[TCML] All of my tesla coil questions (for now)

["Nicholas J. Goble" <ngoble@xxxxxxx>]

I figure I should introduce myself.  I'm a sophomore in college, 
studying business.  I have only a basic college level physics course 
under my belt, but I've read a lot about Tesla coils on the Internet.  
I've always enjoyed building things and impressing people with them.  I 
think the most fun is building them though.  My plan is to build a 
small to medium coil over the summer.

Instead of filling the archives and your inboxes with multiple 
questions that are unknown to me but second nature to everyone else, 
I'll just clump them all in one big message.  Here are all my 
questions; hopefully someone can answer them:

1) Do I NEED a Terry filter?  I know they protect the transformer, but 
I don't know how they work and what happens if I don't use one.

2) Do I NEED a saftey gap?  Again, I know they protect the transformer, 
but I'm in the dark as to how they work and what will happen if I don't 
use one.

3) How much should I plan on spending on a transformer (approx 10KV, 
30mA)?  I don't want overpay because of inexperience.

4) How do I construct an MMC?  What type of circuitry do I use?  I 
can't find any concrete information on MMC's.

5) Instead of building an MMC, whould it be cheaper and/or more 
effective to build a plate capacitor out of just window glass and some 
other metal?

6) This was my plan for a spark gap: Have 2 rods (preferably Tungsten) 
form a gap inside a PVC pipe and have a fan or blower at one or both 
ends.  Will this be sufficient?  Would a rotary gap be better?  I just 
don't want to be replacing the rods every time I fire this thing up.

7) Should I use insulated, magnetic wire on the secondary coil?

My biggest fear is that my coil doesn't work after all the time and 
effort I invest into it.  My second biggest fear is that it dies 
shortly after I put it together.  My third biggest fear is that I die 
from it.  I'm pretty sure I can be safe around electricity.  Just don't 
touch the thing when the cap is charged or it's plugged in, right?

These are all my questions for now.  I appreciate all of your past and 
future answers.  This has been an extremley helpful listserve.  Thanks

Nicholas Goble
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