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Registered Member #54503
Joined: Sun Feb 22 2015, 10:35PM
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 288
orac12 wrote ...
Adjust your trigger level on the scope to try and get a better lock. Just scope one thing at a time, less chance of messing things up that way.
Remember the phasing of your CT has to be correct for it to run, you either change the polarity or the jumpers on your driver board. I think I had to run around 70 volts on the bus to get enough before it would start oscillating it self. Just run short on times (keep current low) and enough voltage to get it oscillating to check phase lead, even if its way off, at low voltage and low on times you shouldn't damage anything.
Yes, ive tried that with not much success, i can seem to lock the gates OK, its the bus that i cant get a lock onto. Im pretty sure ive got the phase jumper set right, but i can configure the power transformer to about 110VAC. Will try that and see how it goes.
I remember ive got a small variac that i can use to adjust the voltage more also.
Will keep you updated, if i dont get anywhere i may need a better scope.
Registered Member #54503
Joined: Sun Feb 22 2015, 10:35PM
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 288
OK, i tested the coil with an isolation transformer and a small variac.
I turned the bus voltage up to around 100VDC and was getting huge sparks with a loud crack about 60mm long or more.
The coil is able to drive itself on its own, but im unsure if my phase lead is set right, is it possible i will need a different tunable inductor?
Its hard to explain, but ive added some shots from the scope. These tests were done with a heavy hammer in the centre. The yellow trace is the bus voltage and the blue is the gate voltage.
This is the first Shot, as you can see there is significant ringing, you will see this drop with each cycle from left to right. It always seems to be the first pulse that gives the ringing and turning in the inductor does not do anything noticeable on the first cycle, but i can remove all the ringing to the right of this image as you will see on the next picture.
You can see here with the ringing removed, the ringing after the second cycle was virtually invisible before, and now appears removed completley.
here is a shot with the whole waveform showing with the timebase division shortened
and one with it expanded out
Are these results normal to expect? Amy other ideas to improve this? The ringing still present is my main concern
Registered Member #54503
Joined: Sun Feb 22 2015, 10:35PM
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 288
loneoceans wrote ...
Looks just fine. My UD page explains why. Plug in your secondary already and you're good to go!
OK, thanks, i see what you are meaning by you cant remove all switching spikes. I will firstly set the OCD to 800Apk and fire it up, i doubt I will be getting anywhere near that at this point anyway. My only concern is the coil tuning, im hoping that it will be tuned near enough to give me sparks 2M or more.
Ill give you the dimensions later to add it to your DRSSTC's around the world if you like :)
Registered Member #54503
Joined: Sun Feb 22 2015, 10:35PM
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 288
I got it running tonight with a higher bus voltage around 150-200VDC and its putting out sparks a good foot or more. The higher notes seem to be less powerful and not want to produce a decent arc, but i think that this is probably because im running through a low current power supply and the pulse width of the lower notes allows for more duration between each cycle to charge the bus caps perhaps?
Some MIDI files are also better than others it seems.
Registered Member #6038
Joined: Mon Aug 06 2012, 11:31AM
Location: Salado, TX
Posts: 248
Congrats on getting it running. Can you put another current transformer on the primary circuit with burden resistor and scope the output? That will show you what the current is doing during each pulse. Helpful in tuning too. Can easily see double envelopes, peak currents, OC protection kick-in. I just like watching what's happening to the primary circuit while it's running at full power.
What MIDI controller are you using? Some MIDI files I have to adjust note length because they are so short. Still sounds good enough. Also drop the whole song by an octave or two to avoid those really high notes. I also try avoid complex chords too. It's good that high notes are producing short sparks - the controller is protecting your coil for you :)
Registered Member #54503
Joined: Sun Feb 22 2015, 10:35PM
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 288
Graham Armitage wrote ...
Congrats on getting it running. Can you put another current transformer on the primary circuit with burden resistor and scope the output? That will show you what the current is doing during each pulse. Helpful in tuning too. Can easily see double envelopes, peak currents, OC protection kick-in. I just like watching what's happening to the primary circuit while it's running at full power.
What MIDI controller are you using? Some MIDI files I have to adjust note length because they are so short. Still sounds good enough. Also drop the whole song by an octave or two to avoid those really high notes. I also try avoid complex chords too. It's good that high notes are producing short sparks - the controller is protecting your coil for you :)
OK, ill experiment with another CT attached.
The MIDI files are ones i downloaded from the onetesla and EVR forums, supposedly they were designed for tesla coil use.
Im still trying to learn the ropes in FL studio, there is so much to know. I also want to find a way to sync midi files to play along to the real soundtrack like is seen on a few youtube videos.
The MIDI controller is the basic Mini MIDI controller by Phillip Slawinski
Registered Member #6038
Joined: Mon Aug 06 2012, 11:31AM
Location: Salado, TX
Posts: 248
nzoomed wrote ...
Im still trying to learn the ropes in FL studio, there is so much to know. I also want to find a way to sync midi files to play along to the real soundtrack like is seen on a few youtube videos.
The MIDI controller is the basic Mini MIDI controller by Phillip Slawinski
Ok, I have the same controller - works well. For just playing basic MIDI and being able to quickly and easily modify the notes I use SpeedyMidi. To sync with the other tracks through a synthesizer I have to switch to AnvilStudio. Even still I purchased an add-on to allow me to output individual MIDI tracks to different ports. It also has the capability to advance or retard the tracks to keep them in synch as they are often a little off between tesla and synth ports. You need a good amp to match the volume of the spark noise which can't be adjusted. It does sound cool though.
Registered Member #54503
Joined: Sun Feb 22 2015, 10:35PM
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 288
Graham Armitage wrote ...
nzoomed wrote ...
Im still trying to learn the ropes in FL studio, there is so much to know. I also want to find a way to sync midi files to play along to the real soundtrack like is seen on a few youtube videos.
The MIDI controller is the basic Mini MIDI controller by Phillip Slawinski
Ok, I have the same controller - works well. For just playing basic MIDI and being able to quickly and easily modify the notes I use SpeedyMidi. To sync with the other tracks through a synthesizer I have to switch to AnvilStudio. Even still I purchased an add-on to allow me to output individual MIDI tracks to different ports. It also has the capability to advance or retard the tracks to keep them in synch as they are often a little off between tesla and synth ports. You need a good amp to match the volume of the spark noise which can't be adjusted. It does sound cool though.
OK, i will check those programs out. I know what you mean about advancing or retarding. I tried this in FLstudio with not alot of success, i found that the notes on the MIDI track were slightly longer and the more you got into the song, the worse the lag was. I was able to speed up the midi tracks and make the playback the same length, but it still sounded wrong. Hopefully anvilstudio can do it better :)
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Building my first DRSSTC - Updated thread...
