If you need assistance, please send an email to forum at 4hv dot org. To ensure your email is not marked as spam, please include the phrase "4hv help" in the subject line. You can also find assistance via IRC, at irc.shadowworld.net, room #hvcomm.
Support 4hv.org!
Donate:
4hv.org is hosted on a dedicated server. Unfortunately, this server costs and we rely on the help of site members to keep 4hv.org running. Please consider donating. We will place your name on the thanks list and you'll be helping to keep 4hv.org alive and free for everyone. Members whose names appear in red bold have donated recently. Green bold denotes those who have recently donated to keep the server carbon neutral.
Special Thanks To:
Aaron Holmes
Aaron Wheeler
Adam Horden
Alan Scrimgeour
Andre
Andrew Haynes
Anonymous000
asabase
Austin Weil
barney
Barry
Bert Hickman
Bill Kukowski
Blitzorn
Brandon Paradelas
Bruce Bowling
BubeeMike
Byong Park
Cesiumsponge
Chris F.
Chris Hooper
Corey Worthington
Derek Woodroffe
Dalus
Dan Strother
Daniel Davis
Daniel Uhrenholt
datasheetarchive
Dave Billington
Dave Marshall
David F.
Dennis Rogers
drelectrix
Dr. John Gudenas
Dr. Spark
E.TexasTesla
eastvoltresearch
Eirik Taylor
Erik Dyakov
Erlend^SE
Finn Hammer
Firebug24k
GalliumMan
Gary Peterson
George Slade
GhostNull
Gordon Mcknight
Graham Armitage
Grant
GreySoul
Henry H
IamSmooth
In memory of Leo Powning
Jacob Cash
James Howells
James Pawson
Jeff Greenfield
Jeff Thomas
Jesse Frost
Jim Mitchell
jlr134
Joe Mastroianni
John Forcina
John Oberg
John Willcutt
Jon Newcomb
klugesmith
Leslie Wright
Lutz Hoffman
Mads Barnkob
Martin King
Mats Karlsson
Matt Gibson
Matthew Guidry
mbd
Michael D'Angelo
Mikkel
mileswaldron
mister_rf
Neil Foster
Nick de Smith
Nick Soroka
nicklenorp
Nik
Norman Stanley
Patrick Coleman
Paul Brodie
Paul Jordan
Paul Montgomery
Ped
Peter Krogen
Peter Terren
PhilGood
Richard Feldman
Robert Bush
Royce Bailey
Scott Fusare
Scott Newman
smiffy
Stella
Steven Busic
Steve Conner
Steve Jones
Steve Ward
Sulaiman
Thomas Coyle
Thomas A. Wallace
Thomas W
Timo
Torch
Ulf Jonsson
vasil
Vaxian
vladi mazzilli
wastehl
Weston
William Kim
William N.
William Stehl
Wesley Venis
The aforementioned have contributed financially to the continuing triumph of 4hv.org. They are deserving of my most heartfelt thanks.
Registered Member #1199
Joined: Sun Dec 30 2007, 02:00AM
Location:
Posts: 1
Hello everyone! I'm new here as you can see =) I have always wanted to build a tesla coil for some reason. I want to build an SSTC because i don't like those noisy spark gaps. I have never befor built a tesla coil so i realy hope you gues over here can help me on my project.
I have some nice MOSFETs that can handle some power, they are ST "STY60NM60" What do you think of these? Another question i have is, if it is possible to use gate-driver ICs or do i have to use gate-transformers? I have no experience with gate-transformers though =( I guess i should aim for an H-bridge config. for maximum power in the primary coil?
Is it a good idea to use microcontrollers in a SSTC prodject? Is there any formula to calculate the primary size, turns and resistance? Is it necessary to get AC current in the primary coil? What is "auto-tuning", is it an automatic tuning of the primary frequency to the secondary self-resonance?
Thanks alot for reading and excuse me for my not perfect english. I'm realy looking forward to finaly start building my own coil. I will post pictures of my progress if anyone is interested =)
Registered Member #477
Joined: Tue Jun 20 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 546
Hey there, Chris! Welcome aboard!
Just a quick tip: Most people here will be happy to pounce on a more concise post and lend and ear and/or hand. But when you ask seven or eight questions in one post, most people will just ignore you. >>> Case in point <<<
The question I'd ask in return is this: Have you done much reading? If I were you, I'd probably look at some different SSTC designs (Google helps!) and then maybe compare the datasheets of the parts I had on hand with those of the parts used in known-good designs to see if I might make some substitutions. In other words, I'd do some of my own homework. If I had a specific doubt, I'd ask and provide my reasoning. Almost anything can be accomodated into a Tesla coil design by making various sacrifices or design changes, so questions like "Will <xyz> work?" can almost universally be answered with an equally thoughtless "Yes." And you'll still be nowhere.
If I was a little less adventurous (nothing wrong with that when you're a first-timer!), I might just clone a known-good design. There are lots of these out there, e.g., from Steve Ward, Steve Conner, Richie Burnett, and Dan McCauley, to name a few. And many of these folks are right here on 4hv.org and will be happy to answer your concise questions about their designs.
But nobody is going to bother regurgitating an entire design right here in the forum!
This site is powered by e107, which is released under the GNU GPL License. All work on this site, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License. By submitting any information to this site, you agree that anything submitted will be so licensed. Please read our Disclaimer and Policies page for information on your rights and responsibilities regarding this site.
I have decided to build my first coil.
