~j0ule

The microwave oven transformer is possibly one of the simplest methods of making some big high voltage arcs, mainly because they are robust, cheap, and easy to hook up.[img]../storage/fragment_images/79114536969562370_d47432c45ed03f967dbf1445f547852c.jpg[

A "ZVS driver" is a self resonant oscillator; a very simple circuit that can oscillate a large amount of power with little loss. It is normally used for making the sine wave needed for driving high frequency transformers such as those found in L

Before small #cockroft-walton multipliers became inexpensive x-ray machines used to use large iron transformers. These things are the highest voltage transformers you'll likely ever come across, turning 120V (or 240V in euroland) into 50,000V, 75,000

Never put an electrolytic capacitor in backwards. [youtube]3b7mjukhTyQ[/youtube][t]Why it happens[/t]Electrolytic capacitors are constructed using an electrolyte-soaked piece of paper between two strips of aluminum foil. One piece of foil is oxidized

Also referred to a Line Output Transformer, the flyback transformer is a high frequency, high voltage transformer most often used to power cathode ray tubes. Flybacks are capable of generating some decently high voltages, typically anywhere from 10 to 35k

Ladies and gentlemen of teh internetz, I present to you a marvelous device that will revitalize your health and bring wondrous wealth and prosperity to your families and all future generations. Straight from Nikolai Tesla's labs I bring you a fantast

I've seen multiple designs for a plasma speaker online, and quite frankly most of them are not very good. Some problems I noticed were constantly blowing up MOSFETs, distorted audio, excessive heating of the MOSFET(s) etc. I was shown a nice circ

You don't need lots of money to make high voltage capacitors, in fact some pretty decent ones can be made with some cheap and readily available materials. This is because capacitors are very simple devices consisting only of a dielectric and two plat

Transformers are not the only way one can boost voltage; another method to the madness is a Cockroft-Walton multiplier, or thes the Villard Cascade depending on your favorite dead scientist. “CWs”, as they are colloquially known, are a charge pump use

Disposable cameras are a great source of moderately high voltage inverters. The flash circuit takes 1.5V and turns it into anywhere from 300 to 350 volts, and what's nice about these cameras is that you can go to any pharmacy, and if you ask nicely,

So here's the story: I ended up getting 8 fancy high voltage capacitors in a trade with @inducktion, and they ended up sitting on my shelf for about a month. A couple weeks later I came across a reel of 5000 glass 1kV ultrafast diodes on ebay, and af

Tektronix sent me a new TDS2024C! Now what do we do with new $1500 toys? WE RIP THEM APART (⌐■_■)っ═一 [t]The Finish[/t]Let’s look at this one from behind. Not much going on there, apart from a USB device port, FCC information, a kens

This is a short how-to guide on creating a positive pressure PPE suit, as imagined by [url=https://robots-everywhere.com/re_wiki/pub/web/Cookbook.SaltMask.html]Matteo Borri[/url]. Positive pressure suits are very handy for isolating yourself from toxi

Humans of the internet, I present to you the BlitzenKlavier (lightning-piano). It’s a large solid-state Tesla coil that takes in 120VAC, MIDI, and spits out 8 foot musical lightning bolts! [img]../storage/fragment_images/42879498820102740_cd3fac28b4

The 2x2A is a vacuum rectifier that, before the advent of the silicon diode, was used to rectify the high voltage needed for fun things such as television tubes. Now the silicon diode replaced the 2×2 nearly 40 years ago at the time of this writing, but

Invented in 1913 by William D. Coolidge, the Coolidge tube is by far the most popular method used to generate x-rays. Essentially it’s just a thermionic diode, but one optimized for high voltages and high powers. Like a thermionic diode a Coolidge tube

By far the most common radiation detector, the Geiger-Müller tube itself is nothing more than a highly modified neon lamp. Its method of operation is rather simple. The GM tube is a partially evacuated tube containing low pressure inert gas; typicall

The goal of this project was to build an inexpensive portable x-ray machine, since such a device didn’t seem to exist! Odd, since such a machine could prove to be very useful in remote or underequipped areas such as army camps or poorer countries. T

Alpha particles are very energetic little buggers. In fact, energies of 20MeV per particle are not uncommon. While this makes them incredibly dangerous if you happen to ingest something that emits them [radon, polonium] it can also make make for some rath

Here is what I can best describe as a cold war era nuclear bomb detector. Whether or not such a device is good for anything is a matter of debate, but nonetheless I have here a few photos. On the outside, it looks like an innocent, albeit slightly hea

In 1895, a professor by the name of Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen discovered a source of invisible rays which were capable of penetrating materials not normally translucent to ordinary light. Not only this, but these mysterious rays also caused certain chemicals

Recently I’ve been restoring a Ludlum Model 12 rate meter. What is that you might ask? The best ratemeter on this side of the valley, that’s what! I say this, because it’s one of those rare instruments built with “user serviceable” in mind,

It is a tale very commonly told that Lead Acid batteries are a “cheaper” solution than Lithium batteries for off-grid and solar storage. As of 2019 that is patently false, and the purpose of this article is to explain how this remarkable fact comes to

[img]../storage/fragment_images/80343007468688700_52a927436e8df267febe05b5d60b7a44.jpg[/img]Originally owned by the Icelandic ferry service Finnmark Fylkesrederi og Ruteselskap, the vessel “Tufjord” had in 2001 found its way into the hands of a Califo