I guess I'm the new guy now.

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

Original poster: "Brett Miller by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <brmtesla-at-yahoo-dot-com>

Hello everyone,

My name is Brett Miller.  Since I'm new to the list I
suppose I will tell you a little bit about myself and
my background.

I've 27 years old and I've been experimenting with
various aspects of High Voltage science since I was
11. Back then all I had was a cheaply made Wimshurst
electrostatic machine I got for my birthday, but it
was enough to get me going.  Soon I was making my own
electroscopes, leyden jars, etc. and thirsting for
that inevitable longer arc.  At age 12 I saved up from
mowing lawns all summer in order to purchase a 200KV
Van de Graff kit from Carolina Science Supply.  This
kept me happy for years and helped me win my 8th grade
science fair with a project which graphed
electrostatic spark length as a function of voltage. 
Over the years I've fooled around with plasma globes,
flyback drivers and various electronic projects, so I
suppose I've followed a rather lengthy and natural
high voltage learning curve. (great for the safety
factor I guess).  Last year I designed and constructed
my own prototype SCR switched gauss gun capable of
penetrating all the way through a soda can with only
150 joules.  (thanks to Sam Barrows for some help with
that by the way)  

My current tesla coil project is a 6" disruptive coil
with the following stats:

topload -- 4"x17" duct toroid
acr --  2.75" x 11.75" foil covered foam toroid
secondary form -- 6.25 dia pvc
secondary winding -- 24" #23 awg approx 1000 turns
Power supply -- 12/60 France NST (potted, unmodified)
Tank Cap -- .01uf commercial (brand unknown) pulse cap
I also have a Terry style Panasonic poly cap MMC which
performs as well as or better than the commercial
pulse cap.
primary -- 14 turns 1/4" cu tubing tapped all the way
out...(I probably need to graft on a few more turns)
spark gap -- standard TCBOR with 6 gaps

Right now I am getting 36-40" streamers with an
occational 42" point to point power arc.  Hopefully
this will improve when I upgrade to a SYNC/LTR based
system.  My goal is to max out efficiency before
increasing the power level input to my coil.  I have
seen a lot of people who achieve long arcs by "brute
force".  Pretty much any disruptive system will give
long arcs with 5kva pumped through it.  I plan on
firing at that level and beyond, but not until I know
I have all the other components running at peak
efficiency.  I know there are several others who have
maintained this view for a while, and I would like you
to know you have won me over.  

I would like to take this time to thank everyone on
the list for contributing the vast storehouse of
knowledge contained in the archives.  I've spent many
a night reading into the wee hours of the morning, and
I must say I am amazed at the great scientific work
I've seen coming from some of you guys.  Terry Fritz,
John Freau, and many others have done much to push
back the envelope of this exciting field.  I cannot
express how excited I am at the prospect of actually
collaborating directly with all of you on future
projects.  I only wish I had found the TCML 5 years
ago.  Thanks again!

- Brett

PS:  How many coilers are there in the
Georgia/Tennessee area?  We need an Atlanta Georgia
teslathon...that is if there is enough interest and
local activity.  Has there ever been a teslathon
anywhere in the south or east coast?










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