Re: "REVISED" Need NST

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

Original poster: "Jim Lux by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net>

New, 15/30's run about $80.  As with all things, time is money.  10 hours
driving around to neon stores (calling them often doesn't work... you have
to show up in person and plead your case) may get you a pile of 15/30's (of
indeterminate quality and function) for no cash outlay.  You'll then spend
another 5 hours testing them all.  You decide... is your time worth
$5-10/hr or not?

Most folks in the TC hobby don't reduce it to crass dollars and cents
tradeoffs though.  Some derive great satisfaction from scrounging. Some
derive satisfaction from spending the time on fine wood and metal work
(anyone who has seen my output know that I do not fall in this category).
Some are forced into spending much time in lieu of money (the typical high
schooler falls in this category).

To a large extent, doing HV on the cheap relies on lots of calendar time
and storage space.  You just keep watching, and every once in while,
something useful (or tradeable) turns up at a reasonable/cheap price.  In
my case, it was turning up a bunch of decent doorknob caps buried in a HV
pulser that I bought surplus for the hydrogen thyratron in it that inspired
me to crank out my current TC.  All the other parts I had lying around
(copper tubing, NSTs, magnet wire), and I couldn't get motivated to hassle
with rolled poly caps (the "state of the hobby TC art" at the time... now,
with MMCs, I'd just send a check off to digikey (or geek group, etc.))

Tesla list wrote:
> 
> Original poster: "Robert Evan Teet by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Techromaster-at-Techromaster-dot-com>
> 
> Good day List,
> 
> Ok, people, Im new at this. Please spare me the babble about E-bay and
> calling every neon sign shop in town. ive tried both these options and
> nothing, as of yet, has managed to materialize in my search. I hate to be
> blunt but ive spent well into 5 days straight trying to find a viable source
> for the neon sign transformer(s) i need and nothing has appeared other than
> the private email saying "yea, i sell them, on ebay. youll have to compete
> with others to get what you want from me." What happened to good old
> fashioned business logic?
> 
> With that aside, i need either one 15kv 60ma NST or 2 15kv 30ma NST's
> I am also requesting that they be in good condition Ie: no broken/chipped
> terminals, missing lids, or leaky canisters. In short, nothing wrong that a
> paint job couldnt fix.
> 
> Sorry for the rant and godspeed:
> Robert Evan Teet