Thank You (was Re: First Pole Pig TC in Germany??)

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Thank You (was Re: First Pole Pig TC in Germany??)
From: "Reinhard Walter Buchner" <rw.buchner-at-verbund-dot-net> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 12:23:39 -0700
Approved: twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net
Delivered-To: fixup-tesla-at-pupman-dot-com-at-fixme
Hi Adam, all,

Ahhhhhhhh, this post was just like pure balsam.
THANK YOU very much (actor bows down in
front of his audience;o}) for the credits. More
comments interspersed below.

Original Poster: "Adam" <adamsmith-at-mediaone-dot-net>
>They sure look pretty mean! American NSTs are pretty
>fragile in Tesla service, and things are getting worse.
>The new epoxy-filled transformers are nearly impossible
>to repair, and the higher-voltage 60mA units are getting
>harder to find for free.  Personally, I would prefer to
>have large, durable open-frame units that I could pot
>myself.

Yup, I know what you mean. When I was still living
in the States (1968-1983), you were able to easily
find a 12kV 120mA NST for free. I just walked into
an industrial center (in CA), talked to the guy in
charge and did a little explaining, what I needed it
for and he said "follow me, son". (I was 12-14 years
old at the time). I was able to pick one of my own
choice for free ;o)). He gave me a few tips on NSTs
and even went to the trouble to hook it up on their
test-jig to test it. All this just for the asking. You
won愒 find someone doing this in Germany.

Now those 120mA units seem to be as rare as hen愀
teeth, from what I have been reading. Over here, they
are starting to find the *need* (sic) to use HF/SMPSU
type high voltage transformers in sign usage (cheaper,
dimmable), which are totally worthless for coiling. ;o((. I
guess it means getting the real McCoy愀 while they are
still around. I wonder what our kids (and kid愀 kids) will
coil with (no, not married yet ;o))??

German NSTs are really built to last from a current
standpoint. They are quite a bit larger than the U.S.
units, I have seen or used (in the U.S.), even though
they are "pot-free". I don愒 exactly know how sensitive
they are to high voltage kickback, but I have yet to kill
my first in coiling usage. I use nothing except for a
3 piece safety gap to save it (which isn愒 set on the
small side). On one occasion, I had forgotten to
properly (re-)set the safety gap. While running my coil
it fired (loud, I tell you). I shut down right away and
examined the setup. No damage. I set the gap back
to normal, fine tuned the coil, and it ran as good as
ever. The misspaced gap width? Oh, it was about
30 mm (>1") apart ;o)) Can you say built to last??

Snipped myself.

>In my home we've had a similar saying: "MacGyver it!".

Sure I have seen many episodes of MacGyver ;o))

>Of course the phrase"Necessity is the mother of
>invention" would be the more traditional translation
>to English.

True. I guess just too many posts, too late at night
(more like: in the morning) for my brain to be working
correctly). Thanks for the correct translation ;o)).

>You've certainly proven these idioms true with the
> whole MMC thing, Reinhard! What a change to
>coiling in 1999.

Thank you, Thank you, but let愀 not forget Terry
for his work (calculations, EMMC, great papers,
etc, etc. Not to forget the moderation work, either)

Of course, there is also Chip and his great list, w/o
I might have been able to discover the MMC, but
not be able to tell anyone about ;o))

THANKS GUYS !!!

Coiler greets from Germany,
Reinhard

P.S: Last year, I had some company from the States
(old neighbors). Seems like quite a bit has changed
since I lived in the States. Please bring back the freedom
of the 70愀. It was one of the things I relished (not to
forget the great CA weather ;o}). Were the old times
better? Heck yeah!! Tubes, cars, life, the times of new
and exciting inventions etc. You guys know what I mean.