Re: Help A new coiler.................

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

Original poster: Koen van den Berg <cerberus_rex-at-planet.nl> 

 > Original poster: "margaret louise" <tullera-at-optusnet-dot-com.au>
 >
 > 2 incch diameter
 > 10.5 inch winding length
 > approx 880 turns of AWG 29?  wire recycled from an old transformer (about
 > 84 turns/inch)

This ratio should prove to be adequate. Indeed my first secondary coil was
similar to this one, albeit slightly longer and with smaller wire gauge.

 > i have aquired a 12/30 NST to use
 > i am plannig to go for a static gap, either series of copper tubes RQ
style
 > or a bunch of adjustabe single gaps (ie bolts )

I'd go for the copper tubes. Keep in mind that they will corrode and that
you will have to be able to clean them. If you plan on making larger coils
in the future, you might as well make an RQ gap now, just so you have one.
However, a few pieces of pipe in parallel should work nicely too.

 > 1.  CAPACITOR- should i used a standard resonant cap aof about 7.9nf (on
 > 50hz)?
 > i have also seen a lot on LTR caps and it seems that they generally make
 > the NST last a lot longer and have better performance. Any opinions?

Go with the LTR cap. I don't know what kind of cap you will be using,
though. A MMC is best, and if you have the caps, go for it!
It also depends on what kind of NST you have... Mine proved to be VERY
sturdy. Only after weeks of experimenting did I realise I was doing things
to it that should have killed it long ago.

 > 2> Primary
 > planning to use 1/4 inch copper tubing. is there any real difference or
 > benifits of using a inverse conical primary over a pankake, because the
 > pancake is going to be a lot easier to make>?

As others have already replied, the pancake is easier to make than the
inverse conical primary. However - being that your coil isn't very large and
overcoupling shouldn't be a problem - might I suggest that you go with a
solenoid (or helical) type primary. I used such a primary on my first few
coils, and arcing was never a problem. They are also easier to make (IMHO)
and you could even do it with electrical wire and save your tubing for the
next coil.

 >> Safety gap> what distance should i set my safety gap to for a 12 kv nst?

 >You should use a three terminal safety gap (center terminal >grounded to
NSTcase) and set the gap to just not fire with an >unloaded NST (Cp and main
sparkgap disconnected).

I couldn't agree more. Trial and error, trial and error :-) There are ways
to calculate the distance, but half the time you still need to adjust the
distance in the end anyway...

Good luck with your coil and happy coiling!

Koen van den Berg