I bought and built this a couple years ago - pre BAR. After the NARAM in Muncie, it was rockets. Always wanted to do a coil and finally had the time.
If you build one, I highly recommend a proven spark gap coil over a solid state one - easier and less costly. The solid state coils make huge (feet in diameter) blooms of fuzzy purple brush discharges, but short them and your expensive IGBT transistors go kaboom. Spark gap coils are durable and LOUD. And shorting the top load is fun.
This is an Information Unlimited BTC-30 Tesla coil. It has a 120V - 7200V neon sign transformer, standard tungsten electrode spark gap, and all parts. Tuned to 460Khz - this is why Ham radio people hate them
I actually got to talk to Bob Ianinni of Information Unlimited before he passed away. A legend. He invented the bug zapper, left college, made a million bucks selling the patent, and then founded the most safety-unfriendly and coolest company in existence. First it was Amazing Devices in the back of popular mechanics. It ended as Information Unlimited. You can read about him. Rail guns, coil guns, pulsed mag field generators that can crush a metal can waist down without touching it, plasma globe kits, a 50 watt CO2 laser, and an ultrasonic barking dog stopper. And M80 and cherry bomb plans. I have an actual Information Unlimited plan for a garage particle accelerator that according to Bob, would split atoms. Build it? Don't know. Having the plan. Freaking priceless : )
When he passed away, the company went away. Shame, I wanted to buy their 10,000 watt 240V BTC70 coil for the 10 foot lightning bolts.
https://www.smith-heald.com/obituaries/Robert-E-Iannini?obId=27660790
https://www.diyphysics.com/2023/09/26/in-memoriam-robert-bob-iannini-1938-2023/
There is a pic of the kit freshly built and some pics of it running. Based on the arc I was able to draw with the grounding bar, when tuned well it was running at about 240KV and at about 460Khz. The high frequency lets you do the compact fluorescent light bulb trick. This is not without pain : )
The neon bulb was particularly cool - looking with the discharge off the top of the bulb. With a fluorescent tube you can do a credible lightsaber imitation.
DANGER: the primary coil (copper tubing) is at 7200V and 60Hz and will KILL you. The top load is at 240KV and very low current, but it still hurts. Hold a metal object if you want to energize yourself. Otherwise you'll have little carbon burn spots on your hand. Don't ask
A coil is a pair of LC resonant circuits coupled along the axis of the coils. No free energy, it is very inefficient. If you wonder about the mystique, imagine yourself seeing this violet fire in 1899 in a parlor. Beyond magic. And the fact you can light a gas tube at a distance with no wires. The transmission energy is basically a noisy AM radio carrier wave. You can hear a coil on a transistor radio. Yes, he beat Marconi cold. All you have to do is key a coil with Morse and have a receiver.
This is a highly recommended project - I had tons of entertainment with it, but it does wear off.
If you build one, LOCK it away from children. If they touch the copper tubing while it's running...
The coil is no longer available since the company is gone. PM me if you are interested in the plans. I know a source for some decent small high voltage transformers. The most difficult part to source is the high voltage capacitor.
Cheers / Robert
If you build one, I highly recommend a proven spark gap coil over a solid state one - easier and less costly. The solid state coils make huge (feet in diameter) blooms of fuzzy purple brush discharges, but short them and your expensive IGBT transistors go kaboom. Spark gap coils are durable and LOUD. And shorting the top load is fun.
This is an Information Unlimited BTC-30 Tesla coil. It has a 120V - 7200V neon sign transformer, standard tungsten electrode spark gap, and all parts. Tuned to 460Khz - this is why Ham radio people hate them
I actually got to talk to Bob Ianinni of Information Unlimited before he passed away. A legend. He invented the bug zapper, left college, made a million bucks selling the patent, and then founded the most safety-unfriendly and coolest company in existence. First it was Amazing Devices in the back of popular mechanics. It ended as Information Unlimited. You can read about him. Rail guns, coil guns, pulsed mag field generators that can crush a metal can waist down without touching it, plasma globe kits, a 50 watt CO2 laser, and an ultrasonic barking dog stopper. And M80 and cherry bomb plans. I have an actual Information Unlimited plan for a garage particle accelerator that according to Bob, would split atoms. Build it? Don't know. Having the plan. Freaking priceless : )
When he passed away, the company went away. Shame, I wanted to buy their 10,000 watt 240V BTC70 coil for the 10 foot lightning bolts.
https://www.smith-heald.com/obituaries/Robert-E-Iannini?obId=27660790
https://www.diyphysics.com/2023/09/26/in-memoriam-robert-bob-iannini-1938-2023/
There is a pic of the kit freshly built and some pics of it running. Based on the arc I was able to draw with the grounding bar, when tuned well it was running at about 240KV and at about 460Khz. The high frequency lets you do the compact fluorescent light bulb trick. This is not without pain : )
The neon bulb was particularly cool - looking with the discharge off the top of the bulb. With a fluorescent tube you can do a credible lightsaber imitation.
DANGER: the primary coil (copper tubing) is at 7200V and 60Hz and will KILL you. The top load is at 240KV and very low current, but it still hurts. Hold a metal object if you want to energize yourself. Otherwise you'll have little carbon burn spots on your hand. Don't ask
A coil is a pair of LC resonant circuits coupled along the axis of the coils. No free energy, it is very inefficient. If you wonder about the mystique, imagine yourself seeing this violet fire in 1899 in a parlor. Beyond magic. And the fact you can light a gas tube at a distance with no wires. The transmission energy is basically a noisy AM radio carrier wave. You can hear a coil on a transistor radio. Yes, he beat Marconi cold. All you have to do is key a coil with Morse and have a receiver.
This is a highly recommended project - I had tons of entertainment with it, but it does wear off.
If you build one, LOCK it away from children. If they touch the copper tubing while it's running...
The coil is no longer available since the company is gone. PM me if you are interested in the plans. I know a source for some decent small high voltage transformers. The most difficult part to source is the high voltage capacitor.
Cheers / Robert
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