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Re: [TCML] Question about vacuum tube Tesla coils



On 9/2/2011 5:42 PM, Ryan QF wrote:
Hi everybody,

I've got a question about vacuum tube driven Tesla coils.  Every one of
these I've seen produce distinctive-looking sparks - the link below to Roger
Smith's TC is a great example:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29248051@N02/6104333777/in/photostream

What is it about using a vacuum tube to drive a Tesla coil that creates
these sparks?I am guessing it has something to do with thermionic emission
speeding up the electrons as they leap across the tube.  Please correct me
if this is wrong.
I'm curious because I haven't seen any other type of Tesla coil produce
these kinds of sparks, so it stands to reason that there is something about
using vacuum tubes which creates this.

Thanks,

Ryan
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Ryan, That is a very good question. A lot can be said on this topic but just to add a few things to what Dave said, most VTTCs are powered with AC or DC from a half wave voltage doubler so the coil alternates from being on for a half a cycle to being off a half a cycle. This is still called continuous because a half cycle on the line frequency is a long time compared to the short pulses from a spark gap type coil. If you run a VTTC on filtered DC you get a short, fat , quiet flame like spark. When running in any kind of pulsed mode of operation, resonant frequency, power level and the duration and wave form of the pulses all seem to affect the appearance of the spark.

Roger

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