Whoo-hoo! (and some questions)

["Michael Novak" <acmnovak-at-msn-dot-com> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

Whoohoo! The list is back!
I have a billion questions scraping the back of my brain and i need some
answers 
: |
Of course, I don't plan on asking all of them at once... here's what's most
recent...
Okay-
 
1.)What happened to R Coppersmith and WinTesla?  I need a copy for my new
system and his site is down! Can anyone help me out?
 
2.)For those of you who build plasma globes and discharge tubes, do the arcs
inside a vacuum get really hot?  I'm making a flat discharge tube 4 inches
wide(10cm) by about 26 inches tall (65cm) and I need some tips on general
construction. 
    A.)What kind of adhesive would be best for sealing it as far as pressure,
flammable vapors, and heat goes?  I was thinking something along the lines of
100% silicon caulk, but when it dries it gives off some nasty vapors (smells
like ammonia). On a previous plasma globe, I used clear caulk (not necessarily
silicone) and the discharge turned blue-green and made the inside of the globe
get real smoky. And it smelled worse than anything imaginable : P 
    B.)Would a direct soldered copper tubing line from the compressor to the
enclosure be the best for the vacuum?  Also, what kind of stopcock could I use?
Could it be a cheapo neadle valve for plumbing or does it have to be a glass
vacuum stopcock with vacuum oil and whatnot? 
    C.)What pressure is required for a good globe? My guage only goes from 0-30
inches of mercury which isn't very accurate, but  hey, it only cost 2 bucks. My
vacuum pump, an old a/c compressor, hasn't been giving a very good vacuum
lately. How could I improve upon this?
    D.)What kind of power supply is best?(quite specifically) I have tried the
2n3055 circuit, but that gave somewhat low voltage (12kV) and high current
(2-5mA). I'm thinking something along the lines of a solid state tc maybe? Can
anyone point me to a good (idiotically simple) circuit for one?
 
3.)Are solid state coils "pc-friendly"?
 
4.)I need a *really* cheap mmc! However, I have no clue where to get such
capacitors... Could someone hook me up with a couple hundred caps? I need to
end up with 30kV -at- .04uF(40nF)  pLeASe HeLP mE!!!
 
5.)Could a DC-TC rotary spark gap become synchronous simply by adjusting the
speed correctly? I mean, to adjust the break rate  to the rate at which the
capacitor is charged and ready to fire.
 
6.)Does anybody still want a pair of NST secondaries? They're from a
"Franceformer" oooh...   Anyhow, they can produce 6kV each and are good up to
250mA (believe me, I tried ; ) Price is $7.00 shipping and handling...
 
7.)Could a 100 gallon aquarium be turned into a big ol' plasma globe?  I have
one(100 gal aquarium) which serves as a "capacitor zoo", it had, at one time,
around 150 huge electrolytic caps in it... fun stuff.
 
8.)What kind of gases produce what kind of effect in discharge tubes or plasma
globes?(i.e.- air makes wussy pink arcs)
 
9.)Not really a question but, if you get the chance... use "Envirotex Lite"
Pour on finish to seal a coil. the result is beautiful...
Just make sure you mix well (learned the hard way). I had to tear down a nice 8
inch coil for fear of it starting on fire ... The epoxy does not dry when it is
not thoughouly mixed : (
 
10.)Almost done...  Has anyone ever built a disruptive discharge coil?  I'm
planning on making one for my brother this summer and I have a few questions...
    A.)I got my plans from "Fantasic Inventions of Nikola Tesla" by Tesla,  and
he says the wire is 24 and 12 gauge, brown and             sharp gauge... would
it be alright for me to use 24 and 12 gauge awg?
    B.)How big is it going to be? 
    C.)Do these kind of coils give off alot of rf like TCs? Will they mess with
TVs, radios and amplifiers?
    D.) You use the basic TC tank circuit to drive these right?
    E.)Do you need specially insulated wire or was Tesla just being precise by
saying the primary was cotton coated wire and the secondary wire was
gutta-percha covered?
    F.)What the heck is gutta-percha anyway?!
    G.)Does the "phantom streamers" effect really work? That looks awesome...
 
11.)Is it true that an air blast gap is the second best thing to a synchronous
rotary gap?
 
12.)Has anyone read "Colorado Springs Notes 1899-1900"? What did you think of
it/where did you get it? I'm thinking of ordering one from bn-dot-com which has a
great price...
 
13.)Aren't you glad I ran out of questions?(for the time being, at least) Stop
pounding your head against the wall, please...
 
Please help me out... this kind of crap has been getting on my nerves.
Thanks soo much in advance...
 
 
                                                        -Michael
 
 
 
 
P.S.S.- Has anyone in the list ever played "Half-Life : Opposing Force"?
There's a big ol' Tesla Coil powering the electric fence in tthe demo...
however, the arcs are coming off the bottom for some reason. And you can walk
right up to it while it's on, and hit it with a wrench. I wish I could do that
sometimes... ; )
Later