Good evening

[Jack Ebersole]

I'm a sophomore university student double-majoring in physics and electrical engineering (violin performance minor, for whatever that's worth xD). About a year and a half ago (the Summer before I came to college) I decided that it would be my goal to build a working cyclotron. However, aware of the extreme difficulties and potential hazards that would be involved in such a project I decided that I would work from the ground up, beginning with simple electricity and electronics projects and progressing steadily to more advanced work, following my school work as I go. I'm on a 5-year program and I hope to ultimately finish that project before I graduate.

After my first semester (basic electricity and electronics), I began with simple electronic and microcontroller-related hacks: things like converting a PC power supply into a lab bench supply, a little relay flip-flop scheme to turn the lights on and off when the door opens, a Marx generator, and a simple digital calculator implented on an FPGA, and some other tiny assorted tricks. After my second semester (electromagnetic physics and linear circuits) I was able to get into some more advanced things: an op-amp analog computer and a spark gap Tesla coil. Over the Summer I built a plasma speaker with a flyback transformer from an old CRT TV set. What I originally wanted to do with that was build an electronic organ where the "pipes" would be spark gaps set to discharge at specific frequencies (I'm also a pianist and I have some experience on the organ) but I unfortunately could not get it to work.

My current two projects are an audio-modulated Tesla coil and, in particular, a replication of J.J. Thompson's experiment where a pair of Helmholtz coils were used to bend an electron beam into a circle since that seems like the first real step towards a working cyclotron.

After I finish that, now that I'm currently taking modern physics, I think a fusor would be a lovely "doing stuff for real now" project that would give me an opportunity to start working with some of the more advanced physics and electronics principles. This site seems to be an ideal community of people who share that interest.

So, my schpiel being out of the way, I am excited to begin talking with you all. Also, would there happen to be any other Society of Physics Students or IEEE student members hanging around here?

[Gerrit Bruhaug]

I also just joined and am a sophomore in college and a student member of IEEE!