first coil help

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

Original poster: "James Mathisrud by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jrmathis-at-pressenter-dot-com>

there are 16 1/4in diameter primary turns, spaced at 1/4 in. im using a
fluorescent bulb, and my caps are 6
beer bottles filled with about 10oz ea.of saltwater. not sure how to test
the capacitance, will look into
that. im using 1-15kv30ma nst

thanks for your help jonathan, and the rest of coilers on this list

Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "James Mathisrud by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jrmathis-at-pressenter-dot-com>
>
> im a new coiler, and i have been trying to tune my first coil, and have had
> a few
> problems. i am getting it to resonate, i know this because the lightbulb is
> glowing, but i just can't seem to get any sparks to breakout, i have a
> small sphere
> discharge terminal, the secondary is 4.5in, 800 winds #22, its tapped at 11
> turns,
> because that seems to be the best spot from the testing ive been doing, im
> using
> salt water caps, i have an air blast gap.thats set at about 1/2 in, im
not sure
> what the average spacing is supposed to be, but i keep opening it farther and
> farther, and the power of the coil seems to be increasing please advise
> before i
> break something!
>
> also, imy ground is a 1in copper water pipe, and is wetted down before each
> use its
> been driven about 1.5 feet into the ground i don't know if this may be
> affecting it
> or not. thanks for your help
> Ryan