TIME JITTER IN ROTARY-GAP TESLA COILS
Submission for Jim Sheppard; (c) 1991 Robert M. Jamison TIME JITTER IN ROTARY-GAP TESLA COILS ------------------------------------- ABSTRACT The source of time jitter in rotary gap Tesla Coils is examined both experimentally and mathematically. Calculations demonstrate that jitter appears even if the rotary gap is machined to high precision. The principal source of jitter is shown to be the ringing of the capacitance and transformer inductance in relationship to the rotary electrodes. A computer model of jitter was made and supplements the text. -*- The tone of a rotary gap is the simplest and most immediate indicator of the presence of jitter. A gap with little jitter has a musical tone and illuminates with a steady glow much like a natural gas pilot light. As the jitter increases, the tone takes on a nervous quality and the gap illumination flutter