RE: Experimental tesla coil using Radio Shack Megacable Speaker wire as primary

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

Original poster: "Steve Conner" <steve.conner-at-optosci-dot-com> 

 >In this case here
 >if the 1 nf were to match with the 2.3 mh primary
 >inductance, the combination might be in ten fold
 >error, a resultant resonant freq near 33,000 hz.

That's kind of my point. I am suggesting you use the 1nf cap instead of a
120pF one, because you'll get 8 times more energy delivered to your Tesla
coil. A 120pF cap charged to 20kV only has 0.024 Joules of energy which I
doubt would produce any visible sparks at all.

With 1nF you have 0.19 Joules which will definitely do something. I have a
mini coil with 0.25 Joules that gives arcs between 6" and 13" depending on
the break rate.

So I reckon you should use fewer primary turns :)

Steve C.