Re: Superior Power Supply

["Jim Lux" <jimlux-at-xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-xxxxxxxxxx>)]

Easiest Big HV DC supply = big transformer, big rectifier, big filter
components (C or L).  DC filter duty capacitors are fairly easy to come by
and not too expensive (long strings of 450V electrolytics, even).  I would
advise using a series inductor or a resistor (say 50ohm, 100W) in the
filter, though.  It can help limit the excitement of an output flashover
with all that stored energy in the filter capacitor.

Small compact HV supplies use switching power supplies.  Unless you wind
your own, getting suitable transformers is a pain (read, expensive) because
they don't turn up surplus. The advantage is that you can use very much
smaller filter components for the same ripple, and in turn, you can make a
fairly fancy supply with current limiting, etc.

I think that Marco has a fairly good HV DC Switcher design for THOR.  Check
his web page (google or pupman archives will find it).  He also provides
the transformer winding and design info.

That big tome from Los Alamos on high power transmitters has a wealth of
information on big HV DC power supplies (because that's what the tubes run
on).. Ranges up to Megawatts... (discussions of substation hookup, etc.)

Tesla list wrote:
> 
> Original poster: "Dan Kunkel" <dankunkel-at-hotmail-dot-com>
> 
> Tesla Fans,
> 
> I have been considering the advantages of using a high voltage DC power
> supply to power a coil.
> 
> The reason I think it would work better is the fact that you could use a DC
> motor to control the gap break rate and not have to worry about it being in
> sync with the 60 hertz sine wave. Tesla and other modern day coilers have
> noted the benefits of having a large bang size and low break rate.
> 
> So where do you draw the line? Maybe your coil would perform best at 81.7
> bps instead of the syncrounous 120 bps. As long as your primary capacitor is
> large enough, you can keep driving your bps down.
> 
> I think the optimum bps would be more closely related to the frequency of
> the coil than anything else.
> 
> I would imagine that any modern day HV DC supply would be heavily
> transistor-ized and not behave well with the RF/EMI produced by the coil.
> 
> Where could one find one of these (cheaply) without haveing to build your
> own dynamo? I found one company on the web that sells HV DC supllies (and
> will custom make you one to your specs)...outrageous pricing too. Voltages
> anywhere from a few KV to 30KV, and only a few MICRO-amps.
> 
> Comments?
> 
> Dan
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