tesla coil

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "mike by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <vaughanb-at-m33access-dot-com>

I am building my first tesla coil and am pretty limited in my understanding 
of electronics. I bought plans off the web that were posted on e-bay and 
have some questions I think you can answer.
Between the transformer and the spark gap is a component called a choke 
constructed of a ferrite torid core -what does it do ?

The plans call for a pvc pipe with aluminum sheets rolled between plactic 
sheets with a value of .005 uF  40,000 volts pr cap. Is there any other 
caps  I can substitute for this labor intensive project ?.If so are they 
durable ? I would need a good description to purchase them.
I heard that ac caps do not hold a charge once the electricity is turned 
off. Any comments ?.
I have to make two. Are they wired in series or parallel.?

What relevant information do you need from my tesla coil blueprints so I 
can construct a  torid ?
Thanks  Mike Biggs