From: "Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: Safety gap issues
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 08:01:12 -0700
Original poster: Mddeming@xxxxxxx
Hi JT
In a message dated 11/24/05 9:14:13 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
tesla@xxxxxxxxxx writes:
Original poster: "JT Bowles" <jasotb@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Use a counterpoise? You mean putting large amounts of al foil, spread
on the ground, as an RF ground? WTF no way dude, that ruins the
aesthetics of my coil.
A solid counterpoise wastes a lot of power in eddy currents. The
most efficient form is a large number of wires set radially from the
bottom of the coil like the petals of a daisy.
i DO have a 4 foot Cu pipe driven into the ground, and 15 feet of
wire is attatched to it.
*I use this separate ground as a ground for the sparks to jump
to.(from toroid directly to this)
*I have read all over, 1 inch requires around 25,000 volts to make a
spark connect. So, i have been measuring EVERYTHING using this
equation. IN OTHERWORDS, I USE 1MM=1000V. My sparkgap is set at 7.5
to 8 mm, thus 7.5 to 8 kV
Then read more carefully and thoroughly. It is true only at fixed
pressure, temperature, humidity and composition of the air, and then
only with quasi-infinite electrodes for uniform field. The first
three change day to day, and you lose the four parameters as soon as
the gap fires for a few seconds.
* my output is 15.5 inches- so i times that by 25,000 volts per inch-
to achieve a staggering
388KV tesla coil output
ONLY true for the very first pulse. After that, the repeating RF
pulses cause the streamer to grow. This is the whole advantage of HF
Tesla coils: the streamers grow much longer than voltage alone would
indicate. Again one needs to read AND understand the whole law,
including its restrictions before quoting it as gospel. Your output
estimate is probably double the voltage you're really getting.
Hope this helps
Matt D.