Re: High midnight at the Texas corral

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

Original poster: "Dave Larkin by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <teslaman15-at-hotmail-dot-com>

Bert,

>We have a magnifier which has produced 15 foot sparks, photographed >and 
>measured.  The tank capacitor is a small Maxwell 0.015 ufd cap.  >That's 
>not a typo - that is 0.015 ufd.  The transformer is a dinky 1.5 >kva unit, 
>which admittedly was pushed hard - it actually got warm to >the touch.
>The rotary disk is maybe 6 inches in diameter.  The >resonator coil is 24 
>inches long.
>
>Several people on this list attended a 1997 Teslathon and saw this >coil 
>perform, first-hand.

I don't think anyone on this list would doubt your claim.  I've seen some 
of the photos on your site and it looks like a heck of a coil.

>OK, somebody out there show me ONE conventional coil running a 0.015 >ufd 
>cap making 15 foot sparks.  Just one.  Then I'll say conventional >coils 
>can match magnifiers' performance.

I doubt there is one, but I have _no_ doubt it could be done.  Just hook up 
your 0.015µF cap to a 25 or 30kV transformer, run it at 120 pps and I'm 
sure you'd see your 15 footers coming out the other end...

>Show me 15 foot sparks with ANY conventional coil, ANY size >transformer - 
>but with just one constraint:  0.015 ufd capacitance.  >Let us see that 
>conventional coil equivalency in action, with real >sparks.

Man, I just don't get this capacitor size thing!  Efficiency is nothing to 
do with capacitor size, never has been, never will be.  Neither is the 
weight of your power transformer, or its faceplate rating.  I've pushed 0.5 
kVA power transformers to 4kVA for short term Tesla duty, so the only power 
figures I'm gonna believe are the one's on the meters.

If you want to stake your claim to the world's lightest, most compact, 15 
footer chuckin' coil, then go ahead, but efficiency is Power in vs. Spark 
out.  Nothing more too it.  You might be up for the efficiency award to, 
but without a power input figure no-one will know...

Dave