🚀 go-pugleaf

Hello.
A few questions on Tesla Coils...

(1) What's the theory of operation of them?  As I understand it, they
    are high-voltage, high-frequency sources.  How the high voltage is
    obtained is obvious; the heard of the thing is an air-core step-up
    transformer.  But where does the high frequency come in?  Is it as
    simple as feeding the output of a high-frequency oscillator into an
    air-core transformer with a high step-up ratio, or is it more complicated?
    I vaguely remember hearing something that a capacitor was needed; that 
    the capacitor and the primary coil formed an LC circuit that resonated
    at the desired high frequency.  Then a high-voltage source (like a
    transformer to drive neon tubes)  and a spark gap is used to energize
    the LC circuit; since the spark will have output at many frequencies,
    including the resonant freq. of the LC circuit.  Thus the 
    capacitor-primary coil circuit resonates and that is stepped up to
    a respectable voltage in the secondary.
    Am I totally out to lunch?  How does it really work?

(2) Anyone have a schematic for a Tesla coil?  Even if it doesn't have
    actual component values, a symbolic schematic would be nice.

(3) Anyone actually have instructions on how to build one?  I'd like to
    be able to build a coil that could throw off 6-inch to 1-foot sparks.
    Is this unrealistic?

(4) As for more mundane high voltages, what's a good place to get something
    to push 120 Volts to say, 15-20KVolts?  I've heard that transformers that
    drive neon lights (like in bars and stores) are good for this.  Are there
    any other sources?   Where do science museums get the transformers they
    use for things like Jacob's Ladder displays, for example?

(5) And yes, I realize how dangerous some of this stuff can be.

(6) Please email -- if there is interest, I'll summarize to the net.

Thanks in advance -- I appreciate any help you all can give.

-- 
Rich Carreiro                                  Home: (401)841-8514
rlcarr@animato.network23.com
uunet.uu.net!animato!rlcarr