the best I can hope for w/o upgrading the spark gap?
    Anyway, I'm pleased with my output sofar, and I have a feeling an SRSG 
would probably overload my secondary, so the coil is probably the way it will 
be for about a month or two.  The output if great, just what I had hoped for, 
and it's a lot nicer than having to deal with keeping relay running and 
buying batteries on the auto ignition coil TC.

    Justin D.