Re: SSTC idea

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

Original poster: "Stephen Conner by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <steve-at-scopeboy-dot-com>

At 12:39 15/03/03 -0700, you wrote:


>The cross of which you state is basically saying you want a solid state
>power source instead of the NST and still use a traditional spark gap.  This
>has already been done.  Its basically just using a high voltage switching
>power supply (Solid State) usually DC and making this the power source.

The best example I've seen of this is Marco DeNicolai's "Thor" system. He 
basically built a switched-mode pole pig. Apparently it's not too reliable, 
but is anything when you connect it to a Tesla coil? The Thor power supply 
is actually very like a giant electronic NST with a HV rectifier stuck on 
the end, so maybe you could make a mini-Thor with an electronic NST? I had 
a 100 watt unit but it, uh, burnt out somehow...


>However, the more exciting direction to go is to replace the traditional
>spark gap with a solid state version.  This would be a definite challenge

I always wonder about this. Would a solid-state gap replacement be any more 
efficient than an old-fashioned spark gap? I guess they use them in radar 
transmitters for repeatability/jitter reasons but what's the point in a TC?


>I believe though, that a lot of the OLTC (Off-line Tesla Coils) use a
>similar solid state switching arrangement however it is at low voltage
>(<1kV).

That's how mine works at any rate. It's just a DC resonant coil with a pair 
of IGBTs dropped in pace of the spark gap.

Steve C.