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Straingest score I've ever had!!! (pix)

Pretty cool stuff. :thmbsp: When I bought my variacs off a guy in Bremerton (I'm only guessing here, but he seemed like he was affiliated with the military or some related field), he was talking about Tesla coils & Jacob's Ladders, & it seemed like he was gauging my interest, but that stuff's way over my head. I'm already semi-dangerous, messing with normal vacuum tubes & gears. :D
 
"An arc like that will throw off loads of RFI, EMI and everything else you can think of though."

Oh yeah, your neighbors are going to like that when their electrical devices go wonky. Make sure no one with a pacemaker is anywhere near when you "fire the mother up!"

We played around with a VDG in high school physics; big fun to watch the girls' hair lift off and up. As has been made clear, Tesla coils are whole 'nother device with a low tolerance for any Darwin Award behavior.

Could keep the neighborhood kiddos in perpetual fear, though. Which might not be a bad thing -- especially when you are maniacally shrieking in your best Colin Clive whacked out manner: "Look! It's moving. It's alive. It's alive... It's alive, it's moving, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, IT'S ALIVE!"

Play safe.
 
I just saw those and thought Tesla....looks dangerous...then you said you were going to shock yourself?!?!?!

Whats wrong with this picture??
 
Arkay said:
Oh, and incidentally, if you can locate a mercury-vapor diffusion vacuum pump and a few other bits, you can build a particle accelerator ("atom smasher") using the output from those things as a beam source, that will give some pretty neat results. You have the basis for a great "mad scientist's lab" there, already! :yes: :thmbsp: Oh, and be sure to dredge up a Wimshurst generator, a few Jacob's ladders and some huge leyden jars and such, just for added visual effect. Very, very cool... especially at Halloween when you put all that stuff near the front door... :D

EDIT: I just read your comment about thinking that there was a Van de Graff near the base of the one Tesla coil. That wouldn't be surprising; you can get some spectacularly ramped-up lightning bolts off of the combination, if you hook them up right. Whoever put those things together, was seriously into some high-voltage "fun". Are you sure you didn't get them from the estate sale of someone recently departed...?

Oh, and your idea of just putting them on a shelf for looks is an excellent one! They are GREAT for that, and while they can be fun otherwise, they can also be genuinely dangerous. If you really want to have fun with electricity, stick to the Van De Graffs --they are much safer than Tesla coils, which easily generate dangerous levels of electricity.
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+1 on the recent estate sale...
 
Wornears said:
Could keep the neighborhood kiddos in perpetual fear, though. Which might not be a bad thing -- especially when you are maniacally shrieking in your best Colin Clive whacked out manner: "Look! It's moving. It's alive. It's alive... It's alive, it's moving, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, IT'S ALIVE!"
Click to expand...

Just think, you'll never have to buy halloween candy ever again!:D
 
My wife and I fired one of them up last night. It made all the crackel and zappy zappy noises. We had the lights off and it gave off 2" bolts off the top. When I asked my wife what she thought, I realized she had left the room. When I found her, she said she got scared and left.:D

With a little spit and polish, they will make great shelve art. I agree that I now need a VDG and Jacobs ladder.
 
djnagle said:
My wife and I fired one of them up last night. It made all the crackel and zappy zappy noises. We had the lights off and it gave off 2" bolts off the top. When I asked my wife what she thought, I realized she had left the room. When I found her, she said she got scared and left.:D
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oh man:D. 2" huh?, if you want to figure out what went into making those sparks, HERE is a page of all the calculations of how to build one, really cool stuff, considering your really just tuning a transformer:yes:.

Which one of the two is working?, the spark-plug one (must be a v-8:D), or the transformer one?
 
33&athird said:
oh man:D. 2" huh?, if you want to figure out what went into making those sparks, HERE is a page of all the calculations of how to build one, really cool stuff, considering your really just tuning a transformer:yes:.

Which one of the two is working?, the spark-plug one (must be a v-8:D), or the transformer one?
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The one with the copper tube running half way up the tower. The V-8 (I love that name for it) has a broken wire and a lot of the parts have come unglued. Should take an hour to fix it all up.

spaceman said:
One must survive, to tell the tale. :D
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I agree but I think Annie had doubts:D
 
33&athird said:
Indeed, note the chainmail armor:D, I believe connected to ground, to prevent the electricity from flowing through him.

There has to be a page about making the singing tesla coils, as far too many out there are doing it...maybe it's in a book or something. From what i've heard it's MIDI controlled, so you want that to control the frequency of the coil to match the frequency of the music, but I have no idea how to do it:scratch2:. here's a page that kinda outlines it, but i'm thinking there must be easier ways (the music that is, not the controller). as writing music into a midi program isn't necessarily fun. I would love to see one where you could plug any song into (maybe a DAC from a device:scratch2:).
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the way it works is kinda like an amplifier. just bigger.
you basically have a source signal, that is amplified up to tesla coil power.
at least thats what I understood about singing tesla coils.

Wornears said:
Could keep the neighborhood kiddos in perpetual fear, though. Which might not be a bad thing -- especially when you are maniacally shrieking in your best Colin Clive whacked out manner: "Look! It's moving. It's alive. It's alive... It's alive, it's moving, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, it's alive, IT'S ALIVE!"

Play safe.
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MwaHAhahAHAha BWahahahaHAHAhah!
 
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The way I figure, every JBL scoop should have it's own Tesla Coil...:smoke:
 

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And my wife thinks I am weird.

Thanks for making me at least appear sane, now for some more vintage stuff . . .
Cool find, interesting, to say the least.

Cheers
 
Those are very cool. What an amalgam of different era parts. The large porcelain stand-offs at the base are 1920's vintage.
 
djnagle said:
I didn't realize they were that old. They still need to be cleaned up but I like them all the same.
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I have a pile like those only the uprights are Pyrex rather than porcelain. When I got them they were mounted on a wooden base with copper bus strips running along the tops of them. I am a complete sucker for crap like that at yard sales. Thinking about your steampunk project(s), you might substitute something else in their place on the Tesla and use them "properly".

;)
 
I've thought about that Sound. The way the xover is going now though, they are not a good fit. I am going to keep them on the T-coil but move them out to the edge so they are more visable.
 
Create an "electronic shock wave in your neighborhood! yeah that's it. :naughty:

bananabomb.gif
 
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