Staccato Controller Problems

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Original poster: "Chris Fanjoy" <zappyman@xxxxxxxxxxx>

This is about my dual 813 VTTC again. I posted earlier that I managed 
to get it going, with mixed results. The main problem right now is 
the staccato controller. If I try to draw a spark of more than about 
1/4", or if I hold a fluorescent bulb more than 1/4-1/2" away from 
it, it goes from pulsed mode to continuous wave. The SC circuit is 
the one with a zero-crossing enhancement, and it doesn't seem to make 
much difference which phase is used for the crossing. I tried 
reversing the leads to the grid winding, this reduced the output 
voltage a bit but allowed slightly longer sparks to be drawn before 
going into CW.
Any ideas as to what could cause this problem??