Tesla Coils

[telemonster]

Look for back issues of Radio Electronics or Popular Electronics. There was some information in one of those a while ago. They require a bit more than just soldering parts on a breadboard, as there is a spark gap and also you generally have to wind your own coils and such.

You might want to work your way up, build a stun gun or something first :-)

[pr0zac0x2a]

if you cant figure out circit diagrams, should you really be building one?

Figuring out circuiting plans isn't the problem. I've never built anything high current/voltage before and would prefer some sort of guidance outside of a basic diagram if such a thing exists and is freely available. Better to err on the side of safety and see what information is out there before I jump in and start hooking up capacitors.

-zac

[KeLviN]

if you cant figure out circit diagrams, should you really be building one?

[pr0zac0x2a]

Anyone got any links to good Telsa Coil construction instructions? I had wanted to build one a few years back, and never had the time or money to do it. Seems like something fun to spend my time on this summer. I've done the Google thing, but haven't found anything beyond circuit diagrams. Could put the thing together from those, but detailed instructions would be better for that whole "avoiding death" thing.

-zac

[telemonster]

A few things...

2 things. A long time ago, the l0pht group in Boston had something under their projects about using microwave oven magnetrons and waveguides to do long distance communications. Not sure if they actually managed to do it, how far along they got, etc.

I helped out with a project a while ago that involved a jacobs ladder. It was made out of an older Neon sign transformer. Evidentially the newer neon sign transformers don't lend themselves well to the application either due to size or perhaps they are some sort of switch-mode supply that will cut off. It was at a Haloween haunted forest, in an electric chair scene. We had a microphone near the arc to pick up the sound. At one point in time the electricity jumped to the mic, and amazingly it didn't damage the Mic or the amp. The entire scene was run from a notebook computer. The "prisoner" hit a hidden button on the chair and it triggered an entire scene of strobes / lights, and of course the jacobs ladder.
Given the large size of the transformer he had, and the size of the ladder... it would require a huge supply to get say a 2' arc from one.

On that note, there are some CRAZY pages on the net with Tesla (love will find a wayyyy) coils that are running on solid state power supplies.

I have always wondered if you could have a pole on the roof of a building in public with a 2' streamer hanging off of it at all times during the night.

[Cowthief]

Hello.

If you are going to do something with a microwave oven you might as well buy a new one for under $40 at frys.
What you will need to do is preserve all of the ducting to the magnatron, as this is part waveguide and part cooling duct.
The power supply is quite easy to sort out, there are usually 2 circuits connected to the door interlock, to wire around is not that hard.
There are deadly jolts in both the primary and secondary of the power supply.
The microwave energy, likewise, can easily cook your eyeballs.
A microwave power supply makes a very good primary supply for a big tesla coil, remember, we are talking about anywhere from 600 watts to a KW, or more, at something like 1600 volts.
Remember, you will need to limit the load on the secondary of the oven PS to a safe value.
Be very careful, this stuff is like the old ham radio transmitters of yesteryear, it can easily kill.

[macK3rmack3r]

Blue-fucking-snarfing?

What's all this talk about Tesla Coils all of a sudden? You going for a new world record in Bluesnarfing or smth?

[Twigman]

http://www.amazing1.com/tesla.htm
Well someone had to be selling them on the internet didnt they?

[nak]

My tesla page
Its not a big one, and its sort of dead now, but I do have 2 neon sign transformers... perfect for jacobs ladders :)

[allentrace]

i totally had a bunch of tesla coils... then the allies swooped in with a nasty air strike and crushed me.... leaving my base totally destroyed.... how am i supposed to Command and Conquer without a base?!

wait... what were we talking about again?

a scrabble word?!

Interesting comparison though b/c the conspiracy theory goes the Russians have all of Tesla's patents locked up somewhere....erego the reason you see the Tesla Tank in C and C Red Alert

[KeLviN]

i totally had a bunch of tesla coils... then the allies swooped in with a nasty air strike and crushed me.... leaving my base totally destroyed.... how am i supposed to Command and Conquer without a base?!

wait... what were we talking about again?

a scrabble word?!

[Thorn]

In my mind that's 802.11s

Could be. Mesh has a lot of attractive features.

The biggest thing 802.11s (and 802.11n for that matter) will have to overcome it the inertia of the market and the currect installed b/g/a systems. 802.11b/g/a may not have hit saturation yet, but there are enough users out there right now that will not be inclined to change unless there is a big incentive in speed, distance or truly ubiquitous connections.

[bascule]

"next big thing in wireless... blah, blah, blah"

In my mind that's 802.11s

[Thorn]

An interesting idea to try would be phased array wifi. (we all know about Eli the Ice man) The principle that allows the SPY-1D radar to work.

Anyone know if anyone has tried to apply this idea to commercial 802.11?

About two years ago there was a bunch of stuff in the press regarding phased arrays "next big thing in wireless... blah, blah, blah". It was a big flap, and then it (if you'll pardon the pun) went off the radar. There may be some companies still working on it, but there hasn't been much mention in the trade press of late.

[bascule]

Not that you shouldn't have plenty of reasons to hate Edison, but I don't recall that Tesla was ever credited with the creation of a workable light globe.

It might be more accurate to compare Edison's contributions to the light bulb (as well as many other inventions) as you would Al Gore's contributions to the Internet.

Who I really feel sorry for is Sir Humphry Davy (inventor of the arc lamp, mentioned on the linked Wikipedia page). No one seems to remember that electric light existed nearly a century before Edison invented the light bulb. And limelight lingers as a cultural cliche long after its gas burners were rendered obsolete by a purely electrical solution.