Re: Tapered Wire Secondary

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

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

In a message dated 11/23/02 12:03:46 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
tesla-at-pupman-dot-com writes:


>Hello All,
>
>I have been thinking about winding a tapered wire secondary for my 6"
>coil.  I have 14, 18, 20 and 24ga wire available.  I was thinking about 4"
>of 14ga, then 2" of 18ga and finish with either 20 or 24ga.  I think this
>should increase the current at the base of the secondary.
>
>Any Suggestions?
>
>David E Weiss
>


David,

In my opinion, it won't give any benefit.  The benefit of a reduced
resistance may be offset by the higher frequency.  In any case
the losses in a normal secondary are not all that significant,
which also argues against the benefit of the tapered wire secondary.

I remember DC Cox saying that he uses thicker wire near the
bottom of some of his coils, but I forget the exact reason.

It will also be more difficult to obtain sufficient coupling using
the varying wire diameters.

John