Re: more newbie questions

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

Original poster: "Jim Lux by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net>

At 08:15 AM 1/3/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>Original poster: "james brady by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" 
><james_brady10-at-hotmail-dot-com>
>
>Why did Tesla make a coil in the first place? I wonder how he figured out 
>how to do all of this stuff in the 1800's, he must have been really 
>freaking smart. What was it that he was trying to accomplish? Other than 
>just the fun of making one, is there any pracitical purpose?

Late 1800's to early 1900's. Yep, Tesla was a smart man.  And, had a good 
flair for publicity as well.  As to why, he had some ideas on power 
transmission, among other things.



>I was wandering if I could make a capacitor using 1 gallon glass pickle 
>jars. Since my wife is pregnant, I have a lot of them laying around and I 
>have been trying to find a use for them. If I can use them, how do you 
>figure out the capacitance?

Two ways: 1) calculate approximately.... figure out the surface area and 
the thickness of the glass and use the standard capacitance 
formulae.  You'll probably be within 20%
2) Get a multimeter that measures capacitance, build one, and try it.

The big disadvantage I could see of pickle jars is their size and weight 
(when full of saltwater), however it's hard to beat free...




>Why do I have to use a neon sighn transformer? How come you can't use a 
>transformer from something else?

YOu need something that puts out at least 8-10 kV.  Other sources are Oil 
Burner Ignition Transformers (OBIT), series combinations of Microwave Oven 
transformers (a bit high power for a first coil), auto ignition coils, 
etc.  I'd venture to say that just about every possible kind of transformer 
has been tried, and a lot of them work.    The advantage of the NST is that 
it works, easily, so that's one less hassle in the process. You should be 
able to scrounge one up.



>Also, I noticed that in Spencer's, that they sell something that likes 
>like a Telsa coil with a glass globe covering the whole thing. I am sure 
>that people know what I am talking about. So, is this a Tesla coil?

Plasma globe.

>then decided to do something for real, so I decided to get into the 
>computer field. Actually, I had been doing computers since 1983/84. My 
>first computer was a TI-49a. I thought that was the best thing that there 
>ever was. Anyway, I have been a network admin for several years and the 
>current company that I am working for sells pagers and cell phones, so I 
>have to do component level repairs. We use a frequency generator to tune 
>pager oscillators to the correct frequency. I have my 
>MCSE,CCNA,CNA,NET+,A+ and a bunch of other junk certifications. I noticed 
>that most people in the computer field know little about electronics, 
>myself included.