Starting Simple With Homemade Electronics?

[SciCynical]

I'm by no definition an expert but also not a beginner in electronics. I'm currently working on an audio modulated ZVS that would let me create a fairly nice plasma speaker or at the very least be a nice tweeter for a speaker set up. Don't worry I'm not getting off topic, but stay with me here, so I already tried to tie a transformer to the center tap of the ZVS to inject my music. It worked, but it wasted wayyy too much power because the amplifier had to work too hard and the transformer I used always got uncomfortably hot. I looked for other ways to build an solid state interrupter (even one for a Tesla coil would work I believe) and researched ways mixers work and looked at how other people solved that problem. In short, I hit a brick wall. All the interrupters and the "music injectors" (as I like to call them) work off of chips, which I honestly don't have the patience to look for and buy.

 

HERE IS THE BIG PICTURE

 

I was wondering if anyone knows any sites, books, or even personal experiences they can share to help me understand what it would take to build something like a simple solid state interrupter from scratch, I'm talking about using the most primitive pieces of electronic wizardry, any combination of transistors, resistors, transformers, diodes, mosfets, or other switching semiconductors an amateur electronic enthusiast might have. Personally, I don't care what it would take, I'm down to solder endless heaps of electronic scrap to make something out of nothing, so put forth anything you think will even mildly help me. Thanks! C:

 

 

[davidivad]

take a pic of your set up and post it.

to inject a signal, you must first have a carrier.

this would be your hi voltage source.

are you running a 60 hertz high voltage output?

if i were to build one myself, i would go fm on the project.

frequency modulation.

tell me that you are not using 60 hertz as a carrier...

i bet it looks funny on the old oscilliscope.

Edited November 22, 2014 by davidivad

[SciCynical]

I'll get a picture up as soon as possible but I have to emphasize I built a regular ZVS driver

(This one to be exact: http://uzzors2k.4hv.org/projectfiles/flybacktransformerdrivers/Mazzilli%20ZVS%20Flyback%20Driver.png)

So the carrier would be a high voltage flyback output I attach the ZVS to and that works well above 60 Hertz.

For the moment I'm just wondering why the Hertz would even matter?

And I have built a FM transmitter before but I'm not exactly sure how I would incorporate that into the ZVS

The main point is, I want to know if its a simple as adding another mosfet inbetween the supply and the toroid heading to the center-tap, puting that mosfet in linear mode, and injecting a signal into the mosfet from my Ipod so the music would interrupt the supply. I've seen a person on youtube do this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evSJVZNU-tM) however even as simple as it might seem I don't have a solid idea on how he built it.

[davidivad]

well, i need a schematic to see exactly whats up.

i could easily guess but could just as easily be wrong.

that looked fun.

in my opinion, the resistance applied compared to the number of windings is out of whack. i assume this is to keep the other side intact as it is ceramic.

by the time he invested in all those resistors he could have just as easily rewired the whole thing.

as hindsight is twenty twenty, id say he will alleviate this in a later project. (sometimes you want something that simply works and you improve it as you go)

i still think a standard transformer is the best bet due to the firing threshold of the flyback. (a flyback stores energy in the flux between the windings and a circuit manipulates its firing). this is why the top end of the flyback is left intact. the windings are spaced out and the viod filled with ceramic.( a mess to take apart)

 

imagine a basic circuit that outputs a standard audio signal (ipod in your case?)

then a basic amplifier circuit to make the signal strong enough to drive a standard transformer wired for the appropriate output voltage.

if you use a flyback, then you will want the ceramic high end output to be able to build flux fast enough to fire at at least 20 khz (or less if you are deaf and dumb like me).

i do not know at this point what those specs are.

 

since high voltage is not my fortee, and i am not fully educated on flybacks, here is a resource that better explains the function of it.

http://www.butlerwinding.com/store.asp?pid=28336

 

in the end you need a source, and amp, and a coil that increases the voltage to arcing levels.

an equalizer might be a nice interuption of your device to tailor the input to make the output match the original sound.

remember that coils are sensitive to frequency.