Re: First Light and Plasma Photos
Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 2:43 pm
Just a note, in some experiments here I've gotten a heck of a lot more than usual out of an NST by hanging a cap across the secondary to resonate out the series inductance of the built in "ballast".
I used a whole bunch of nice polystyrene caps in series to get the voltage rating and value right.
In my case that was roughly 45 .47u/1kv caps in series in a plexiglass box.
Edit, if you do this, you have to be careful running under no load conditions, as the voltage can rise above what the NST can insulate.
At that point, it seems like you can get 15kv and 60 ma BOTH AT THE SAME time out of a transformer rated at 15kv/60 ma, unlike what usually happens with all that series L they built in. This is reflected in a bit more draw from the line and more heating in the transformer, of course.
I doubt you need all that lead till you get to higher voltages, other than at the view port. These just don't put out all that much till you get to around 40kv or so input in standard SS chambers. You can, however, pick up both X rays and a pretty nasty sunburn out of the view port - there's a lot more short UV than you'd think coming out there. Found out the hard way.
Here we use some leaded glass from a hospital radiology room - BillF scrounged it from a remodeling. It really cuts down the radiation of both sorts. I have also used the faceplate of an old color CRT, but it doesn't shield as well - it's not clear (gray), and you have to polish out one side to get optical quality (a ton of work with cerium oxide). But it's cheap if you see one in a dumpster.
I used a whole bunch of nice polystyrene caps in series to get the voltage rating and value right.
In my case that was roughly 45 .47u/1kv caps in series in a plexiglass box.
Edit, if you do this, you have to be careful running under no load conditions, as the voltage can rise above what the NST can insulate.
At that point, it seems like you can get 15kv and 60 ma BOTH AT THE SAME time out of a transformer rated at 15kv/60 ma, unlike what usually happens with all that series L they built in. This is reflected in a bit more draw from the line and more heating in the transformer, of course.
I doubt you need all that lead till you get to higher voltages, other than at the view port. These just don't put out all that much till you get to around 40kv or so input in standard SS chambers. You can, however, pick up both X rays and a pretty nasty sunburn out of the view port - there's a lot more short UV than you'd think coming out there. Found out the hard way.
Here we use some leaded glass from a hospital radiology room - BillF scrounged it from a remodeling. It really cuts down the radiation of both sorts. I have also used the faceplate of an old color CRT, but it doesn't shield as well - it's not clear (gray), and you have to polish out one side to get optical quality (a ton of work with cerium oxide). But it's cheap if you see one in a dumpster.