Re: does the terminal have to be ontop of the secondary?

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

Original poster: "Barton B. Anderson by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <tesla123-at-pacbell-dot-net>

Hi Mark,

Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "marko by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<moyson-at-tig-dot-com.au>
>
> Hello everyone!
>
> My question is: Does the terminal have to be above the secondary??

Well, no and yes. You can run the toroid about even with secondary top
winding. This adds a
shielding effect (preventing breakout from the top windings). This also
raises the
frequency a little because the top terminal capacitance is affected by the
secondary coil.
Raising the toroid lowers the frequency because the proximity between
secondary and top
terminal is increased. It also increases the distance between primary and
top terminal
(desired).

> If i move my discharge terminal, and say suspend it 1metre above the
secondary, how
> will the performance of the coil be affected??

1 meter? Probably too much. There will be almost no shielding and the top
windings. The top
windings will be the smallest radius of curvature and the sparks will tend
to emit from the
top windings. A corona ring (small toroid set at the top of the secondary)
can help shield
the top of the secondary, however, the wire going up to the toroid will be
the next place
the spark will emit from. This can be fixed by using a metal cylinder (like
a stove pipe or
similar) between the  the top terminal and corona ring.

Take care,
Bart