S.S.T.C. "booster"--expert opinions wanted...

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

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <Kchdlh-at-aol-dot-com>

With this posting I prevail upon Terry Fritz to post KCH-BOOSTER.JPG on
hot-streamer/temp (I am sending it herewith).

http://hot-streamer-dot-com/temp/KCH-BOOSTER.jpg

I once asserted here that I am too old to be interested in making things get
bigger and longer--such as sparks as just one example.  But it seems not to be
the case.

I have also offered here my opinion as to the reason that s.s.t.c. sparks are
shorter than ordinary t.c. sparks.  Given the same input power,  a spark-gap
primary-drive delivers a very much higher initial primary current than can a
s.s. drive, as is well known.  The resultant flux drives the top electrode's
voltage much more rapidly toward, and in fact, I contend, considerably past,
the normal break-out potential before spark break-out can significantly occur. 
Considerably-past because any spark break-out is very slightly slowed by the
necessity to heat the surrounding air: that's what causes the "delay" spoken of
by others.

A high rate-of-rise will tend to "win a race" against that delay, thus allowing
for additional voltage build-up on the electrode and causing the spark length
to increase.

So I have an idea as to how to augment the rate of rise and it is illustrated
in KCH-BOOSTER.  The thought is to add an auxiliary coil snuggled in at the top
of the secondary directly below the electrode.  In the course of voltage
build-up, that coil will develop so many volts per turn, just like the top
turns of the secondary itself.  Choose the quantity of turns to develop
something like 10 KV just prior to (un-boosted) spark break-out.

Into the top recess of the electrode (presumably a toroid), snuggle an
appropriately sized capacitor--likely an MMC.  Connect one end of it to the
toroid and pass the other through a hole in the web of the toroid to a
spark-gap just below and thence to the bottom end of the added coil.  When the
voltage of the added coil reaches its near-maximum, the gap is to break down,
thus connecting the capacitor across that coil.

My thought is that at that instant the situation in that circuit is the same as
the situation in a conventional primary: capacitor, coil and high-voltage
source connected in a closed loop.  Here, the voltage initially resides across
the coil rather than within the capacitor but that should make no
difference--the circuit should commence an oscillatory energy-discharge,
resulting in a burst of magnetic flux in the coil--of significantly larger
initial amplitude than was previously present due to excitation from the
primary.

That flux-burst ought to act to induce a correspondingly-large flux burst into
the top end of the secondary, resulting in a boost of voltage of the entire
assembly above the secondary: toroid, capacitor, gap and added coil (the
capacitor appearing as a near-short-circuit for that voltage pulse).  If that
turns out to be the case and if my surmise as to the air's thermal inertia is
correct, then a longer spark should result.

You analytical types:  What do you think of this?  Can it be run as a
simulation?

Ken Herrick