"Q Factor" is a huge deal when designing and assembling a reliable and well
functioning Tesla Coil. Copper in a rotary spark gap is just a plain
terrible idea as it will deteriorate in a matter of seconds. Dont take
offense, its all part of the learning curve. Tungsten rod is easy to obtain
and easy to cut with a diamond blade on a dremel tool. I have had
incredible success using a single tungsten flying electrode with four
tungsten stationary electrodes on a small synchronous teletype motor with a
Frau phase adjuster for fine tuning. It took a lot of research and effort
but was well worth it at the end. All of this info is in the pupman
archives. You should also use JavaTC and TeslaMap for baselines and values.
Keep your nose to the grindstone, learn from the mistakes of others,
emulate what has been successful and by the summer you will be the star of
the show at your next BBQ. And like it has been said before, do not allow
yourself to come into contact with streamers in any way. In the past I have
held up 48" fluorescent tubes by hand directly into streamers and allowed
myself to absorb enough charge that I had streamers coming from my
fingertips without the use of a Faraday suit. It hurt like hell but it was
a great show so I did it anyway. Looking back, I am counting my lucky
stars. That was fun and it looked cool as hell but it could have left my
wife without a husband and my son without a father. I may get some push
back from this statement but I feel as though Q Factor goes beyond just its
technical definition. I see Quality Factor as attention to detail in the
construction and placement of ALL components of a TC. Dont be sloppy with
ANYTHING. Be mindful of where you should and should not use metal parts.
Wood, vinyl, HDPE, acrylics and other plastics are your friends. Keep
adequate spacing of components to eliminate arcover. Make sure your
physical setup is consistent and repeatable. Be mindful lossy
configurations. Make sure you have the best earth ground possible. Keep
things tight and clean. Make your project a work of art. Enjoy and be
safe!!!
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