Hi Bill,I would personally put the strike conductor at RF ground if you use it. Or better yet, listen to what Dr. R. mentioned about simply some strategically placed rf ground rods. I would likely go this route simply because it's easy to use or not use. The floating point is still a point of contact just like the primary (no difference there). Whichever one is closer to any given spark event will get hit.
I do like acrylic discs over the primary. Making a round cut out of acrylic is really easy. I took a 1 meter long metal ruler and drilled holes every inch. I hook the center end to the center of the disc and then insert a cutting bit in the ruler holes (any hardened steel that scribes the acrylic). I simply scribe a rounded hole at whatever diameter I desire. It helps to scribe on both sides of the acrylic for a nice clean break. A little sand paper to the cut edges and you have a nice disc. I don't use thick acrylic (usually about 1/8" thick is plenty).
Take care, Bart Bill Lemieux wrote:
I've never used strike rails, but I'm planning to install one on my "last" coil - the one I'm building now. What about placing a small sphere gap between strike rail and the RF ground? Will the strike rail "floating" have enough self capacitance to still attract strikes, or is it only likely to do so if it is sitting right at ground potential?
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