Re: Capacitor Help Needed

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Brett Miller <brmtesla2@xxxxxxxxx>

Matt,

> Hi Brett, Jonathon, All,
>
>      Anything is worth the expense IF you have the
> money. A new BMW
> is an infinitely more comfortable ride than a
> soapbox derby racer,
> but folks keep building them. Affluent coilers take
> their platinum
> cards to the capacitor store, while poor coilers
> drink a lot of beer.
> Who's to say which one is happier?
>
> Matt D.

Well, my main point was supposed to be that even a kid
who still gets a $25 per month allowance could build
up an MMC for a single 12/60 NST after saving for two
or three months.  I'm not talking exclusively CDE*
caps, but of the other known *good* MMC caps on
Terry's list.
Checking Digikey now, you can get 10 of the Panasonic
P10516-ND caps for $23 and change, however I notice
they are currently out of stock.

I think it is worth the wait to save up the money,
even if you don't have access to a credit card or are
whatever you might consider an "affluent coiler".

Nevertheless, I think everyone should go through the
experience of building salt water/beer bottle caps
once, since it is just a thrill when you turn up the
variac the first time and see your cobbled together
junk actually processing power and delivering
streamers.  Plus they do work fine in a pinch, or if
you are on a very tight budget.  I love seeing Greg
Hunter's 6" coil running with a 5KVA pig and a bottle
cap array, pumping out huge, hot power arcs...it's one
of my favorite things on hot-streamer.

I did not intend to dispute the convenience of bottle
caps, but just to dispell the notion that the best
option (MMC's) was not always prohibitively expensive
for coilers on a tight budget.  Funny how I see lots
of people spending up to 80 dollars for NST's when
they are easily scrouged for free or super cheap in
many areas with just a bit of creative searching.  I
suppose I would not know that however, if I were a
platinum card coiler, hihi.

If I did not care about poor coilers I would not have
given away all the NST's I got for free to list
members last year.  I use a single 12/60 on my 6"
coil, which I purchased used for 30 bucks about 6
years ago...It has lasted all that time for me with no
filter (which I admit is rather foolish)...I guess
after all that time, I am just curious to see how long
it can last.  One thing I learned about the NST
giveaway, you have to pack them well for
shipping...sorry to the two? guys who had their
insulators cracked or smashed off by the UPS guys'
football game.

-Brett
hot-streamer/brett