Re: Ground box

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "brian by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <ka1bbg1-at-mcttelecom-dot-com>

hi, i tried a piece of 1/4 inch old pole power wire. the copper outside was
probably about .030in. and the core good old steel. first i couldnt tune it
second it was real sensitive to steel nearby and it seemed to change
everytime i moved something metal like the transformer. Certainly give it a
try and see what happens. i know my steel/copper coil didnt work very well
but some of the most spectactular systems used strap copper or brass. well
worth a try.brian f.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
To: <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2001 8:35 PM
Subject: Re: Ground box


> Original poster: "Malcolm Watts by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <m.j.watts-at-massey.ac.nz>
>
> Hi Al,
>
> On 13 Apr 01, at 12:05, Tesla list wrote:
>
> > Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>"
> > <uncadoc-at-juno-dot-com>
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, 09 Apr 2001 23:01:49 -0600 "Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>
> > writes: > Original poster: "Malcolm Watts by way of Terry Fritz >
> > <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <m.j.watts-at-massey.ac.nz> > > Hi Ray, > > On 9
> > Apr 01, at 18:33, Tesla list wrote: > > > Original poster: "Ray
> > Robidoux by way of Terry Fritz > > <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>"
> > <robidoux-at-basystems-dot-com> > > > > Hi Malcolm, Ray, All, > > Malcolm, I
> > can appreciate your studies, but geez wiz, is this braided vs solid
> > going to make a significant amount of difference in a working Tesla
> > coil? I try to strive for all the arc juice I can get!     I know
> > every absolute small change can help in output, but I would think that
> > we could get more substantial increases in power simply by improving
> > our spark gap or the fine tuning of the capacitance in the tank, all
> > other things being equal in the operation of a coil.  Makes me wonder
> > if a piece of steel strap with copper coating in a primary would do a
> > better job than a piece of solid nonferrous cable or silver tinned
> > copper  tube.  After all, from what I hear the more evolved list
> > members say, that the electrons always carry forth on the exterior of
> > the wire/cable/tube,,, right?  So would a section of copper coated
> > steel ribbon give superior results in a Tesla primary?  If so, why not
> > start using the cheaper copper flashed steel coil stock for our
> > primaries?  So I wonder, before I use a piece of copper coated steel
> > bandstrap on my next experimental primary, is there anyone out there
> > that has already tried steel? I see nice heavy copper coated steel
> > plumbers strap for sale cheap!  That is what I will try soon on a
> > primary, cause the price is right! .....................  Now into the
> > braided cable.  I learned(much to my chagrin) after I specified good
> > quality communications copper coax years ago to a customer, that a big
> > professional outfit(Gray Sound)came along and said that a aluminum
> > foil conductor in the shield of a coax with a steel interwoven drain
> > wire and core wire was more benificial than a good quality copper
> > sheilded cable with a copper center conducting core.  They would not
> > say exactly why, but they insisted it would carry all signals better
> > than any copper sheilded cable, and gave a big high powered sell
> > nonetheless that all parts of the building be run in aluminum/steel
> > coax cable rather than copper. Needless to say, they got the low bid
> > for the "superior" aluminum/steel coax.   Was this a mass
> > mesmerizinging because the contracted outfit brought stock in al/steel
> > coax, or was it for a good reason that I am still trying to find out?
> > And a few years later I found that they had nothing but trouble with
> > the al/steel coax with drifting and ghosting.  No amount of
> > amplification or buffering could solve the problem.      They then
> > went for all copper coax and it solved the problem. Hey I like the
> > copper stuff, but please tell me, Am I missing something here?  Or did
> > I already answer my own question?  Thank you.  Al.
>
> If you are happy with what you are using, go ahead and use it. I'm
> simply reporting what I found and it shows that for a similar
> conductor size, solid wire, litz, pipe etc. outperforms braid. I went
> further than the low powered tests and tried the piece that I was
> testing under power and got an unequivocal confirmation of the
> measurements. I stand by the results of that test but would in no way
> want to force anybody to do anything differently. I do plead the case
> if I see someone claiming braid is better than pipe or whatever. Fair
> enough I would say?
>
> Malcolm
>
>
>
>