RE: The Tabletop Tesla Coil Showdown - OFFICIAL RULES and WEBSITE

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

Original poster: "Malcolm Watts by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <m.j.watts-at-massey.ac.nz>

Hi Gary,

On 3 Oct 2002, at 16:23, Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "Lau, Gary by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<Gary.Lau-at-hp-dot-com>
> 
> Ed Wingate wrote:
> >I'm for one category or to state it a different way no categories!
> >
> >The so named 4/20 NST with no modifications, anything else is allowed.
> 
> Shunt modifications WILL be allowed because it is possible to operate NST's
> safely with some shunts removed.  The beauty of the 4/20 NST's is that they
> are unpotted and the shunts are easily removed.  Folks are not likely to
> build qualifying coils if they must hobble their performance by not
> removing shunts.  But the number of shunts removed will be regulated to
> keep the power level safe and identical across all entrants, so that we're
> judging coil efficiency, not how close to meltdown you're willing to
> operate your NST.
> 
> >I really don't know how you can be sure from a distance that everyone
> >is playing fair as far as input power levels are concerned. At the
> >Teslathon it can be closely monitored.
> 
> I want to encourage participation by as many folks as possible world-wide,
> not just those attending one Teslathon.  There is no material prize
> involved so I'm not sure why someone would deliberately misrepresent their
> coil.  It has to be an honor system.

The old problem remains: I, for one, am unable to obtain a 4kV/20mA 
transformer here in NZ, much less one from a particular manufacturer.

     I previously suggested that the only real competition in Tesla 
Coiling stakes was to beat John Freau's 1.7*SQRT(VA) for a single 
resonator machine. That of course includes magnifiers. It's an open 
competition, both to all comers, and for as long as it takes. I think 
we'd learn much more doing that than trying to beat each other with a 
particular transformer as a starting point. For some reason, that 
suggestion never made it to the list.

Regards,
Malcolm