Re: TC Handbook

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

Original poster: "maykrug by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <mf31-at-qwest-dot-net>

At 04:41 PM 1/6/02 -0700, you wrote:
>Original poster: "Gary Johnson by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" 
><gjohnson-at-ksu.edu>
>
>I agree that we need a textbook/handbook on Tesla coils that is easier to
>deal with than the archives. When I found this listserv several years ago, I
>started keeping the most interesting emails in folders like caps, chokes,
>gaps, etc. I now have 15 floppies on my desk with these folders. I rarely
>use them because it is so overwhelming to look through these many megabytes!
>
>I suggest that we start with the topics that are mature and that most every
>coiler needs to know something about. A topic, like capacitors, would get a
>chapter (or several chapters) in a Handbook. I am thinking of .pdf files (or
>similar) so that revisions are not too difficult. A topic would have
>multiple authors, or a single author with multiple reviewers. Once a topic
>was posted, there could be a one or two month period for review by the
>coiling community at large, and then a "final" posting. At that point, the
>chapter would have similar status of an IEEE Standard. People could use it
>with some assurance that it is correct.
>
>A topic might start off easy (high school algebra), progress to "one star"
>(circuit theory I), and maybe to "two star" (graduate coursework in
>electromagnetic theory). Or maybe we should have two Handbooks, one broadly
>applicable for beginners through circuit theory I and the other for advanced
>and specialized topics.
>
>I suggest the following topics for the first edition:
>
>1. Overview of Tesla coils.
>2. Capacitors.
>3. Inductors.
>4. Transformers.
>5. Chokes.
>6. Gaps.
>7. Construction practices.
>8. Safety issues.

perhaps, yes. but, maybe instead of another dedication to construction 
practices,
which is the primary focus of most websites, and highly dependent on budget and
creative scrounging. how about some chapters on testing equipment, practices,
including safety protocol, etc... and possibly some resources for obtaining 
equipment say,
in kits, which can occasionally save you about a dollar. but, gives you a 
slightly better
idea of how it works. or just what to look for in an Oscope, maybe there is 
an all in one
unit where you can test caps, sec freq, voltage, so on, and where they can 
be obtained.
just a morsel,
dan

>My concept of style and content for the first four topics in this list are
>the first four chapters of my Solid State Tesla Coil book at
>http://eece.ksu.edu/~gjohnson. The group is welcome to use these chapters as
>a starting point for the Handbook. Note that it is easier to edit or
>critique something already in print than to write something from scratch. My
>experience in textbook writing (Wind Energy Systems, Prentice-Hall, 1985)
>indicates that significant changes will probably be necessary to get these
>chapters into a form that most of us would like. I am not too thin-skined,
>as long as you don't get too personal in your comments.
>
>Topics like input impedance and solid state drivers are probably not mature
>enough to deserve Handbook status. Topics like vacuum tube drivers are
>probably mature enough, but may be too specialized to be in the basic
>Handbook. The whole body of Tesla coil information is immense, but I think
>we could put together something very useful in perhaps 100-200 pages.
>Additional topics can be added as people are moved to write about them.
>
>Gary Johnson