Kapanadze Cousin - DALLY FREE ENERGY

[Void]

Hi Nick, there is no certain way to ensure your scope won't be damaged when operating the
Kacher/tesla coil, but there are a few things that can help to minimize the risk.

Make sure the scope itself is at least two or three feet away from the high voltage parts of
the circuit, and any scope lead wires should always be arranged so that they are no closer
to high voltage parts of the circuit than about a foot or so.

Use a x100 or x1000 scope probe where voltages can be higher than 400Vpp or so.
It would be best to have a x1000 scope probe if you are connecting a scope probe
directly to points in the circuit when the kacher is running and connected in, just to be on the
safe side.  A x100 scope probe is usually rated around 2kVpp max, and x1000 scope probes
may be rated up to 8kV or higher, depending on the type of waveform.  Also make sure your scope
is connected to an AC outlet that has the third ground prong, so your scope is grounded.

Unfortunately, anytime you are using electronic equipment around high voltage circuits there is always
risk of damaging the electronic equipment. I have blown a x10 scope probe in the past by being
a bit careless, but luckily I have never yet damaged a scope in my high voltage experiments, although
I have damaged my bench power supply when testing with a kacher circuit a few years ago.  It's
safer to power your circuit with a battery when running the kacher circuit. I find it also helps to earth ground
the battery or power supply negative DC terminal when working with kacher circuits and similar.
If I had done that a few years ago when testing with a kacher circuit, I may not have blown my bench power
supply.

[NickZ]

   OK, Void. Thanks for the info.
  Problem lies in not being able to read the numbers or able to reach the knobs when the scope is 3 feet away.
I have it about two feet away, where I can see it and reach it. I hope that it's far enough away.
  BTW: My Tectronix scope just bit the dust. So, I'm concerned about the Siglent.

[Void]

But, now I don't see any benefit in letting it run in that way. As there is NO extra light output, at least not very much, only lots of extra heating of the snubbers or fets. So, I will discontinue looking for magic where there is none. And focus on getting Radio Moscow back, which is "lost in space", still.
Danger, Will Robinson. Danger...

Now you are talking. I hope one of these days in the near future I can show a real
OU effect, but despite some interesting things seen so far, it is of course much easier said
than done demonstrating genuine OU. 

[itsu]

Nick,

there should be no reason for your snubber resistors to get hot when activating the kacher, it should have no influence, unless the kacher HV "gets into" the tl494 / MOSFET /
driver circuit and / or voltages.


To protect your new scope from Kacher HV there is only one step and that is to keep it powered off and far away from the kacher.
If you are brave enough, you can follow Voids suggestions, but i recommend to use your old scope instead.


What i see in the scope screenshot is what void also mentioned, some parasitic oscillations with a frequency higher then your ringing frequency, so unable to be heared.
The Radio Moscow thingy is when there are oscillations going on in the audible frequency range only, so much lower then normal operation.


I don't think you can "see" the avalanching unless you have a current probe or csr in the drain/source line.

Itsu

[Void]

   OK, Void. Thanks for the info.
  Problem lies in not being able to read the numbers or able to reach the knobs when the scope is 3 feet away.
I have it about two feet away, where I can see it and reach it. I hope that it's far enough away.
  BTW: My Tectronix scope just bit the dust. So, I'm concerned about the Siglent.

Yep, always a risk, particularly with digital scopes. My scope usually sits within about two feet
of the circuits I am testing with so I can reach it as well, but be very careful where the scope
probe lead wires are sitting, because if they get a bit too close to high voltage something
potentially could get damaged.    After about six years or so of experimenting with high voltage
circuits off and on, my Siglent scope is still undamaged. Knock on wood...