My 3" Tesla coil. It was powered by two MOTs (=> 1200W), the capacity of the saltwater caps was fairly small (18nF), therefore I had a rotary spark gap powered by an angle grinder...11000 rpm x 12 electrodes => 2200 bps :-) This system has been dismantled because the caps were big and heavy, the gap design was kind of adventurous and I wasn't very satisfied with the primary and the secondary.
The power supply. On the left you can see two microwave oven transformers that produce the high voltage plus one that limits the current. In the middle is the levelshifter to boost the voltage from 4kV to 8kV. On the right two chokes (I'm not sure how effective they were) and a safety gap.
Schematic of the power supply.
One of the saltwater cap packs (10nF).
The rotary spark gap. The brick was needed to keep the gap from shaking too hard :-)
Closeup view of the gap. The stationary electrodes were made of copper sheet, so I had to readjust them pretty often because of massive erosion.
Primary and secondary. It would have been a good idea to paint the pressboard to keep it from absorbing the air humidity in the moist cellar.
