Re: B00ya! NSTs?

[Tesla729-at-xxxxxx (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-xxxxxxxxxx>)]

In a message dated 11/12/00 5:19:24 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
tesla-at-pupman-dot-com writes:

<< Original poster: "Albert Hassick" <uncadoc-at-juno-dot-com> 
 
 Hi All.  I can only say that I meant that once you are hooked on coiling,
 you are really hooked, nothing can save you when you get the first small
 sparks to creep up off your coil! >>

Hey Al,

Boy, is that the truth! I've been coiling for the better part of 15 yrs. now.
I spent many a dollar and hour trying to make a coil that would actually
produce a spark back when I first got interested in Tesla coils. In the mid
to late 80s, there wasn't a lot of info available on Tesla coils. I did not 
know about the TCBA and I was on my own. I'll have to admit, I really got
my first success when I ordered some plans and some caps from Info
Unlimited. I never had much luck with homemade plate glass caps and 
IU's commercial caps helped me break the spark barrier. However, these
caps were also lossy and overheated and blew up after extensive running.
I also wasted several $100s on a 10 kV, .5 amp transfromer from IU a few
years later that started flashing over the first day I used it for a Tesla 
coil.

<< I have fried MMC's, doorknobs, blown up salt water
caps and cracked the plate glass in flat caps and blown out my oil
immersed poly caps. >>

I have literally wasted thousands of dollars on this hobby over the years
due mostly to lack of knowledge. But shear determination always won
out and I finally started getting it right. 

I then joined up with the TCBA in 1994 and that really helped to point me
in the right direction. I went to the '99 Teslathon in Richmond, VA last 
year and got some "real" transfromers to power my biggest coil effort.
Then I finally got a computer last Feb. and discovered and signed up 
with the Pupman list in April. As a result, my coiling knowledge has in-
creased almost exponentially since April. Many thanks to Chip, Terry,
and all of the such knowledgable individuals of this list. I've finally went 
to pig power with my large coil and am now getting 10 ft.+ sparks!

Keeping 'em Sparkin' in Memphis,
David Rieben

PS -- Al, thanks also for the explanation on the RF ground thread.