TinselKoil 22: New Low-Aspect Resonator! TKSSTC 2.0 First Light

[CosmicGnarler]

Your one of my heros.

Tesla coils are SO damn cool. Especially resonant ones. Watching the spark length while you play with the frequency reminds me of watching Aaron's borrowed scope... Good idea with the rubber stand off's.

Have you an audio modulated TC ?

[TinselKoala]

Thanks, I think.

Strictly speaking I think the "Tesla Coil" is by definition resonant. The secondary is a quarter-wave resonator, air core so it doesn't saturate. A standing wave is established on the resonator, and the "free end" voltage can rise very high.There are two frequencies here: the resonant frequency of the coil which is 340 kHz or so at 50 percent duty cycle and doesn't change, and the "gating" or staccato frequency and duty cycle, 1-20 Hz and 10-50 % on. It can be audio modulated.

[zezimashock]

that is a nice one :)

[TinselKoala]

Thanks, I agree even if I do say so myself. I've been wanting to make a SSTC for many years; I have half-a-dozen SGTCs of various sizes and configurations using rotary and stationary and multiple SGs that I've built over the years, some flyback and auto ignition driver toys that are fun, but the small SSTC has always beckoned me. I spent quite some time looking at circuits; most use difficult-to-obtain parts, so I melded several circuits and found (by experiment) easy to obtain component values.

[TinselKoala]

(continuation) And I'm still not finalized as to the circuit. The voltage output (and spark length) will go up if I can get the mosfets switching more sharply, so a little tweaking and layout refinement is still to come. Also tuning is still manual; I need to implement the freq feedback system for auto tuning.

I will post the completed circuit when I've done that bit of work. I"m working on a good drawing of the present incarnation now; the final version might include some minor changes.

[m3sca1]

cool-i notice alot of tesla's coils where short fat forms with a ratio of about 2:1 height:width.

[TinselKoala]

Yep, that's right. Tesla was generating such high voltages though (he claimed to get to 18 MegaVolts, IIRC, and that's not chopped liver) that he eventually needed to go back to longer aspect ratio constructions just to keep the voltage from shorting across the secondary.

I'm getting to the point where that's an issue for me too. I installed a strike ring just above the primary, just in case. FULL full power testing will commence later today, and if the magic smoke stays in I'll take some pix.

[CosmicGnarler]

Don't let the genie out!

[gatekeeper1006]

Great video as always, very informative

.

I have a question; where do you get the

terminal block connectors, like the white one seen at 1:00 min.

Thanks

[TinselKoala]

Thanks, there will be more coming.

That's a pretty common connector system, it comes in long strips and you just cut off as many terminals as you need. They also come in different sizes for different gauge wires. These I got at the local electronics surplus store, Active Surplus, in downtown Toronto. But you should be able to find them in most any electrical supply house.