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Re: newbie to tesla stuff



Original poster: "Jim Lux by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net>

At 01:17 PM 1/2/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>Original poster: "james brady by way of Terry Fritz <teslalist-at-qwest-dot-net>" 
><james_brady10-at-hotmail-dot-com>
>
>OK, I have never built a Telsa coil before, so how do I get started?


You've come to the right place to ask.. First question for you is about 
your budget.  There are two basic paths to building that first coil: 1) The 
one for low dollars and lots of time scrounging and improvising and 2) the 
one for higher dollars, where you scrounge less.

Most folks start with a coil powered by the ubiquitous Neon Sign 
Transformer, which, if purchased brand new will set you back about $80, but 
used ones are available for much less, and you can conceivably scrounge one 
for almost nothing (time vs money, right?)

You'll need a spark gap, for which a few short pieces of copper pipe work 
very nicely.

You'll need a primary capacitor, for which the lowbuck solution is a 
beerbottle/saltwater capacitor (the geekgroup web site has a good one made 
from beer bottles and a 5 gallon plastic bucket).  The higher buck solution 
is a purchased capacitor(s), for which there are many alternatives. Don't 
contemplate the "rolled polyethylene and foil" type capacitor, which you 
will see referenced in older (i.e. pre year 2000) websites, books... etc.)

You'll need a secondary coil.  Cardboard mailing tube or PVC pipe 2-4" in 
diameter wound with appropriate wire (24 AWG or thereabouts).

And some time and fiddling...

There are a bunch of design spreadsheets and online calculators, which 
someone will surely give you the links for (http://www.pupman-dot-com/ has 
links to at least one) to help figure out dimensions and so forth.

There are two important things:
1) It's high voltage, and you can die, so be careful.
2) The design is fairly non-critical.  Improvise, get close, and fiddle 
with it.  You can go for optimum design on your 2nd or 3rd coil. Don't try 
to make it perfect the first time, or you're in for a lot of frustration.



>I think that I need a dummies for Tesla book or something. But, in the 
>meantime could someone recommend a website or a book that could help me 
>get going in the right direction?
>
>I have lots of questions and I don't know where to start. Here are few 
>that I have:
>
>What's this stuff about Tesla putting coils on a ship to make it dissapear 
>from radar? Did this actually happen and did it work?


Nope... didn't happen (if for no other reason that most of Tesla's work was 
done before the widespread use of radar)



>What's so special about high frequency electicity? Can't it still kill you?

Yes it can still kill you (or more to the point, burn you without 
stimulating those pain receptors that make you say "ouch" and pull away)


>What is a spark gap? Do I need one of these?

Yes, but it's no big deal


>Anyway, I am really new to this, so I don't even know what kind of 
>questions that I should be asking. My main goal is not to kill myself!!!!!!!

A worthy goal...




>Thanks!!
>
>
>James Brady
>Richmond, VA

There is a fairly active group of tesla coiling types in Richmond. You 
should get to know them.