Eric Dollard Style Tesla Coil Verses Standard Tesla Coil

[tarakan]

I am a have-not. I am trying to be cheap. I have more access to some knowledge and resources and less access to the others.

I have some things to offer but I cannot do everything myself. Why can't I use a high voltage generator and spark gaps to drive Eric Dollard experiments?

I am not sure how RF is amplified. I can buy the wrong amplifier.

What interesting effects can you get out of Dollard stuff?

To space out coils in Dollard devices I am going to use Chinese plastic rack and pinion racks and use teeth to measure out winding spacing. I am generally better with mechanics.

Can I make my Dollard device work in tune with the power supply coil (the SSTC) ?

[dR-Green]

Everything I've told you can be done cheaply or even for free by taking things apart. The biggest expense is the signal generator, which is also among the most important.

Spark gaps cause all kinds of interference, and if you are not very experienced with electronics it's not the way to learn. Also spark gap transmission on radio frequency bands is illegal. This stuff is not for playing around with. You may assemble things and get something working in a weekend, but if you want to actually understand what you're doing and be able to deliberately direct experiments then you're going to have to invest the time and effort to learn and become expert, there are no short cuts. The same principle applies here as learning and developing any skill. What you get out of it is directly proportional to your determination to learn. If you just want to play around then that will be the extent of your understanding and you won't understand the answers to your questions.

[tarakan]

An RF amplifier is basically the same as an audio amplifier. The main thing to watch out for is the speed (slew rate) of the components. You should google class A, class AB amplifiers, and op amps. Also there are amplifier circuits given in the ARRL Radio Amateur's Handbook, and typical/example circuits in component datasheets.

This program can also introduce you to class A amplifiers but you will have to pay attention to transistor slew rates or you may find a perfectly assembled circuit not doing anything whatsoever TransistorAmp circuit design software for bipolar transistor amplifiers

If you don't have an oscilloscope I'd recommend remembering that before hair starts getting pulled out. Although to actually understand what you're doing the ARRL handbook is most recommended.

The coil can be tuned to a certain extent but the whole point is to design it to work at a particular frequency and to optimise the design through getting the best performance out of it. The oscillator is tuned to the resonant frequency of the coil, the coil isn't tuned to a fixed oscillator frequency. Although it can be, it won't be working at its best. Also the more you stray from the coil's natural tuning the more difficult it will become to find the new resonant frequency.

Investing in a relatively decent signal generator will save a lot of frustration and will display the exact frequency on the screen. Something like this supplies enough power to light small filament bulbs without power amplification

12MHz Dual Channel DDS Function Signal Generator Sine Square Wave Sweep Counter | eBay

I will get a scope, a generator and a better frequency counter. Tesla Transformers tend to "drift around" this is where the trend to build PLL IC based Tesla Transformer came from.

[tarakan]

I would like to join forces on writing the laws of Tesla-Dollard omitted physics.
There is a very weak scientific language to make "free energy" devices something that is possible to replicate. We need to build this language. Eric Dollard already makes attempts.