My name is David Cox. I'm based in Stockholm.
I would like to start by saying thank you all so much for your handy information and guides. Especially the FAQ sections.
With these handy guides I was able to put together my first demo fusor!
I currently have some problems with my NST (Neon Sign Transformer). I probably bought the wrong one (it says in various places on this forum about this. non-the-less, I might try hack it anyway later on)
So I fell back to a basic setup using a 23W compact-florescent light circuit board and a very small TV fly-back transformer. It gives just a humble 1.7kV on open circuit according to my volt-meter that I made up. I didn't think that this would be anywhere near enough.
In room-pressure this arcs about 3mm. Someone told me once is about 1kV/mm, so I suspect I have a higher voltage. But I don't know, my meter gives me the impression that its accurate.
I plan to go up to higher voltages when I get some more equipment sorted out. (probably never above 10k with this setup)
Also, I dont have variable voltage yet. It says in a few places on this website that its "essential". But I don't see why. I assume its more important for more serious neutron-fusors.
I have just one 2-stage pump. It's totally off the shelf and does about 15 mTorr. Its from Valve.
Here is a youtube clip.
I thought it would be nice to show the way that the plasma starts by means of dropping the pressure and also how quickly the pump gets the pressure down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R693BqhtW60
Here is a picture.
It's been extremely fun. The first moment when see the plasma form is certainly an amazing moment. I had never seen anything like this before in real life, so to see it for the first time on my own equipment was quite special.
My goal with this project is mostly to have fun, so I will probably never pursue neutrons.
I would like to try experiment with different gasses to see what colors I can achieve. I have seen the helium can do blue.
I will do some research on this in the future.
I'm still not sure what is going on, atomically speaking, to emit the light and what determines the frequency/strength of the light being emitted.
It would be nice to know a bit about the different safety aspects as well.
Anyway, that's the directions I'm going.
Glad to be a part of the forum. I'll see you all around.
/David