First Firing since 1999: The Glorious odor...

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

Original poster: "Dave Hartwick by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <ddhartwick-at-earthlink-dot-net>

Guys,
Circa 1999: The last coiling session. I was firing a 6" system running at
~140 kHZ. I have 8" and 10" secondaries--not enough room. 5kVA Piglet power
with a bank of 8 HDPE salt-water caps--.025 ufd total. These caps were
replaced with 2 Condenser Products 0.05 ufd, 20 kVAC units--600 clams worth.
A minimal difference was noted switching to the commercial CP caps. I was
getting about 50-60" spark with a vigorous air-blast gap. I guess I got
discouraged and decided to call it a day for a while. I also decided to
allow the dust to collect in 1993 when, in my ignorance, I blew 2 15/120
NSTs.

Well, I've been coiling since I was 12. The absurdly high secondary aspect
ratios, needle gaps and plate glass caps. (My loving late Grandfather (W4KJ)
built for me an 811A VTTC that I entered in the science fair. This was
around 1972. Do they still do such things?) It seems that once it is in
one's blood, the urge returns and returns, never to go away. It is
intractable.  For me it seems to return on roughly 4 year intervals.
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Tonight I fired again, and now recall once again why I love Coiling. What is
it about Tesla Coils? The odor is utterly unique! No other phenomenon
produces that smell. The discharge and sound! My otherwise tolerant wife who
fears my coils recognized the odor immediately.
-----------------------


Initially, I couldn't figure out what to do. Should I build a
state-of-the-art 4" system, utilizing the latest technology in an effort to
master the latest techniques? Finally, I decided tonight to use what
hardware I have on hand from previous sessions. I simply wanted some spark.
I suspect you guys understand.

To make a long story longer--I wanted to simply cobble some stuff together
to get some spark at low 15/30 NST power levels, but I could not initially
find hardware that would resonate. This primary, that secondary and topload,
blah, blah... Then I considered my 833A VTTC components (Thanks John Freau).
I finally set up a 6" system using my "patented" Slinky toroids, a 144 uH
cylindrical VTTC primary(!), and a ~ 0.006 ufd MMC cap made from Panasonic
ecw-h 0.018 ufd 1600 vdc caps (more VTTC components). The design locus for
this system was my main 6" secondary with 2 slinky toroids, res about 200
kHZ. I fiddled and fiddled some more with the primary tank circuit, hooked
it up, and BAM, I was right on. There are those discharges, magically
leaping into the air. The physics at this point are well understood (I
think), but it never ceases to amaze me.

I've never seen such performance from a 15/30 NST powered system! (Oh
Yes--using my old RQ static gap.) I attribute the never-before-seen (in my
lab) performance to the MMC caps. Previously, I had only fired with HDPE
salt-water caps on low power systems--not bad--much better than glass, but
quality MMC blows the best salts away, and then some. Wow!

The astonishing thing was that I nailed the tuning using my old Tektronics
tube scope and Tenma sig generator/freq counter. The old instincts and feel
quickly returned--apparently--more probably I was just lucky.

The significant thing is that I was not sure that  I wanted to begin a new
round of Tesla experimentation; but after this quicky/cobbled session
tonight, there is no doubt. I had destroyed quite a few appliances during
previous piglet firing sessions--around 5 kVA; but now in 2002, coils are
much better understood and I shall bring that new knowledge to bear.


I'm anxious to build some serious MMC caps now--which brand and value to
use, not sure yet. What a tremendous discovery, MMC caps! I'm also eager to
build a rotary gap, something I've never used in my systems.

Finally--May I ask if some of the masters are still coiling? Richard Hull,
and especially Richard Quick? RQ was my mentor during the early days some
10+ years ago. We spent many hours on the phone. He was quite generous. I
wonder if he is still active.

I reiterate: What a thrill to rather impulsively throw some dusty hardware
together and have it scream!
Dave Hartwick
KA3STE
Chambersburg, PA