Re: Plans

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

Original poster: "Dr. Duncan Cadd by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <dunckx-at-freeuk-dot-com>

Hi Matthew!

>Hi All, I've always  been interested in building a Tesla coil and
>have built Van de Graf generators in the past.  Where is a
>good place to start?  I thought perhaps Tesla plans for my first
>attempt would be a good idea.

I'm sure you'll get loads of hints on this, but given your interest in
VDGs I thought you'd like to look at one of the articles on my
webpage:

http://home.freeuk-dot-net/dunckx/wireless/scotty/scotty.html

You'll see there's a lot in common between the two.  In going from a
VDG to a Tesla coil, you are in essence merely exchanging dc charging
of an isolated electrode via a rotating belt for ac charging via the
rotating vector of the sinewave.  The main difference between the two
is simply that the Tesla coil charges its top electrode
bidirectionally, i.e. it's an ac machine in contrast to the VDG with
its unidirectional dc charging.  Also, given that the charging
frequency is rf, the charging current for a given top electrode size
is a lot higher with a TC, hence the sparks into free air.  Think of
the equivalent surface speed of a rotating belt if it was charging a
VDG at rf - the sort of numbers you get are typically a few million
feet per second!

That may not help you make a great Tesla coil, but I thought you might
like the conceptual link given your experience with VDGs.  The two
have more in common than most folks realise!

Dunckx
Geek#1113 (G-1)