Daniel Kline wrote:
I don't get you guys:A person writes the list asking for the use of a Tesla-coil in their local area. For whatever reason, there's no coil in the area, or no one responds, or no one volunteers a coil, so the person asking for help cluelessly buys what's on the market.Then, the person asks for someone to help put the thing together...Hmmm...who would likely be the most knowledgeable person to get help from? An EE?? No way! Let's get someone with a Ph.D in 14th Century Florentine funerary urns!The person's just asking for help. This is the same as a person asking, "Can I use aluminum wire to wind my secondary?" And everyone replying, "Aluminum bites!" or "Yeah, aluminum. Heh. Right". Yay, sarcasm. *Not* helpful.At least an EE would know who to ask (maybe this list???) or where to do the research.I'm a little embarrassed that someone (Zoe Couacaud, a non-tech woman, I presume) asked the list for help and got this attitude.(What you're all saying is probably true, but this type of response would have me abandoning this resource, which would be bad, if I was in Zoe's situation)Dan K.
Actually most of the EEs I've met can actually use a soldering iron (or have done so at some point). And, most could probably figure out how to assemble and operate a TC from a kit. Granted, you might not want the guy whose concentration was in compiler design (CS used to be part of the EE department at one time).
David Rieben wrote:That's like letting someone with a masters in mechanical engineering, who's never held a socket wrench, ATTEMPT to rebuild the transmission of the family car. Good luck!!
Oh.. I think building a TC is substantially simpler than rebuilding a transmission (I've done both). It is possible to build and get working a smallish coil in a day from a set of directions if you have the materials available.(actually, about 4 hours is what it takes, including a trip down the street to buy magnet wire) Whether one could optimize it and fully understand it is another question, but that may not be called for in this application. A LOT of the art and time consumption in most coils is in the scrounging of materials and improvising substitutes. Things like dryer duct toroids, spark gap designs, etc.
If the person doing the assembly has some basic electrical knowledge (and MSEE would know things like Ohm's law, right?) and has some basic hand tool familiarity (or has access to someone who does), then they're good to go.
Jim _______________________________________________ Tesla mailing list Tesla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla