Follow the instructions as closely as possible in the AVEC document, it's really a gold mine of information. I'm not following it exactly (I'm using 40 awg wire instead of the recommended 32 or 33 awg) but the higher resistance and more space for extra windings will only help, if the information presented is accurate.
I have a pulse circuit almost ready that allows for nanosecond delays of each individual coil as well as extremely short pulse widths (pico-second range), which is probably overkill. The 40 awg wire makes the short pulse width requirement steeper, though. You should be able to see the effect with voltages much lower than 4kv or 1kv for that matter.
So, if I want to use a SEP I have to sacrifice winding space for the input coil, which means less resistance and less inductance, which means shorter pulse widths. If I use a capacitor with a set voltage (say 500 volts) and switch a higher voltage (say, 900 volts) I can use the 500 volt level (which is present on the coil at all times) in place of a SEP coil, which means more room for more windings, higher inductance, and allows the pulse width to be slightly longer.
In the end I'm going to try a combination of both. I'm shooting for 3,000 feet of 40awg per coil. If I can't fit it into the space I need I'll tweak the bobbins a bit. 500V / 3000 ohms = around 160 millamps, spread across 6 input coils = 28mA per coil, which is under the current limit of 90mA for 40awg wire. I'm hoping that I can squeeze some more length out of the space I have.
Even if I go the SEP route, I'll have an offset voltage of about 50 - 100 volts to keep the waveform from reaching zero. Protection diodes will be used to stop the HV from the input coils from going into the SEP coil.
Everything will be made out of HDPE (I haven't been able to find a resource on which plastics are polorized and which aren't) and bolted in place (with nylon bolts).
EDIT: My current calculation per coil is wrong, it will be 160mA per coil, so I'll have to have a coil with more resistance.
« Last Edit: 2013-02-04, 14:27:50 by bte »
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