In reply to:

BTW, the FCC get's rather picky about you setting off a large (or even relatively small) tesla coil for any amount of time as it REALLY interferes with all sorts of communications, as in TV, Cell phone, Radio, EMS and POLICE FREQUENCIES, etc etc etc.


It helps to employ heavy grounds dedicated to Tesla coil use, especially if you make a habit of running a beast like our 7.5+ KW unit. We also use 200 AMP EMI filters between each line going back to the electric grid. In our case we can actually watch TV while it is running out in the driveway at 7 - 8 KW. The noise is as much an issue as the interference. Ours measures ~120 dB from 20 feet away.

Ever shrunk quarters or other coinage with capacitive discharge? Haven't tried that but it certainly is tempting.

Stu
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If you want it to break, buy Sony!