honeyfairy
Newbie
Hi everyone, I've just recently become interested in learning about Spark Gap Transmitters. I have read many guides on building a small one, I even tried building my own with limited success. I'm hoping the kind ladies and gentlemen here will answer some of my questions and help me along the way.
I have watched a documentary on Marconi and his spark gap transmitter that made a transmission half way around the world, and I saw that the antennas were HUGE!
First Question, what frequency was he transmitting on? And how would he adjust his frequency and how would it benefit if he transmitted on a higher or lower frequency?
Secondly, I have built a small spark gap using an Auto ignition coil and a car battery which I managed to find laying around, and i was able to get it to spark whenever i made contact to the battery. And since i know a bit of Arduino, i hooked up a relay between the negative of the battery and the coil and coded the arduino to pulse the relay, doing this, i was able to get a steady spark, but after a few minutes the relay burnt out
Anyway, I then read that i would have to build a 555 Timer circuit to pulse the DC to the induction coil. But i havent done so yet as i have to go to the city to get the parts, ( i live a bit outside the city, on my dads farm place )
I would like to know, what frequency would i be transmitting at with that 555 timer and what is the highest frequency i can transmit at.
I read about the legal issues with this but i am on the outskirts of the city so i dont think i'll cause much harm by playing around with it for a couple of minutes, anyway these sparks that i managed to produce didn't interfere with my FM radio, or my TV, or my satellite.
Sorry for the long post, but i'm really interested in this currently and i'd like to learn more. I have many more questions, like how to build the transformer to transform the Spark gap energy into Radio Waves, and the thing that i really cannot understand is the Radio Frequency that the spark gap produces, and HOW? Some say its just decided by the length of the antenna, so for example for a frequency of 10ghz the length would probably be around 50mm... i dont understand.
Thanks for reading my post and i hope you can help me understand.
I know some of my questions...or all of it lol may be dumb....sorrryyy.. :blowkiss:
Jenny B
I have watched a documentary on Marconi and his spark gap transmitter that made a transmission half way around the world, and I saw that the antennas were HUGE!
First Question, what frequency was he transmitting on? And how would he adjust his frequency and how would it benefit if he transmitted on a higher or lower frequency?
Secondly, I have built a small spark gap using an Auto ignition coil and a car battery which I managed to find laying around, and i was able to get it to spark whenever i made contact to the battery. And since i know a bit of Arduino, i hooked up a relay between the negative of the battery and the coil and coded the arduino to pulse the relay, doing this, i was able to get a steady spark, but after a few minutes the relay burnt out
Anyway, I then read that i would have to build a 555 Timer circuit to pulse the DC to the induction coil. But i havent done so yet as i have to go to the city to get the parts, ( i live a bit outside the city, on my dads farm place )
I would like to know, what frequency would i be transmitting at with that 555 timer and what is the highest frequency i can transmit at.
I read about the legal issues with this but i am on the outskirts of the city so i dont think i'll cause much harm by playing around with it for a couple of minutes, anyway these sparks that i managed to produce didn't interfere with my FM radio, or my TV, or my satellite.
Sorry for the long post, but i'm really interested in this currently and i'd like to learn more. I have many more questions, like how to build the transformer to transform the Spark gap energy into Radio Waves, and the thing that i really cannot understand is the Radio Frequency that the spark gap produces, and HOW? Some say its just decided by the length of the antenna, so for example for a frequency of 10ghz the length would probably be around 50mm... i dont understand.
Thanks for reading my post and i hope you can help me understand.
I know some of my questions...or all of it lol may be dumb....sorrryyy.. :blowkiss:
Jenny B