writing a handbook

["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>

Writing a book on practical tesla coiling is a great idea, but, I have to
warn you that it's going to be a big job.  As I have been slowly, in fits
and starts, updating my HV website, I've discovered a few things:

How do you deal with the variety of audiences?  Some of your readers will
know nothing, others will know a lot about some areas, but not others.  The
web (and hypertext in general) does make it easy to structure something
where you can "drill down" for more explanation, but it does require some
forethought and planning.  You've also got a difference between those folks
who want to know why they are making changes, those who want to know the
sensitivity to a change (i.e. how much difference does it make if I change
from #24 to #26 wire on the secondary?), and those who just want a
foolproof recipe to start with.  

I think Bill Beatty had some great advice on this, in general.  If someone
asks you a question, it means that either your web site didn't have the
answer, or that they couldn't find the answer. In the first case, rather
than answering with an email, you should write it in a web page, post it,
and then send the link as the answer. In the second, you need to look at
your indexing.  In this way, your web/hyperbook will evolve to meet the
needs of the seekers.

How do you deal with information that is available in other sources?  For
instance, there are some books or application notes out that describe, for
example, triggered spark gaps, in great detail with good explanations.
Should you copy the information to your own website (with permission and
attribution), or, write your own explanation (giving references to the
original source!), or just link to the other source (which might disappear,
say when EG&G got bought out by Perkin Elmer, or Maxwell being split up).
I know that I started writing up a description of polyphasephase rectifiers
and voltage multipliers, but then ran across the Los Alamos report by
North, which succinctly gives all the information, in a very readable
style, and furthermore, I don't have to come up with the graphics.  Another
example is resonant charging. Should one just point to Richie Burnett's
site, which has a great explanation, with very good graphics, or, should
one duplicate the effort, so as to w!
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everything up in one nice package?  When the great explanation is in an
obscure or out of print book (Craggs and Meek, e.g.) or in a technical
journal article, a good case can be made for extracting and rewriting the
info in your own source.

To a certain extent, probably the most useful thing you can do, which ever
approach is taken, is to make sure that you include the original
references, so that a reader can go to the original source for more
information, or to verify that you haven't made an error. (You WILL make
mistakes!).  Several times, I have miscopied equations from a reference,
and I have gotten a helpful email from someone pointing out the error.
I've even gotten emails when someone found an error in my original source,
which is even better, because then I can put the corrected information in
my page (with appropriate credit), and thereby advance the general state of
knowledge, which I think is a worthy goal.