Design programs, was Re: JHCTES software review

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

Original poster: "Alan Yang by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <megavolt121-at-mediaone-dot-net>

Greg, All
    There are many excellent programs out there to help you design a tesla
coil. My favorites include an Excel Spreadsheet. I believe the first one I
saw was made by Ed Sonderman. I've also seen a few of them that have been
added upon. the one i like the most now is the version Corey Ruch which has
an MMC matrix attached to it. This spreadsheet tells you a ton of info (some
of which i still dont understand). It also has the spark length prediction
that Greg mentioned. You can get this spreadsheet at:
http://members.tripod-dot-com/coreyonline/newtesla.html
    Another design program I use is Terry's E-Tesla X program. (I don't know
what version he's on now. Last time I checked, it was 5.something) This
program does a lot of nifty things, including plotting out e-fields. Other's
on the list can tell you more info since I don't remember it off the top of
my head. Hey Terry, how about some info please? You can get this program at
http://hot-streamer-dot-com/TeslaCoils/Programs/Programs.htm
    Using these two programs, I've designed and built a coil, along w/ many
other coilers. We don't bother using anything else becuase these two
programs are VERY accurate (in fact, i was with a buddy once and the actual
freq. of his secondary was about .5khZ off from the E-Tesla predicted freq)
and give all the info needed.

-Alan

-----Original Message-----
From: Tesla list [mailto:tesla-at-pupman-dot-com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 4:14 PM
To: tesla-at-pupman-dot-com
Subject: JHCTES software review


Original poster: "Gregory Hunter by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <ghunter31014-at-yahoo-dot-com>

Dear List,

I recently downloaded the demo version of J.H.
Couture's JHCTES software.  I thought I'd share my
experiences with you.

Installation was quick and uneventful.  The first time
I ran the program, it complained that my system files
were out of date and asked if it could update them.  I
selected "OK", and rebooted my system.  (PIII/600Mhz
PC Clone, 96MB RAM, 30GB HD, W98 1st Edition).  The
next time I started the program, it came up without
any problems.

The user interface is a simple "fill in the blanks"
format, and I didn't bother reading the instructions.
Just for the sport of it, I typed in the numbers for
my 6" x 30" pole pig system and pressed "calculate".
Along with the usual data on resonant frequency, coil
inductance, etc., it predicted a spark length of 89
inches.  This got my attention, as my maximum measured
spark length is 82 inches, and I'm certain I've seen a
few longer ones--perhaps 90 inches or so.  In other
words, JHCTES predicted my max spark length almost
perfectly.  Hmmm...  I didn't know a computer program
could predict that.  I always assumed spark length
prediction was more of an empirical thing based on
experience.

My interest thus piqued, I plugged in the numbers for
my 4" x 24" 1KW NST coil.  This time, JHCTES predicted
a max spark length of 38 inches, very close to the
actual max spark length of 36 inches.  Another solid
hit.  Neat.

One of the most common questions from newbies on the
Tesla Coil mailing list is " if I build such & such
size coil, with X amount of NSTs, what length sparks
can I expect?"  I have always passed on such
questions, because I thought the only real way to know
spark length was to build it and see.  While the two
test cases above are hardly an exhaustive test series,
JHCTES certainly made a good first impression.

The bottom line?  This is useful software that is easy
to use.  It may contribute to one's enjoyment of the
art and science of Tesla coil construction.  It can
also allow the coiler to make an accurate forecast of
performance before sinking time and bucks into a
project.  I think it's a keeper.

Best Regards,

Greg
http://hot-streamer-dot-com/greg


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