Craig

The maximum spark length so far is 1 meter. I usually get 2 or 3 streamers at the same time. Yeah, I've got it setup for 8KV. Each MOT outputs 2.2KV. Although the inductor (ballast) introduces a small voltage drop, so I'm not sure of the exact output. I will measure it as some point. I'm controlling the power supply with a large variac. In my pictures the variac was turned upto 200V out of a possible 240V. I haven't measured the current output yet, but the inductor (ballast) should limit the primary side current draw to 10A. A little while ago I made a Jacobs ladder with the power supply and I measured the primary side current draw to be a little above 11A @ 220V. I'm still in the early stages of tuning the coil. Once I'm confident that it's all setup correctly I'll make some more accurate measurements.

Thanks for the kind words everyone . No, I recently finished a degree in computing. My skills are mostly in programming. Although I find the electronics / high voltage stuff really interesting. Consider the MOT on its way . It might take sometime to get to you though . I'm probably going to do some more Tesla coil runs tonight. I've made some changes to the setup which should hopefully result in bigger streamers.

Hi, My latest project is a spark gap tesla coil. I started to get the first decent streamers a couple of days ago. I thought some of you might be interested . Here's some specs: 4 MOT (Microwave Oven Transformer) Power Supply. Inductive Ballast (limits the current draw to 10A). Secondary Diameter 110mm (1000 turns of 0.55mm wire). Asynchronous Rotary Spark Gap. 80nF MMC Tank Cap (originally bottle caps). It still needs some more tuning, but so far the results are quite nice. I've attached some pictures of it running. Although the pictures never quite capture the full effect. I've got other details and pictures on my website (http://www.craigsarea.com/sgtc.html). The following image shows a close up of the toroid. The full size image, which is much bigger than this one, is available on my website. If anyone is interested in Tesla coils then I also have a solid state tesla coil on my website (http://www.craigsarea.com/sstc.html). Hope you like it .