Re: TC Limits

To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: Re: TC Limits
From: "Ruud de Graaf" <rdegraaf-at-daxis.nl> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2000 21:31:05 -0700
Approved: twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net
Delivered-To: fixup-tesla-at-pupman-dot-com-at-fixme
>Original Poster: "Mark Fergerson" <mfergerson1-at-home-dot-com>
>
>  Greetings all, newbie ex-lurker (1 whole week) here!
>
>  Some time ago I posted a request for some TC info on
>sci.physics.electromag and was referred here (thanks Dan Kline). I've
>been all over the Tesla Ring, and still have some questions.
>
>  A lot of posts about record (large) TC's here of late. Anybody ever
>think about record _small_ ones? I'm envisioning a bipolar model;
>helical primary 2" long, 4" dia, secondary about 10" long, 2" dia,
>running at 1 MHz. It isn't intended for spark generation, but rather
>to power a small particle accelerator in pulse mode (I may not even
>want a TC; that's why I'm here). The electrodes (rings spaced
>exponentially) are the "topload" of around 75pF. I'm looking for about
>50KV. I plug the numbers into several TC design programs and I get
>reasonable numbers for wire size, number of turns, supply voltage,
>etc.
>
>  I picked those proportions from memory of a photo, BTW.
>
>  What are the length/diameter ratio limits for a "good" TC? Why do
>some folks think a secondary 2"dx10"l is fine, others say it's less
>than ideal? What is ideal, anyway?
>I've heard a lot of opinion, but little justification.
>
>  As extreme cases, I can see that a very long secondary would have
>too many windings out of the influence of a very short primary to be
>worth the trouble to wind, and a secondary the same length as the
>primary would would be prone to interwinding arcover, but where's the
>breakpoint? What constitutes "long" and "short" here?
>
>  What are the operating frequency limits, and why? I was told a TC
>couldn't operate satisfactorily at 1 MHz. Why won't they scale?
>
>  How do you estimate coefficient of coupling for a particular
>geometry (preferably without using calculus)? <math pun>
>
>  Anybody think a standard Xenon flashtube (or rather several in
>series/parallel) with some kind of magnetic quenching arrangement
>would do as a "spark gap" in a low-power design? They're designed to
>switch currents quickly at fairly high voltages, their electrodes are
>fairly erosion-resistant, and they can be triggered reliably.
>
>TIA
>
>  Mark L. Fergerson
>
>
Hi Mark,

I think for you a TC is indeed not the right option. A TC has a lot of
parameters influencing eachother. For some people (700+ registrated at the
moment) this is a blessing, because that's making it interesting to
experiment with it and optimize with the available options. You could
compare it with making loudspeaker boxes. You could buy them, but for a lot
of people it satisfies more to make them themself and they never can be made
perfect,  so the urge to make another pair stays.

For a pulse mode 50KV supply I think you could best search on the net for
"laser power supply" or "Sam's laser faq".

What I don't understand is why you are so wurrying about limits and details?

Ruud de Graaf
Greetings from Holland

BTW: what does TIA stands for?