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I obtained a pole pig

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LAN_403

rp181

Mon May 12 2008, 09:51PM

Registered Member #1062 Joined: Tue Oct 16 2007, 02:01AM
Location:
Posts: 1529

nice, my dad is scared of a flyback =(.

any luck on a variac?

teslacoolguy

Mon May 12 2008, 09:58PM

Registered Member #1107 Joined: Thu Nov 08 2007, 10:09PM
Location:
Posts: 792

Haha and yea actually i picked up a nice 50 amp variac for $99 locally also so im going to go pick that up with my dad when i have time.

Andyman

Tue May 13 2008, 09:34PM

Registered Member #1083 Joined: Mon Oct 29 2007, 06:16PM
Location: Upland, California
Posts: 256

A bit OT, but I just have to say that you are VERY lucky to have such a supportive and trusting father, and don't ever take that for granted. I hope you let him know how much you appreciate what he is doing for you. I make sure to thank my dad whenever he lets me do something.
You're also lucky that you got started at such a young age. I was 14 when I first seriously got into electronics. I'm 16 now, and I regret that I didn't start several years earlier.

Anyways, have fun with your piggy, but be safe!

teslacoolguy

Wed May 14 2008, 01:11AM

Registered Member #1107 Joined: Thu Nov 08 2007, 10:09PM
Location:
Posts: 792

Yes i know i do have a very trusting father and i always treat him with respect and thank him whenever he lets me buy something. I was started in electronics at 12 when i pulled my 1st tv out of the trash to see what was in it and suprizingly i sead to my self "when i am 14 im probably going to have a pig" and sure inough i do

J. Aaron Holmes

Wed May 14 2008, 04:32AM

Registered Member #477 Joined: Tue Jun 20 2006, 11:51PM
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 546

teslacoolguy wrote ...

Yes i know i do have a very trusting father and i always treat him with respect and thank him whenever he lets me buy something. I was started in electronics at 12 when i pulled my 1st tv out of the trash to see what was in it and suprizingly i sead to my self "when i am 14 im probably going to have a pig" and sure inough i do

I was in a similar situation growing up. When my friends were collecting baseball cards, I was collecting glass insulators. No joke! Boy, was I ever a nerd!!

In high school, in the early 90's (around the time you were born

), my father gave me two VHS tapes from the TCBOR's educational series. After watching those (and particularly the Transformers one!), I felt like I needed a pole pig, too. I called around and found a local industrial surplus/junk yard here in Seattle that had one for sale. Without knowing what he was in for, my dad consented to help me fetch it (I had the $$ from my various summer jobs, but didn't have a car). However, when we got down there and saw the thing in person, the deal immediately fell apart. It was a 167kVA unit, the size of a refrigerator!! Naturally, I was in love, but at the same time I knew it wasn't to be

...so it was only a couple of years ago--more than a decade later--that I finally laid hands on a pole pig (my wife was the dismayed one this time!) And now my garage is a big pile of transformers. I just added a 34.5kV 10kVA unit to the collection a couple of days ago. I'm afraid it's an addiction now.

Your pole pig should provide for loads of great HV projects over the years, unless you turn into one of "those" solid-state guys. Personally, I love the sound of big, hopelessly heavy trannies humming away.

Cheers,
Aaron, N7OE

Dr. Dark Current

Wed May 14 2008, 03:34PM

Registered Member #152 Joined: Sun Feb 12 2006, 03:36PM
Location: Czech Rep.
Posts: 3384

J. Aaron Holmes wrote ...

Personally, I love the sound of big, hopelessly heavy trannies humming away.

and I thought I was weird!!

teslacoolguy

Wed May 14 2008, 05:31PM

Registered Member #1107 Joined: Thu Nov 08 2007, 10:09PM
Location:
Posts: 792

Haha how we all think alike. I love the 60hz buzz coming from transformers. I am almost the same as you J.Aaron Holmes my garage is filled with transformers to and i am a victim of hv addiction also. I really have no desire to switch to solid state mainly because i havent had much luck building sstc's and plus sgtc's are the true tesla coil and getting a pole pig to me was like a little kid with his new toy

Munkey

Wed May 14 2008, 09:14PM

Registered Member #588 Joined: Sat Mar 17 2007, 11:06AM
Location: UK
Posts: 93

Looking at this makes me really regret not getting one from the pile of pigs in a skip outside a substation.
I could have taken just one from the pile and dragged it home with no-one knowing and had some fun sparking. But now they have gone and probably melted down somewhere

DAMMIT!

Anyway, Have fun sparking while I watch in envy!

Andyman

Wed May 14 2008, 10:04PM

Registered Member #1083 Joined: Mon Oct 29 2007, 06:16PM
Location: Upland, California
Posts: 256

A few times, I've gone to my local substation (a HUGE one btw) and just stood at the gate staring and listening to the hum of the beasts inside.

My dream is to someday get a personal tour of the place by a knowledgeable person.

Quantum Singularity

Thu May 15 2008, 01:36AM

Registered Member #158 Joined: Sun Feb 12 2006, 09:53PM
Location: Central Ohio
Posts: 282

I deal with powerplants at work and every once in a great while when the schedule allows we go tour plants. I dont think anyone else really appreciates it like I do though

Mainly just coal plants though but youd just be amazed at the scale of things on a 1,300MW coal plant, just the furnace is about 17 stories tall and the whole thing is dangling from above to allow for expansion.
Generator step-up transformers
Those are just itty bitty 150MW units though, I dont have any pics of bigger ones.

You are pretty far ahead of me though teslacoolguy... I was into electronics since I was in elementary but never even knew anything about the cool HV stuff till I was a senior when my electronics teacher got a tesla coil. So I never started messing with the stuff myself till I was in college. But I got my pig I think when I was around 20-21 yrs old, actually got it for $75 freshly reconditioned! And they misquoted me on shipping to ($75 but tried to charge me $150 and after talking to manager I got it for the original quote). Practically as cheap as a NST lol! Only downside is it is single pole.

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