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RE: TC Spark Energy



Original poster: "Lau, Gary" <gary.lau-at-hp-dot-com> 


 >Original poster: "David Thomson" <dave-at-volantis-dot-org>
 ><snip>
 >But I think we can go further with the equation.  It is quite easy to
 >calculate or measure the resonant frequency of the secondary coil.  Also,
 >the force exerted by the spark on the atmosphere must be constant (with
 >slight variation for various atmospheric conditions) because both the
 >electricity and the atmosphere behave as incompressible fluids.  If we can
 >determine this force constant, we can determine the amount of power being
 >output in the secondary.


The force exerted by a spark on the atmosphere is like that exerted by a 
firecracker.  It is not by any means a constant - the bigger the bang, the 
louder the noise, and the higher the force, for both sparks and 
firecrackers.  The atmosphere is certainly compressible.  If it were not, 
propagation of sound waves could not occur.  Barometric pressure is a variable.

Electricity is an incompressible fluid?  No more so than ghosts.


 >force_constant * secondary_frequency * spark length = secondary_power_output


Are you saying that a 1 foot long streamer from a 200KHz secondary requires 
twice the power or contains twice the energy as a 1 foot streamer from a 
100KHz secondary?  No.


 >Comparing the secondary power output to the primary power input could tell
 >us just how efficient the coil really is.  As such, a whole new way of
 >looking at coiling would surface.  Instead of seeking long sparks by
 >building the biggest coil with the mostest bucks, we would have a benchmark
 >for building the a coil with the most bang for the buck.
 >
 >In the equation I give above, the force against the atmosphere is a
 >constant, the resonant frequency of a given coil is fixed, so the only
 >variable is the spark length.  The spark length would be directly
 >proportional to the secondary power output.

A tidy equation, but does not reflect the experience and reality of those 
who have made these measurements.

<snip>

 >I'm glad I did this exercise.  It made me realize that any given spark in a
 >Tesla coil has a frequency of 1/120 of the secondary resonance.  I might be
 >able to exploit that in some way.

Are you saying that the gap firing rate, bangs per second, must always be 
1/120th of the secondary frequency?  No, the two are completely 
independent!  How else could a variable speed rotary gap work?

Gary Lau
MA, USA