Acme Fixer's highly efficient Joule Thief help needed.

[TinselKoala]

I know what I meant was I don't have a way to constantly poke it since I can't freeze a capture like I could in a DSO.

Ah, you have no signal generator, I take it. Well, your scope does have a single-shot trigger mode, and you do have a camera....
So rest the camera on something steady, set the scope to single-shot, open the shutter, poke the tank with a wire to get a ringdown, then close the camera shutter. You'll have what the designers of the first digital scope had to use: a photograph of a single sweep on an analog scope.

Or you could build a simple 555 squarewave pulse generator in half an hour, and use that.

Or, you could use a 30-dollar Arduino and make your own selfcontained inductance meter that does its own poking and measuring. I see that Radio Shack is now stocking Arduino! Or you can order them for half that price from Singapore or China if you want to wait a couple of weeks.

[Legalizeshemp420]

Ah, you have no signal generator, I take it. Well, your scope does have a single-shot trigger mode, and you do have a camera....
So rest the camera on something steady, set the scope to single-shot, open the shutter, poke the tank with a wire to get a ringdown, then close the camera shutter. You'll have what the designers of the first digital scope had to use: a photograph of a single sweep on an analog scope.

Or you could build a simple 555 squarewave pulse generator in half an hour, and use that.

Well, I do have an ancient 555 around here I found in my antiquated parts pile (what was left after the stupid Oct 28, 2006 flood/fire).  Most of my parts date from 1985-1992 and my cans of old IC's I miss the most but something had to go to make room years ago after the fire so I tossed them.  About 50 dollars worth so not that great of a loss but a lot were ceramic.

Now if only I could manage to have been allowed to keep those Germanium trans I had but no go as I never got those back after the cleanup that took 3 months from hell.

[TinselKoala]

Hmm... OK, I have 14+14 turns of # 27 with short leadin wires to my little toroid, and each winding measures right about 400 microHenry. But the one on the schematic says 38 microHenry. I wonder if there is another decimal point issue here.

[Legalizeshemp420]

He says he uses a really high perm toroid so less winding for a greater inductance but 38uH is awfully low.

[TinselKoala]

Well, I dunno. I just got this one running, by taking off more and more wire from my toroid, it finally started oscillating. Now it only has 7+7 turns on the toroid, and it still measures 85 microHenry or so. But my frequency isn't anywhere near as high as yours. I'll take off a couple more turns in a few minutes, need to eat some supper first.

I built it onto a clothespin so I could grasp a battery easier. Here it is running brightly on a AG1/LR621 button cell. I'm using the exact cap values as in the schematic and a BC337-25 transistor, a 3/8" toroid from a CFL....