Re: Directions for tesla coil research

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Malcolm Watts by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <m.j.watts-at-massey.ac.nz>

HI Paul, Jim,

On 3 May 2002, at 10:41, Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "Paul Nicholson by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <paul-at-abelian.demon.co.uk>
> 
> Jim's comments cut to the heart of the matter:  The question is,
> what is the relative significance of topload voltage and topload
> charge in determining streamer performance?

Absolutely agree. It's been a hobby horse of mine for quite a while 
now. For one of my coils, increasing Ctop by an effective 100% (Ctot 
increased from about 26pF to 33pF or so) resulted in a 25% increase 
in reach with the same primary energy and breakrate. However, 
unloaded primary Q was also increased by 50% as a result of retuning 
so the Ctop factor did not sit alone. Given half a chance (like a 
suitable test room), I'd like to boost Ctop further and check for 
further improvement. Maybe in the semester break in June.

Regards,
malcolm
<snip - points noted>