[Message Header 1] Date: Fri, 14 Jun 96 14:01:00 EST From: Baddeley, Glenn X-List-Seq: 1 Greetings ANTS List Subscribers, Just checking to see if it works.... Please reply if you received this message. Glenn. ANTS List Administrator [Message Header 2] Date: Wed, 19 Jun 96 10:58:00 EST From: Baddeley, Glenn X-List-Seq: 2 An Introduction To: THE AUSTRALIAN NIKOLA TESLA SOCIETY General Activities, Scope and Objectives The following is a precis of the aims and objectives of ANTS. 1. THE PROMOTION AND PUBLIC AWARENESS OF THE APPLICATIONS FOR THE TECHNOLOGY DESIGNED AND ENVISIONED BY NIKOLA TESLA. For a number of reasons, only a small part of the inventions, discoveries and pioneering works of Tesla have been applied to the public sphere. Even so, were the contributions of Tesla to be instantly withdrawn from mankind, we would find our modern electrical world plunged into darkness. Tesla was responsible for the original ideas behind AC generators and distribution systems, AC or polyphase motors, computers, radio communications, RADAR facilities, facsimile... so fundamental to our lives is his work. Despite this, how much is popularly known of his revolutionary form of engine that would have "made scrap of every heat engine in the world.."? What of his coup de grace, the world-wide distribution of electrical energy without wires from a single power plant? What knowledge is there of the non-Hertzian electrical spectrum claimed by Tesla? Not all his ideas concerned vast or grandiose undertakings. For example it is most ironic to see lightning arrestors of proven inefficiency being continually applied in lieu of Tesla's innovation. The public-at-large remains woefully ignorant of one of the most remarkable men to have contributed to our modern lifestyle. 2. THE COLLECTION, DISSEMINATION AND ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION RELATING TO NIKOLA TESLA, HIS LIFE AND WORKS. Unfortunately, many of the more important aspects of Tesla's discoveries have been made the 'property' of the very few. When the world so desperately needs clean, renewable and cheap energy, it is ironic that the answers discovered nearly one hundred years ago are not usefully applied! The world 'energy crisis' may have been solved by Tesla with his system of distribution of energy without wires. With this system, fossil fuels are not required. Fully eighty percent of total world atmospheric pollution occurs as a direct consequence of fossil fuel electrical generation systems. Not only is this insane, it is wasteful of limited resources, and worse, totally unnecessary. Vested financial interests have been the main reason for not applying Tesla's system. This must be rationalised against a polluted and starving world. The careful analysis of all information provided by this genius will yield the solutions necessary to rebuild his work. This information will be provided to the world community at the least possible production cost. 3. THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF PRACTICAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENTAL PROJECTS IN ALL ASPECTS OF TESLA TECHNOLOGIES. ** The realisation of our aims will not occur by wishful thinking or discussion alone. The practical development and application of Tesla's efforts is a prime objective of the Society. To this end the Society will sponsor and support the research and development of Tesla technology. Society members must meet a series of qualification criteria before their efforts may be selected for sponsorship or support. All projects and developments will become the property of the Society. The Society intends the ideas arising from such developments to be given to the world community at no cost. The pursuit of profit for personal gain has been the primary reason preventing the previous application of all Tesla technology. The Society is a non-profit organisation, hence this obstacle is avoided. Further, the Society has no obligations to business or financial institutions, nor any interest in this form of venture. The Tesla technologies are the common property of all mankind, not to be subverted for financial gain. The potential benefits to mankind and its future are substantial. The Society will always work to bring these benefits forward. ** NOTE: The Society does not engage in quasi-scientific, paranormal, or purely abstract lines of research. Tesla undertook pioneering work in solar-powered devices, radiant energy receivers and transformers. He also stated: "Ere many generations pass men will succeed in attaching their machinery to the very wheel work of nature" Apart from these allusions to "free energy", there is little evidence that research was actually undertaken by Tesla in areas with nomenclature such as "Zero Point Energy", "Orgone Energy", "Over Unity Generators" and the like. Persons seeking "free energy" devices and information on their construction, operation and theory are advised to seek out other institutions. Tesla's contribution to your quest is "think in terms of vibration and frequency...", together with Patent numbers 685 957 and 685 958, both issued in 1901 in the USA. The Society cannot be of further assistance in this matter. Whilst we do not frown upon those researching this field, these things are considered outside of our scope. Unless real evidence can be produced concerning the generators (attributed to Tesla) that allegedly achieved 460 % efficiency, etc., etc. no further efforts will be put to these causes. Devices incorporating parallel or series resonant LC circuits would not necessarily qualify as being within the scope of the Society. Unquestionably, Tesla pioneered this circuit form and was the 'father of all resonance devices' however the application of these circuits in themselves are now so fundamental and intrinsic to our technology as a whole that it can no longer be regarded purely as a Tesla technology. 4. TO EDUCATE MEMBERS IN THE PRACTICAL AND THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF TESLA TECHNOLOGY. Generally, the opportunity to obtain a working and thorough knowledge of the principles behind Tesla technology is hampered by: i) The exorbitant cost of resources and materials. ii) The popularisation of poorly researched or even totally incorrect information on high voltage, high frequency engineering, the Tesla 'bladeless turbine' and other Tesla developments. iii) The lack of attention to these very important and promising fields within existing texts and educational institutions. iv) The wild, speculative and 'half-baked' theories being promulgated as fact by persons seeking either personal aggrandisement or high sales figures. The Society will address these matters by conducting a series of graded courses designed to educate members in the working principles of electrical and electro-mechanical operations regarding Tesla technologies. 5. TO PUBLISH ARTICLES ON TESLA TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR DERIVATIVE FORMS. In addition to the above, the Society will publish articles, books, files, materials lists, video materials and the like for the information and assistance of members. Members who are designers or builders are also encouraged to get in contact via the Society. Regular meetings, occasional conferences, seminars and demonstrations are held. If you have any further queries, or you wish to obtain a membership application form, write to the following address, enclosing a stamped self-addressed envelope: The Secretary Australian Nikola Tesla Society P.O. BOX 654 MOONEE PONDS VICTORIA 3039 AUSTRALIA (ANTSINT2.TXT 19 June 1996 GNB) [Message Header 3] Date: Fri, 28 Jun 96 10:54:00 EST From: Baddeley, Glenn X-List-Seq: 3 Well folks, a couple of weeks has passed since the ANTS List started up and it is good to see that a six people are subscribed: Rodney Davies Canberra Charlie Plyler Statesville, North Carolina, USA Jim Royston Melbourne Ian Clark Melbourne Glenn Baddeley Melbourne Geoff Wheeler Brisbane? Invitations have been sent out to 10 others, but no subscriptions have been received yet. Note that each message contains a visible header 'X-List-Seq:' followed by the ANTS List message number. It is then possible to identify if you have missed any messages. How about a few submissions; it's pretty quiet. Cheers, Glenn Baddeley. ANTS List Admin [Message Header 4] Date: Fri, 28 Jun 1996 14:43:13 +1000 (EST) From: Rodney Davies X-List-Seq: 4 Hi All, Ok, here's a few questions I have about obtaining components - (I previously posted this on and Aussie electrical newsgroup, unfortunately with zero response, so perhaps the group may know) Does anyone know any good electrical companies in Australia that stock high voltage capacitors (ie approx 0.1-0.15uF @ 50KVDC+) and transformers, preferably of the type Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) of ratings at about 20,000VAC @ 10KVA. Or is there anywhere in Australia where one may get a pig-pole transformer (the two HV insulator types) of similar specification? I'm returning back to Cairns next Wednesday (3rd July) for 3 weeks; I plan to approach the FNQEB about obtaining one of theirs as, last time I was there, they had a whole yard filled with them just sitting as spairs. (Don't worry, while in Cairns I'll be on the internet to here daily). They also have filter capacitors used to filter mains power supply which are 4.14uF @ 50KVDC. Unfortunately, I would probably require 15 of the buggers in series to get 0.3uF, which could just work with a pig-pole or a SWER. Well, basically, these components would make my coil work idealy to specification, or else I guess I'll have to make Richard Hull's 0.01uF caps and use banked neons. Not a good idea as neons and RSG's don't got together very well... :-( Thanks Guys! Catchya later! Rod -- "Who are the Federal Communications Commission and why do they want my Tesla Coil?" +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ | Australian Nikola Tesla Society | | Rodney Davies | | Email: Rodney.Davies@anu.edu.au | | Wardenclyffe - Was Australia's only Tesla Site, now inaccessable :-( | | http://Johnxt7.anu.edu.au/ | | The Australian National University | +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ [Message Header 5] Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 17:02:06 GMT From: Geoff Wheeler X-List-Seq: 5 So Glenn wants some submissions, well here's one... I approached Claude-Neon signs in Brisbane a few months ago about the possibility of obtaining USED neon-sign transformers from them. NO GO! Basically, they don't have them, and they reckon that 2nd-hand xformers are most likely to be stuffed anyway. I asked them about possible suppliers of new components, they recommended 'Neon Specialists' at Woolloongabba. Typical price for a new neon-sign transformer $186. I will call in soon, and get more prices, if anyone else is interested. Beers and cheers, Geoff (Howzat Glenn:-)) [Great! Glenn] [Message Header 6] Date: Mon, 1 Jul 1996 18:22:35 +1000 (EST) From: Ian Clark X-List-Seq: 6 Hi, I thought I'd just send a short message to introduce myself. I live in Melbourne and I have only been dabbling with Tesla coils and so forth for a couple of years. My efforts so far have been with 'electronically' driven coils rather than the standard spark gap type. I guess this is partly due to my radio background ( I'm an amateur radio operator). Unfortunately I havn't done much work lately but I hope this list will act as a bit of a spur to action. Ian Clark VK3KRI ic@deakin.edu.au [Message Header 7] Date: Mon, 8 Jul 1996 From: Glenn Baddeley X-List-Seq: 7 Ian Clark wrote: > My efforts so far have been with > 'electronically' driven coils rather than the standard spark gap type. How's this for an idea: Using an oscillator to drive a pair of parallel 807 valves, operating in class C. How should they be coupled to a TC primary? (maybe with a capacitor in series to form a series resonant circuit at the secondary self resonant frequency) Using a tuned O/P transformer? (air core or ferrite core?) Pi-coupler? Impedance matching sounds like a pig. I have a lot of experience with valve audio. Glenn. [Message Header 8] Date: Tue, 09 Jul 96 16:43:00 EST From: Baddeley, Glenn X-List-Seq: 8 Greetings all, Just to let everyone know, I am taking an initiative and currently most of the way through preparing a first draft of a "Tesla FAQ" (Frequently Asked Questions). I have put in about 30 hours on this so far, including a lot of research and going though books and back through email archives, and I am determined that it should be a complete as possible "introduction" and "jumping off point" to the work of Nikola Tesla. I have been interested in Tesla's work for 16 years so I have a fair idea of what is around. It is currently 950 lines and 43K bytes long and uses the standard FAQ layout. It does not contain any specific construction details for Tesla Coils. When finished it should be less than 1500 lines long. I will take responsibility for maintaining it, and it probably should be posted to Chip's Tesla List at regular intervals (every 2 months?) and be available on ftp.funet.fi. It will rely on people emailing corrections and additions (eg. book & www reviews) to me. The 'Table of Contents' currently contains: 1. Introduction to the FAQ (~10 lines) 2. Table of Contents 3. Introduction to Nikola Tesla (~25 lines) 4. A short biography of Nikola Tesla (with references) (~150 lines) 5. The Tesla High Voltage High Frequency Oscillator (Tesla Coil) and its General Principle of Operation (~130 lines, including 3 ASCII art schematics) 6. Reference Books - Biographies, Other References, Books specialising in Tesla Coils - (~10 bibiographic references & growing; needs short reviews; should only have about the main 15-30 books here) 7. Internet Resources (~45 WWW & FTP locations and reviews) 8. Internet Mailing Lists (6) 9. Societies around the world (5) 10. Safety (5 lines, probably needs to be longer) 11. Version History of the FAQ 12. Disclaimers and Conditions (~25 lines) I am aware of two previous efforts on this List to start a Tesla FAQ: From Chip Atkinson 14 Mar 1995: Tesla FAQ V 1.0 3/14/95 (106k) contains suppliers, books, CAPACITR.ASC. From Kristian Ukkonen 28 Jan 1996 & 27 Apr 1996: tesla.faq [15k] version 1.0 28.01.1996 contains coil types, components, information. I thank and respect the work of these people. The new FAQ is totally impartial and I do not in any way wish to offend or mislead anyone, and if anyone thinks this is the case, then I will gladly change it. Before I post the first draft to the List, I would like to give the opportunity for anyone to comment on the subject of an FAQ. Yours sincerely, Glenn Baddeley Australian Nikola Tesla Society (ANTS), BH +61 3 9253 8072 (time-zone Z+10) Victoria, Australia [Message Header 9] Date: Thu, 11 Jul 96 10:51:00 EST From: "Baroni, Nicholas" X-List-Seq: 10 >A pair of 807s in class C push-pull into a tuned centre tapped tank coil >coupled to the main coil would be my choice. Maybe with another 807 as an >oscillator. I have thought along these lines but issues of metalwork, HV >supplies and the relatively limited power output of a pair of 807s (~100W) >turn me off some what. Rather than having a power stage driven by an oscillator, couldn't we have a feed back winding at the base of the coil as well and have a self excited oscillator type arangement as used in nearly all those cheap and nasty strobe lamps etc? At this stage, I have no idea if this idea could be made to work. >I figure that using rectified mains ~340V with a pair of switch-mode >powersupply Mosfets would give a couple of hundered watts. Added to >this a lower impedance output which may make direct connection to the >coil by matching transformer a better proposition Do you have a magnifier type configuration in mind or connecting the solid state driver in place of the sparkgap, capacitor and transformer? I think one of the designers of the solid state coil drivers (Rob or Alan?) that appeared on Chip's list recently tried driving a traditional TC primary directly but kept blowing things up - hence the magnifier type arrangement. Having said that, the reactance of a typical TC primary is only a few ~0 + j tens of ohms and will naturally do fets in hand over fist. >I should add though that my tinkering has been so far limited to 50V DC >as maximum supply voltage. > Ian Clark [Message Header 10] Date: Tue, 9 Jul 1996 18:09:13 +1000 (EST) From: Ian Clark X-List-Seq: 9 On Mon, 8 Jul 1996, Baddeley, Glenn wrote: > > Date: Mon, 8 Jul 1996 > From: Glenn Baddeley > X-List-Seq: 7 > > Ian Clark wrote: > > My efforts so far have been with > > 'electronically' driven coils rather than the standard spark gap type. > > How's this for an idea: Using an oscillator to drive a pair of parallel > 807 valves, operating in class C. How should they be coupled to a > TC primary? (maybe with a capacitor in series to form a series resonant > circuit at the secondary self resonant frequency) A pair of 807s in class C push-pull into a tuned centre tapped tank coil coupled to the main coil would be my choice. Maybe with another 807 as an oscillator. I have thought along these lines but issues of metalwork, HV supplies and the relatively limited power output of a pair of 807s (~100W) turn me off some what. I figure that using rectified mains ~340V with a pair of switch-mode powersupply Mosfets would give a couple of hundered watts. Added to this a lower impedance output which may make direct connection to the coil by matching transformer a better proposition I should add though that my tinkering has been so far limited to 50V DC as maximum supply voltage. Ian Clark [Ian, you said "tank coil coupled to the main coil". Does this mean a TC with a centre tapped primary, which is the tuned tank O/P for the push-pull valves? I know 807s are limited power, but I have them on hand with chassis, power supply etc., and I am willing to experiment at lower powers. Glenn] [Message Header 11] Date: Sat, 13 Jul 1996 09:47:47 -0700 From: Charlie Plyler X-List-Seq: 11 Hello all, Thanks again for including me in your Tesla list. I,m looking forward to reading the comments submitted by this group. I,ve got a question for you. Have any of you tried to transmit from one Tesla coil to another? If so, have you had any success. Although it is relatively easy to set up Tesla receiving apparatus, there is a lot of speculation about whether the signal is propagated from another Tesla coil,through the air or through the earth. We have found that transmitting through the earth is very efficient at low frequencies. We ruled out any possibility of the signals traveling through the atmosphere by first generating a base ELF frequency (8 hz) and inserting it into the earth using a very good ground system. Of course at this low frequency using the ground systems we could not generate the electromagnetic field needed for propagation through the air. One of our test ranges is separated by 1 1/4 miles (2 km) from the other. Using the earth as a signal path, we discovered that the signal decreased linearly with distance. The inverse square law of radiation does not apply in this case. Also a surprisingly low power was needed for the transmission. By using less than 5 watts of power the signal was received 2 km away in a linear mode. In other words for instance, for 20 volts transmitted, 2 volts received 10 volts transmitted, 5 volts received 5 volts transmitted, 2.5 volts received 2.5 volts transmitted, 1.25 volts received Now for the interesting part. Looking back at the Tesla notes, he accomplished but published very little information on his experiments with earth resonances. Most researchers have discarded the possibility of using a Tesla apparatus for the generation of ELF, because of the extremely long wave lengths involved.Also the low frequencies needed were almost impossible using a standard Tesla coil. I said impossible because we have discovered, not the first perhaps, a way to generate the so called Schumann frequencies. ie. 8, 14,20,26 hz etc., using a Tesla coil. These are the frequencies of the natural resonance of our earth. By using moderate powered Tesla coils using neon transformers, we should excite traveling waves covering a great distance. If this group list would be interested in sharing research in this area, please let me know. Also what format should I use to send diagrams, test results, spectrum analysis photos and such. Gif, Jpeg,etc. Thanks much Charlie Elfrad Group [Charlie is from Statesville, NC USA. Elfrad Group is Extremely Low Frequency Research And Development. He is the only ANTS List subscriber from outside of Australia. Please speak up if you know of any research of this type being conducted in Australia. Glenn, ANTS List Moderator] [Message Header 12] Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 21:57:33 +1000 (EST) From: Ian Clark X-List-Seq: 12 I said: > A pair of 807s in class C push-pull into a tuned centre tapped tank coil > coupled to the main coil would be my choice. Maybe with another 807 as an > oscillator. I have thought along these lines but issues of metalwork, HV > supplies and the relatively limited power output of a pair of 807s (~100W) > turn me off some what. Glenn Said: > [Ian, you said "tank coil coupled to the main coil". Does this mean > a TC with a centre tapped primary, which is the tuned tank O/P for > the push-pull valves? I know 807s are limited power, but I have them > on hand with chassis, power supply etc., and I am willing to experiment > at lower powers. Glenn] Yes, this was a standard Ham transmitter layout in the post-war years. The frequency is lower but the principle is the same. If you have access to to copies 'Radio Amateurs Handbook' or 'The Radio Handbook' from that era you'll find heaps of data for the design of such a Coil Driver. (If anyone is interested and can't find any old enough references drop me a line) Nicholas Said: > Rather than having a power stage driven by an oscillator, couldn't we have > a feed back winding at the base of the coil as well and have a self excited > oscillator type arangement as used in nearly all those cheap and nasty > strobe lamps etc? At this stage, I have no idea if this idea could be made > to work. I've played with this, and its something I want to experiment with more. After all we've got this nice high Q resonant coil so why have anything else to determine the freqency. (and to have to tune) The problems I had seemed to be due to the large electrostatic fields coupling in to the driver as well as the magnetic coupling. A faraday sheilded pickup loop and a driver that has decent shielding(rather than none) should help. > Do you have a magnifier type configuration in mind or connecting the > solid state driver in place of the sparkgap, capacitor and transformer? A magnifier. > ..... Having said that, the reactance of a typical TC primary is > only a few ~0 + j tens of ohms and will naturally do fets in hand over > fist. Well I would have thought that the impedance looking into the coil with a magnifier would just about be R(loss) +j0 at resonance. Has anyone have any real world figures for this value? Ian Clark VK3KRI ic@deakin.edu.au http://www.deakin.edu.au/~ic/ [Message Header 13] From: Baddeley, Glenn To: Baddeley, Glenn; Plyler, Charlie (Tf); Harman, Sandy (Tf); Wheeler, Geoff (T); 'Clark, Ian (T)'; 'Royston, Jim (T)'; Peters, Greg (T); 'Ukkonen, Kristian (Tf)'; Baroni, Nicholas (T2); 'Young, Marcus (T)'; 'Davies, Rodney (T)' Subject: ANTS: Introduction from Greg Peters Date: Monday, 29 July 1996 11:30PM Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 17:00:47 +1000 (EST) From: Greg Peters X-List-Seq: 13 Subscribe ants. I sent a subscription some weeks ago. The message musn't have got through. N. Baroni told me about the list. Anyway, a brief reintroduction. I'm 16 years old and live in Brisbane. I've built 4 coils to date. My largest is a 12" diameter. My best is a 6" coil that gives me 5 foot sparks from 1.8 kilowatt. This coil is VERY high Q. I'm also interested in mechanical resonators. Anyone in the Brisbane area who would like to see my coil, please let me know and we can arrange something. Greg. [Message Header 14] From: Baddeley, Glenn To: Baddeley, Glenn; Plyler, Charlie (Tf); Harman, Sandy (Tf); Wheeler, Geoff (T); 'Clark, Ian (T)'; 'Royston, Jim (T)'; Peters, Greg (T); 'Ukkonen, Kristian (Tf)'; Baroni, Nicholas (T2); 'Young, Marcus (T)'; 'Davies, Rodney (T)' Subject: ANTS: Re: Introduction from Greg Peters Date: Wednesday, 31 July 1996 5:11AM Date: Monday, 29 July 1996 5:00PM From: Greg Peters X-List-Seq: 14 On Mon, 29 Jul 1996, Greg Peters wrote on ANTS List: > My best is a 6" coil that gives me 5 foot sparks from 1.8 kilowatt. This > coil is VERY high Q. I wish to make a correction here. The sparks are closer to 4 feet. I'd like to give some details about the 6" coil. Secondary: 890 turns of 0.71mm (#22) on a 6" x 24" form. (heavily prepared) Primary: 18 turns of zinc strap. 1mm thick x 27.5 mm high. Capacitor: Homemade poly caps. 4 in series/parallel giving total of .015 ufd at 20kv pulse. Transformer: 3 neons giving total of 120mA at 15kV Spark Gap: Air Blast - unreal quenching!!!!!!!!!! RF chokes: 20 turns on a 2" x .5" iorn power toroid. The entire coil is very high Q. I recently displayed it at the Griffith uni excellence expo. I'm in the process of making a video of all my coiling stuff. If anyone is interested in a copy, let me know and I'll keep you up to date on it's progress. Greg. [Message Header 15] From: Baddeley, Glenn To: Baddeley, Glenn; Plyler, Charlie (Tf); Harman, Sandy (Tf); Wheeler, Geoff (T); 'Clark, Ian (T)'; 'Royston, Jim (T)'; Peters, Greg (T); 'Ukkonen, Kristian (Tf)'; Baroni, Nicholas (T2); 'Young, Marcus (T)'; 'Davies, Rodney (T)' Subject: ANTS: Location of Transformers Date: Wednesday, 7 August 1996 10:52PM Date: Thursday, 8 August 1996 12:57AM From: Wheeler, Geoff X-List-Seq: 15 G'day ANTS members! I have found a supplier of second-hand Neon Sign Transformers in Brisbane, and for prices around fifty dollars. If any members interested, drop me a message, and I'll give you the details. They have two basic types: 12kv at 30ma and (I think), 9kv at 30ma, and working and not working. Hope this helps. Beers and cheers, Geoff ps: Anyone know if there is a problem with the USA-TESLA list, as I have not received anything for a couple of weeks? [I re-subscribed on 9 July after a long hiatus, received 6 messages, and then nothing else after 10 July. Errors are supposed to go to nikki@usa.net, so I will send a complaint to that address and see what happens. Glenn, ANTS List Admin] [Message Header 16] From: Baddeley, Glenn To: Baddeley, Glenn; Plyler, Charlie (Tf); Harman, Sandy (Tf); Wheeler, Geoff (T); 'Clark, Ian (T)'; 'Royston, Jim (T)'; Peters, Greg (T); 'Ukkonen, Kristian (Tf)'; Baroni, Nicholas (T2); 'Young, Marcus (T)'; 'Davies, Rodney (T)' Subject: ANTS: USA-TESLA list Date: Friday, 9 August 1996 1:37AM Date: Wednesday, 7 August 1996 3:38PM From: Charlie Plyler X-List-Seq: 16 At 07:52 8/7/96 EST, Wheeler, Geoff wrote: >G'day ANTS members! (SNIP) >ps: Anyone know if there is a problem with the USA-TESLA list, as I have not >received anything for a couple of weeks? > >[I re-subscribed on 9 July after a long hiatus, received 6 messages, and then >nothing else after 10 July. Errors are supposed to go to nikki@usa.net, so I >will send a complaint to that address and see what happens. >Glenn, ANTS List Admin] Hello Glenn: Apparently the USA-TESLA list did a sky dive without a chute. From what I can gather, they are either shut down for the summer or permanently closed. There was no notice and was a surprise to everyone. I have sent mail to the owner with no response. Most everyone has switched over to a moderated group entitled the Tesla list. Just send email to Chip at tesla@pupman.com and he will send you instructions if you and other Ants subcribers wish to join. These are good people and are ready and willing to share their information with others. At present there are over 200 members worldwide. Keep the sparks flying, Charlie Elfrad Group [I haven't had any response from . Let's end the discussion here, unless it comes back on-line. Glenn.] [Message Header 17] From: Baddeley, Glenn To: Baddeley, Glenn; Hickman, Bert (Tf); Plyler, Charlie (Tf); Swain, Tiki (T) ; Wheeler, Geoff (T); 'Clark, Ian (T)'; 'Royston, Jim (T)'; Peters, Greg (T); 'Ukkonen, Kristian (Tf)'; Baroni, Nicholas (T2); 'Young, Marcus (T)'; 'Davies, Rodney (T)' Subject: ANTS: Re: USA-TESLA list Date: Tuesday, 20 August 1996 11:36PM Date: Saturday, 17 August 1996 5:26PM From: geoff wheeler X-List-Seq: 17 >Date: Wednesday, 7 August 1996 3:38PM >From: Charlie Plyler >X-List-Seq: 16 > >At 07:52 8/7/96 EST, Wheeler, Geoff wrote: > >>G'day ANTS members! >> (SNIP) >>ps: Anyone know if there is a problem with the USA-TESLA list, as I have >>not received anything for a couple of weeks? > >Hello Glenn: > >Apparently the USA-TESLA list did a sky dive without a chute. From >what I can gather, they are either shut down for the summer or >permanently closed. Thanks to Charlie for posting that info about USA-TESLA! Most appreciated. I thought this may have been the case. Regards, Geoff [Message Header 18] From: Baddeley, Glenn To: Baddeley, Glenn; Hickman, Bert (Tf); Plyler, Charlie (Tf); Swain, Tiki (T) ; Wheeler, Geoff (T); 'Clark, Ian (T)'; 'Royston, Jim (T)'; Peters, Greg (T); 'Ukkonen, Kristian (Tf)'; Baroni, Nicholas (T2); 'Young, Marcus (T)'; 'Davies, Rodney (T)' Subject: ANTS: Re: USA-TESLA list Date: Tuesday, 27 August 1996 1:41AM Date: Friday, 23 August 1996 10:07PM From: Charlie Plyler X-Lisq-Seq: 18 At 08:36 8/20/96 EST, Geoff Wheeler wrote: >>> (SNIP) >>>ps: Anyone know if there is a problem with the USA-TESLA list, as I have >>>not received anything for a couple of weeks? >> >>Hello Glenn: >> >>Apparently the USA-TESLA list did a sky dive without a chute. From >>what I can gather, they are either shut down for the summer or >>permanently closed. > >Thanks to Charlie for posting that info about USA-TESLA! > >Most appreciated. I thought this may have been the case. > >Regards, >Geoff Hello again: The USA-TESLA list has returned from never-never land. I requested a list review and no one has been dropped other than those requesting to discontinue. No explanation on the absence. Enjoy. Charlie Elfrad Group [I have had email dialog with Randy Filkin of USA.NET Customer Service Ph 1-800-592-1240 in USA. Soon after I complained I started receving messages from usa-tesla, after none since July 10. He offers a tongue-in-cheek explanation: RF>I tripped over the extension cord for the server. I keep tryin to RF>remember to duct tape that thing to the floor but I get busy and forget RF>to....(sigh) ;> Most of the recent usa-tesla messages coming through are of the type "I stopped receiving messages, is the list still working?", so I guess a lot of people around the world have been having similar problems. Let's hope things are OK now.... Glenn, ANTS List Admin, 26 Aug] [Message Header 19] From: Baddeley, Glenn To: Baddeley, Glenn; Hickman, Bert (Tf); Plyler, Charlie (Tf); Swain, Tiki (T) ; Wheeler, Geoff (T); 'Clark, Ian (T)'; 'Royston, Jim (T)'; Peters, Greg (T); 'Ukkonen, Kristian (Tf)'; Baroni, Nicholas (T2); 'Young, Marcus (T)'; 'Davies, Rodney (T)' Subject: ANTS: Web pages of interest Date: Saturday, 31 August 1996 12:46AM Date: Saturday, 31 August 1996 12:51AM From: geoff wheeler X-List-Seq: 19 ANTS members may be interested in the following web page, it is for Information Unlimited: http://www.amazing1.com Another site of interest: http://www.hoopsware.com Enjoy! Beers and cheers, Geoff [Message Header 20] From: Baddeley, Glenn To: Baddeley, Glenn; Hickman, Bert (Tf); Plyler, Charlie (Tf); Swain, Tiki (T) ; Wheeler, Geoff (T); 'Clark, Ian (T)'; 'Royston, Jim (T)'; Peters, Greg (T); 'Ukkonen, Kristian (Tf)'; Baroni, Nicholas (T2); 'Young, Marcus (T)'; 'Davies, Rodney (T)' Subject: ANTS: Sources of parts for coils Date: Wednesday, 4 September 1996 12:32AM Date: Friday, 30 August 1996 9:59PM From: Greg Peters X-List-Seq: 20 I've just built a new coil from scratch and thought this may be of use. Sources of parts: Capacitors: I suggest building your own out of polyethylene. I did this and I run my coil quite often for over a minute with no failures. A good poly supply is: E-Plas E-Plas has branches in every state, so look up the yellow pages. $48 a sheet of 1m x 2m (enough for 1 cap) 1.5 mm thick, puncture voltage 120 kv DC !!!!!!!!!! --------------------------------------------------------------------- The aluminium flashing needed for the plates can be purchased from: Consolidated alloys Like E-Plas, Consolidated alloys has branches all around the country. Make sure you order the 0.3mm thick flashing! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Wire: Try: Tycan winding wire and copper strap. They also have nationwide branches. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transformers: Neon: Any neon sign shop Pole Pig: Try a scap metal place. I have seen a few there. Else try AAB power distribution supplies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- All other coil components can be obtained from a hardware shop. Greg. [Message Header 21] From: Baddeley, Glenn To: Baddeley, Glenn; Hickman, Bert (Tf); Plyler, Charlie (Tf); Swain, Tiki (T) ; Wheeler, Geoff (T); 'Clark, Ian (T)'; 'Royston, Jim (T)'; Peters, Greg (T); 'Ukkonen, Kristian (Tf)'; Baroni, Nicholas (T2); 'Young, Marcus (T)'; 'Davies, Rodney (T)' Subject: ANTS: Coil grounds Date: Tuesday, 10 September 1996 7:15AM Date: Saturday, 7 September 1996 10:08PM From: Ian Clark X-List-Seq: 21 Hello all, I was wondering what others are using for a ground for their coils? I've been running against the 1/2" (5/8"?) copper waterpipe that runs down the side of our house and is connected to the electrical mains ground. I suspect that this is pretty poor and I'm in the process of driving a couple of 4' galvanised star pickets to get a better connection to the ground. How much of a ground does a Tesla coil need? An analysis of a TC as a VERY short 1/4 antenna would give an equivelent circuit consisting of the radiation resistance of the coil (easily <1 ohm at our freqs and coil heights), the series resistance of the coil and, the earth loss. All these resistances are effectively in series. Getting an RF ground connection of less than a couple of ohms at below 1 Mhz is probably impossible in the confines of a normal suburban block of land. If the earth loss is 20 ohms, the coil resistance is 5 ohms and the radiation resistance of the coil is 1 ohm, most of the energy we're pumping into the coil goes into heating up the ground :-(, a lesser amount into heating the wire in the coil, and a miserable amount goes into producing a nice discharge. Now I'm not sure that my 'antenna' analysis of a TC is valid. Can anyone else comment? Ian Clark VK3KRI ic@deakin.edu.au http://www.deakin.edu.au/~ic [Message Header 22] From: Baddeley, Glenn To: Baddeley, Glenn; Hickman, Bert (Tf); Plyler, Charlie (Tf); Swain, Tiki (T) ; Wheeler, Geoff (T); 'Clark, Ian (T)'; 'Royston, Jim (T)'; Peters, Greg (T); 'Ukkonen, Kristian (Tf)'; Baroni, Nicholas (T2); 'Young, Marcus (T)'; 'Davies, Rodney (T)' Subject: ANTS: Re: Coil grounds Date: Thursday, 12 September 1996 1:29AM From: Greg Peters Date: Tuesday, 10 September 1996 4:37PM X-List-Seq: 22 On Mon, 9 Sep 1996, ANTS List wrote: > > Date: Saturday, 7 September 1996 10:08PM > From: Ian Clark > X-List-Seq: 21 > > Hello all, > I was wondering what others are using for a ground for their coils? > I've been running against the 1/2" (5/8"?) copper waterpipe that runs down > the side of our house and is connected to the electrical mains ground. I Never do this as high voltage spikes may go down the house wiring and cause damage. > suspect that this is pretty poor and I'm in the process of driving a couple > of 4' galvanised star pickets to get a better connection to the ground. > > How much of a ground does a Tesla coil need? An analysis of a TC as a VERY See below. > short 1/4 antenna would give an equivelent circuit consisting of the > radiation resistance of the coil (easily <1 ohm at our freqs and coil > heights), the series resistance of the coil and, the earth loss. All these > resistances are effectively in series. Getting an RF ground connection of > less than a couple of ohms at below 1 Mhz is probably impossible in the > confines of a normal suburban block of land. > If the earth loss is 20 ohms, the coil resistance is 5 ohms and the > radiation resistance of the coil is 1 ohm, most of the energy we're > pumping into the coil goes into heating up the ground :-(, a lesser amount > into heating the wire in the coil, and a miserable amount goes into > producing a nice discharge. > > Now I'm not sure that my 'antenna' analysis of a TC is valid. Can > anyone else comment? > > Ian Clark VK3KRI ic@deakin.edu.au http://www.deakin.edu.au/~ic > I just recently did an analysis on coil grounds. I tried 8 star pickets in dry earth. Behind our house is a low area. As we live in the country our waste water is pumped into this low area. The ground there is permanantly muddy and has been since the house was built (6-7 years). The damp earth extends to the water table some metres below. Anyway, 1 star picket (driven all the way in) in the wet earth, left the 8 star pickets in the dry earth for dead. An extra 5-6 inches of spark was noted. In conclusion, make use of damp earth or have heaps and heaps of rods. Also, the coil used was running at 1800 watts. Use the thickest, lowest resistance conductor possible for your ground connection. Greg. [Message Header 23] From: Baddeley, Glenn To: Baddeley, Glenn; Hickman, Bert (Tf); Plyler, Charlie (Tf); Swain, Tiki (T) ; Wheeler, Geoff (T); 'Clark, Ian (T)'; 'Royston, Jim (T)'; Peters, Greg (T); 'Ukkonen, Kristian (Tf)'; Baroni, Nicholas (T2); 'Young, Marcus (T)'; 'Davies, Rodney (T)' Subject: ANTS: Announcing Sci-Tesla list Date: Monday, 23 September 1996 11:17PM Date: Sunday, 22 September 1996 2:13AM From: Charlie Plyler X-List-Seq: 23 Hello Glenn and all of you fearless experimenters, I have started a new mailing list hoping to fill the gap between actual Tesla coil construction and the theoretical aspects of some of Tesla's works. This list is unmoderated and is not limited to only one area of science. The existing lists covering this general area, both moderated and unmoderated serve a very useful and necessary purpose, however I have heard a lot of comments concerning our missing experimenters and their knowledgeable opinions. To me this is a great loss. I welcome freely the thoughts, theories, and research concerning this rapidly expanding field of exploration. If you would like to subscribe to this list..address your email to: listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com In the body of the message area, write subscribe sci-tesla Enjoy, Charlie Charlie Elfrad Group Fax +1 704 881 0082 [Message Header 24] From: Baddeley, Glenn To: Baddeley, Glenn; Hickman, Bert (Tf); Plyler, Charlie (Tf); Swain, Tiki (T) ; Wheeler, Geoff (T); 'Clark, Ian (T)'; 'Royston, Jim (T)'; Peters, Greg (T); 'Ukkonen, Kristian (Tf)'; Baroni, Nicholas (T2); 'Young, Marcus (T)'; 'Davies, Rodney (T)' Subject: ANTS: New Book - Tube Lore, It's Great! (fwd) Date: Friday, 27 September 1996 1:59AM Date: Thursday, 26 September 1996 From: Glenn Baddeley X-List-Seq: 24 Attention all Australians on the ANTS List, The following messages have just appeared on the High Voltage List. If anyone would like to order a copy of the book in Australia please let me know as soon as possible. I will do a bulk order through Steve and mail them out from Melbourne. I should be able to do it for about AU$25 a copy, including postage, compared with AU$33.30 if you direct order from the supplier. Regards, Glenn Baddeley mailto:gbaddele@vitgssw.telecom.com.au ANTS List Admin & National Vice President, Australian Nikola Tesla Society (ANTS), BH +61 3 9253 8072 (time-zone Z+10) Victoria, Australia ---------- From: hvlist@Anchorage.ab.umd.edu Subject: Tube book Date: Thursday, 26 September 1996 6:20AM I received a call back from the author, and the discount for the tube book mentioned in the previous post would be 40% when 6 or more are sent to a single address. That would translate into $11.97 + whatever postage it takes me to mail it back out to you (couple of bucks). I have four requests already (including mine), so give it a thought and let me know. I'll probably let it ride for a week just to let everybody decide and respond, then I'll get the order together. Steve Roys. ---------- From: hvlist@Anchorage.ab.umd.edu Subject: New Book - Tube Lore, It's Great! (fwd) Date: Thursday, 26 September 1996 1:00AM Hey all you high voltage folks... I saw this on the net, and thought it might be of interest. I will call the author and see what it would take to qualify for a "group discount", and if enough people email me (sroys@anchorage.ab.umd.edu) to make the critical mass, I will volunteer to act as the broker for a group purchase. ************************************************************** Date: 25 Sep 1996 00:28:57 GMT From: "John H. Dilks III" Newsgroups: rec.radio.swap Subject: New Book - Tube Lore, It's Great! To all..... from John Dilks, K2TQN -- I received mine on the 23rd; it's great! -- Updated September 24,1996.......... Now shipping! The books have arrived from the printer and are now being shipped "-World-Wide-". A N-E-W B-O-O-K o-n T-U-B-E-S was just announced at the Antique Wireless Association (AWA) Meet in Rochester, NY. Authored by Ludwell Sibley, well known expert on tubes and writer of many articles in the Old Timers Bulletin (OTB), Antique Radio Classified (ARC) and in many Radio Club newsletters across the USA and around the world. "Tube Lore" A Reference for Users and Collectors by Ludwell Sibley << Read a review on this book at : http://www.globalent.net/oldradio >> For serious tube users, collectors and admirers: a new look into tubes, 1920 to now. Here's what it contains: Trends in Tube Design: History of major styles that shaped the industry - acorns, metals, loktals, miniatures and subminiature, lighthouse, nuvistors, compactrons. Includes odd design variants and special "reliable" types. Receiving and Audio Tubes: "Prehistoric" types from 25 tiny manufacturers as well as the big guys - information on a lot of collectable tubes in one place. Basic tech data on lots of later types, both common and little known, and on early CRTs. Includes many types not found in ordinary tube manuals. Military Types: A researched and insightful list of Signal Corps "VT" tubes; the biggest list yet seen of early Navy type numbers; coverage of Canadian "REL" tubes. Special-Purpose and Transmitting Types: Covers the familiar ones and lots of unknown types. "Regular" tubes, plus magnetrons, klystrons, thyratons, ignitrons, camera tubes, etc. Capsulized characteristics on 2300 "specials" from 5512 to 9019. Helps identify that just-found "whatzit." (Everybody knows a 6922 is a premium 6DJ8, but what about the 7308?) For many types, identifies the equipment - civilian or military - that used the tube. Relates specials to their regular prototypes. Unique Types from major makers: De Forest, Eimac, GE, Raytheon, RCA, Sylvania, Westinghouse. 13-page chapter on Western Electric, with new information. Users Guide: Ideas on testing, adapting, repairing, reactivating, identifying, the faint-marked ones, reading date codes, detecting the real maker of private-brand tubes, turning random lots into usable repair stock. TV Sweep Tubes: Eight audio amps and 78 amateur transmitters/linears that use them; tech characteristics; hints on substituting as the originals get scarcer and more expensive. Auction Prices: For collectible and audio tubes, from six major sales Rochester, Dearborn, Highstown). Contains 186 pages, 8-1/2" x 11" softbound. Price, postpaid: $19.95 US$ in North America; $24.95 US$ elsewhere. Discounts available to clubs on group orders. N-o-w S-h-i-p-p-i-n-g-! Send your name, address and a check made out to: Ludwell Sibley, 44 E. Main Street, Flemington, NJ 08822. +++ Available at the NJARC Swapmeet & Antique Radio Auction, Highstown, NJ Oct 5, 1996 +++ [Message Header 25] From: Baddeley, Glenn To: Baddeley, Glenn; Hickman, Bert (Tf); Plyler, Charlie (Tf); Swain, Tiki (T) ; Wheeler, Geoff (T); 'Clark, Ian (T)'; 'Royston, Jim (T)'; Peters, Greg (T); 'Ukkonen, Kristian (Tf)'; Baroni, Nicholas (T2); 'Young, Marcus (T)'; 'Davies, Rodney (T)' Subject: ANTS: Re: New Book - Tube Lore, It's Great! (fwd) Date: Saturday, 19 October 1996 2:01AM Date: Friday, 18 October 1996 From: Glenn Baddeley X-List-Seq: 25 > Date: Thursday, 26 September 1996 > From: Glenn Baddeley > X-List-Seq: 24 > > The following messages have just appeared on the High Voltage List. > If anyone would like to order a copy of the book in Australia > please let me know as soon as possible. I will do a bulk order > through Steve and mail them out from Melbourne. I should be able > to do it for about AU$25 a copy, including postage, compared with > AU$33.30 if you direct order from the supplier. (snip) No one responding, but I am ordering 4 copies anyway. 2 are reserved for ANTS List subscribers in Australia. Send private email if anyone wants a copy. The most passioned pleas will be lucky. Glenn.