[TCML] Suggestions for a mini-TC?

[Jason Goodman <goodman_jason@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm thinking of trying to build a very small spark-gap-style tesla  
coil: something with a secondary perhaps 1 inch in diameter and 6  
inches long, topped with a toroid about 4 inches across.  The whole  
thing should fit in a shoebox, and ideally throw sparks about 4-6  
inches.  One hell of a desktop toy for the office!

I played with JavaTC a little, and it looks like something with the  
following specs should work:
Toroid: 1 inch minor, 4 inch major diameter
Secondary coil: 1 inch diameter, 6 inches long, 30-AWG wire, 500 turns
Primary coil: flat coil, 10 AWG, 5 turns, min diameter 3 inches, max  
diameter 7 inches
Primary capacitor: 0.0012 uF
Resonant frequencies tuned at 2.3 Mhz

If I want sparks 4-6 inches long, I read from this list that length =  
0.85 sqrt(power), so power should be about 50 watts.
To easily exceed the breakdown voltage of 30 kV/cm in air near the  
toroid, I need to get the toroid up to about 100 kV.

I've got several questions about other aspects of the coil:

1) What voltage should the primary circuit be designed for?  Just kind  
of vaguely scaling things down from the sort of coils I've seen here  
and used before, I figure something like 1 kv should be sufficient,  
and will keep the components reasonably small and compact, but I'm  
just guessing.

2) What should I use for a power supply?  To deliver 50 watts of  
power, I want something in the ballpark of 120 V, 1 A on the supply  
side, and 1 KV, 100 mA charging the tank capacitor.  This seems kind  
of overpowered to me, but what do I know.
   a) anyone know of a transformer with vaguely this sort of spec?
   b) If not, can I make one?

3) With such a low voltage in the primary circuit, I'm thinking I'll  
have trouble building a reliable spark gap.  Would a solid-state  
switch (IGBT or SCR) make more sense in this circuit?

4) This needs to be a desktop plug-in model, so I can't exactly ground  
it using a stake in the earth.  Given its smal size, will I be able to  
filter it enough to be able to hook the secondary up to the mains  
ground line?
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