Re: Sync, Jitter, LTR observations

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

Original poster: "Ed Phillips by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>

Tesla list wrote:
> 
> Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<FutureT-at-aol-dot-com>
> 
> All,
> 
> A report on recent work follows.
> 
> I completed the small 120 bps 1800 rpm sync rotary gap with
> 3.25" rotor and tested it on the TT-42 TC.  Results were good.
> Next I tested the rotary on the TT-32 but the results were very
> poor.  The spark was very short and unsteady with a sputtering
> characteristic.  Scope observations suggested the gap has too
> much firing jitter.  It seems the amount of jitter in a sync gap
> tends to increase with smaller rotors and lower rotor speeds.
> This happens mostly because the electrode closing speed is
> slower, making the gap "indecisive" about when to fire, but
> possibly also because it's harder to achieve mechanical
> precision on a small rotor.  At least that's my explanation.

	I suspect it's just the linear speed that counts.  Lower speed = more
"dwell time" and less air velocity to clear out the ionized air.

Ed