Membership Activity

Richard Ramos
1845 Wright St.
Richland, WA 99352

In these hectic days of fast living, there appears to be an ever widening gap in family relations. The kids don't speak to the parents and the parents don't speak to each other. Fortunately, there is a father-son relationship in TCBA where both are not only talking to each other but working together in building Tesla coils.

Richard Ramos is the son of TCBA member Jerry Ramos. He and his father have been active in building coils for many years. The time came when Richard decided to enter his own coil in a science fair. He chose to model his unit after the design used by Lester Reukema which appeared in the March, 1925, and May, 1925 issues of the EXPERIMENTER magazine, (see TCBA NEWS, volume 1, #1.)

The primary coil is wound as an inverted cone and has 6 turns of 3/8" copper tubing. The secondary consists of 430 turns of #20 DCC wire wound on a cardboard form 10 1/2" diameter and 36" long. Twelve coats of shellac were applied with each coat given ample time to dry.

The oscillation circuit consists of four Aerovox mica transmitting capacitors rated at .0033 mfd. at 20,000 volts. When hooked in parallel connection, they provide .013 mfd. at 20 KV.

The spark gap is a rotating unit driven by a 1725 rpm 1/2 HP motor. The rotor is a phenolic wheel 10" diameter and fitted with 14 stainless steel electrodes 3/4" in diameter and 3/4" long. They are situated on a circle of 8 1/2" diameter.

The power supply consists of four 12,000 volt, 60 ma. gaseous tube units connected in parallel to give a 2.88 KVA at 12 KV. The main circuit of the Tesla transformer is wired together with #2 welding wire.

The photo at the above right shows a young man who, no doubt, has much talent and a smile that demonstrates a self-confidence not often seen in youths of his age. Evidently, this project was done with taste and excellent workmanship. TCBA congratulates Richard on a job well done.

Notice

Anyone wishing to have their project featured in a future issue of the NEWS should send a good sharp and well lighted black and white photo of their project. Please include a detailed description of your project which includes basic parameters. Coil size and spark length are not as important as choice of design and efficiency of operation.