Joule Thief

[jeanna]

Thanks xee2,
I will set that up in a bit.

I am under the impression that a spark was the only really practical way to set up an oscillation in tesla's time. I have been reading the pdf from Butler windings, today, and in it, there is a lot about using a mag amp as a switching device.
The pdf is taken from a text written in 1960. Transistors existed, but even then, the mag amp was ignored as a switching device.
It is completely solid state.
When done properly, there is no need for a transistor.
The toroid and the design of the windings produce the ac output which is desired...
I think the only reason I could get through it was because of my experience with the joule thief which is partially one of these devices. (Or, at least, it utilizes many of the features of the mag amp.)

The question I am asking myself and anybody who might know, is does the spark have something in it that cannot be replaced?

And, if it is true that the spark itself is very special, is the neon capable of giving that something?

Thanks for this drawing and calculations. It is all going in. (It is going into a big empty cavern at the moment.  )

jeanna

[innovation_station]

spark gaps inter act with in the enviroment .. as i see it  same with reeds and realys  comuntators brushes .. that kind of thing neon light bulb flash from a camera....

but there simple and i am a fan .. but   

when we look at a vacume tube  same sort of deal we know how  well they work ... lol

ist .. speed is key and they deliver .. 

[resonanceman]

The question I am asking myself and anybody who might know, is does the spark have something in it that cannot be replaced?

And, if it is true that the spark itself is very special, is the neon capable of giving that something?

Jeanna


In my opinion  the  thing  that   a spark gap gives  a circuit  that  may  be difficult  to  create in other ways  is   that it  provides a very fast rate of change  no matter what frequency   it runs at .
Tesla   kept  working on  ways to make that rate of change even faster   ......... magnetic quenching   was  one the ways  he did this .

Would   a neon work in  a similar way ?........  Probably .........up to a point .
I do  not know  if  the  Neon gas  slows  down the rate of change or not .
It  might  be  interesting  to  try  seeing  if Neo magnets  affect  the  circuit  any . 


gary

 

[xee2]

@ jranna

I am under the impression that a spark was the only really practical way to set up an oscillation in tesla's time.

As far as I know that is correct. Oscillators were not really possible until the invention of the triode vacuum tube. Before that the only way to easily generate RF was using sparks. The first transatlantic radios used sparks to generate the RF.

There is nothing special about spark gaps except that they are easier to make than the alternatives.

[jeanna]

...
There is nothing special about spark gaps except that they are easier to make than the alternatives.

Xee2,
I am really glad to hear this.
Now, please let me ask you a detail.
You just warned that the neon spark idea could make really high voltage and be careful.
So, this made your proposed circuit sound like one that could make a higher potential than what I am normally getting there from the secondary.

I suspect it was the cap that could do this for 2 reasons. One, Tesla used a dual secondary wire to start the motors. He used the secondary wire as usual, but then he had the other wire fitted with a series connected cap. They both went to the same place as I recall, but the cap put the one side a little later in phase and gave a significant pop added to the other secondary wire.
Now, they were both still in AC or pulsed dc mode, but there was a real push once per full cycle.

Now, for the other reason: I blew a led yesterday when I was adding a cap to an inductor. It was not in series.  It was more like your drawing from today.

This is all very interesting .

thank you,

jeanna