Tiny Tesla Coils

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

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>" <tesla-at-ian-dot-org>

Hello, this is my first post to this board, although I have been
interested in teslas and vandagraph generators for some time.

I have seen old medical devices (long proven to be useless) that
are basicly hand-held tesla coils that run about 500,000Hz so
they don't penetrate the skin.  These devices are about 2 inches
thick and maybe 10 inches long.. very small.  Some have power units
in a box, but others are self-contained.

My question is, how do they make them so small?  Just finding a power
supply small enough would seem troublesome.  Does anyone know how
they are built?  Is there much difference between one of these and
a standard Robbie the Robot coil?  For a true beginner, these seem
like a 'safe' way to experiment.  I think the amperage is very small,
the sparks probably only going half an inch into the air.

--
Ian