|
I wonder how they are tuning the frequency of the coil... (EDIT: The wikipedia link below actually explains it)
When I built mine, yes, it's F'ING LOUD. And mine made sparks around 1 foot long. It sounded like a chainsaw.
Most people who have one, build them as a hobby.
Like I said, it can be very dangerous. For example, that coil in the video probably uses an arc welder (current limiter and power source) feeding one of those big transformers you see on telephone poles... but they run it backwards, stepping up the 120v to say 25,000v.
That 25,000v then has to go into a BIG capacitor, which some people make but can also be bought from a power company (again, think big thing on a telephone pole).
Then, the current running from the capacitor goes into what's called a spark gap, basically an air gap to cause the high voltage power to pulse into the primary coil (the coil at the bottom), that then causes a transformer step-up and resonance in the secondary coil, resulting in the huge sparks.
So it requires a lot of experience, safety precautions, and some money.
Oddly enough, the big sparks coming out of it aren't the most dangerous part. If the coil is tuned properly, you could even be hit with the spark and not be harmed (I wouldn't try it).
Dangers:
1. Touching the primary coil would most likely result in death.
2. Huge amounts of heat is produced at the spark gap, things can
catch fire.
3. Capacitors can explode (they are filled with oil and get hot)
4. Running one of these throws out TONS of radio interference
More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_coil
| quote: | Originally posted by British
would this work better with more coils?
like better pitch range?
i think it really cool, but kinda dangerous to put in a club
what do you think one of those costs?
gotta love big blasts of elec that make music |
|
