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FrozenGate by Avery

FEELER: Plasma Speaker Kits

Sigurthr said:
You really need to dust these guys off, Fiddy. No reason to not finish it and make them available, if you've got the time and capitol to do so. (I still think the noise issue has to be exogenic.) I'm still available if you need any more help.
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I was thinking Id send you a kit to fault find!
 





Yeah I'm sad I had to let it go, but when looking around the house for things I can use to pay the bills, well, I think somewhere to live is probably the best option :( . Also had to sell off most of my "unused" lab lasers and diodes, oh well. Hopefully money won't be an issue one day (dreaming lol). Hopefully Rod can have some fun with it :)

And yeah Fiddy, I'd definitely start these up if you weren't planning to. There's potential :) I could probably do up some optional "case kits" if you wanted to go that far with them.
 
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Its in the works, just need this whine to be fixed and ill go into production, Sigurthr maybe just the man for the job.

I also have parts for a SSTC kit that i may release after.
 
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Love this project....... :>) Looks like it is almost ready!!! Is their still time to get in on the kit?
 
Fiddy said:
Its in the works, just need this whine to be fixed and ill go into production, Sigurthr maybe just the man for the job.
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I have a suspicion it might be due to traces being a bit too long between critical parts (ie the PLL circuit), though that's a pretty tricky thing to troubleshoot, especially with a crappy pocket scope :D
 
Things said:
I have a suspicion it might be due to traces being a bit too long between critical parts (ie the PLL circuit), though that's a pretty tricky thing to troubleshoot, especially with a crappy pocket scope :D
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We completely rebuilt the pcb layout for low parasitic oscillation since the prototype you had. I suspect exogenic noise sources leaking in or a lack of hysteresis in the PLL feedback circuit causing intermodulation distortion. I really can't see it being endogenic noise.
 
I honestly found the whine pretty minor. I mean, it was there, but the music washed it out at any decent volume anyway. I think the coolest part was you can actually tune a regular AM radio in and listen to it. That and it also wipes out any other AM stations within a small area :p
 
Things said:
I honestly found the whine pretty minor. I mean, it was there, but the music washed it out at any decent volume anyway. I think the coolest part was you can actually tune a regular AM radio in and listen to it. That and it also wipes out any other AM stations within a small area :p
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Yup! I have plans (and parts on a shelf) for a 1kW 1MHz Class-E coil that would let me use it as a local music transmitter too. Fiddy's kits are a nice low power version.
 
The tesla resonator and breakout point govern the whine too as ive found, ill be sending sigurthr a kit to fault find, fingers cross everyone!
 
I picked up a power supply today and opened the plasma speaker case Things made to check everything, making sure its right before I fire it up. The magnet wire from the secondary to the rf ground port was loose so I sanded it down and resoldered it. But when checking the pre-flight tests without power, the manual says to use your multi-meter to check from the breakout point to the secondary terminal (or rf ground port in his case mod), but it should have a reading of 50 - 80 ohms ... my needle doesn't move ? This suggests to me that there is a break in the secondary? I hope I'm wrong, any suggestions?
Cheers
Rod
 
From this day and forevermore the names of Fiddy and Things will be spoken in reverence and hushed tones for they be both artist and genius. I connected my "prototype" plasma speaker to power and my ipod and .... Thunderstruck followed by the rest of "The razors edge" album played from the tip of a nail!!!! I danced like a fool! Then to add to the occasion I tuned in my old cassette player to about 980khz on the AM band and turned up the volume a bit more. It doesn't get much better than this. Now I need to start reading about tesla coil theory, the cat is out of the bag and I'll try to catch him! The whine is not noticeable when the music is playing and not annoying when the music is not playing. Well done gentlemen, well done.
 
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Sweet! Yeah it's an awesome kit. Try putting some CFL/fluoro bulbs around it for even more awesomeness :)
 
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