Re: 12kV / 60 ma Neon Sign Transformer

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: "Paul B. Brodie" <pbbrodie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Dave,
I was following coiling avidly for several years, with the intent of 
building my own, up until about 2 years ago, I just recently reentered the 
fray, so to speak. The one thing I would advise you to update yourself on 
is the advancements made in capacitors. The development of the MMC 
(multiple mini capacitors) has made the rolled poly and oil caps obsolete. 
I personally think they are messy, a bear to build, and much more 
expensive, anyway. Also, for software, I was recommended WinTesla that you 
can find at
http://www.hot-streamer.com/rscopper/index.htm.
Good luck. I'm glad to see I'm not alone in getting back into coiling. 
Everyone here has been extremely nice and helpful!
Paul Brodie

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, March 07, 2005 7:30 PM
Subject: 12kV / 60 ma Neon Sign Transformer

> Original poster: Davetracer@xxxxxxx
>
> Hello all,
>
>     I have not built a Tesla Coil in quite some time. However, if both of
> my brain cells that are left remember correctly, one starts at the power
> supply. I could be wrong. I've been wrong before, plenty of times!
>
>     I do have a 12kV / 60 ma neon sign transformer and I had good luck
> with copper tubing as a primary "last time".
>
>     Now, what I need to determine (I believe) is the capacitance C to
> store up current each 1/60th, the primary's L to determine resonant
> frequency, and the secondary's L to make sure it's a 1/4 wave electrically
> from the primary's L frequency.
>
>     Does anyone happen to have software to do this? I have seen references
> to some programs but am not finding them.
>
>     Alternately, would someone be willing to give me the numbers to design
> the coil with (e.g., "You're going to want 800 turns on the secondary, 
Dave")?
>
>     As I recall finding capacitors was always a joy :-( but I'll give it a
> try. If nothing else, I can use aluminum foil in 14 x 14 and plate glass in
> 18 x 18.
>
>     Again, any pointers to software, or existing designs, would be quite
> nice. I too started with the 1964 "Two Tesla Designs" magazine articles.
>
>     Thanks again,
>
>     Dave Small
>
>
>
>