>From another list (rocketry!)


>>> If so, I'm considering using a Walton-Cockroft style voltage 
>>> multiplier
>>> circuit to generate about 60KV of current limited DC to power a 
>>> small
>>> demonstration suitable for use in schools etc.  I'd appreciate 
>>> comments
>>> on this approach as well.


Look also at a Marx generator - an elegantly simple way of multiplying 
DC.

Imagine N capacitors placed in parallel and charged to V volts.
Now connect them all in series and you get N x V volts.
A Marx generator does this with suitable switching BUT the switches 
are breakdown airgaps so the transition is automatic and involves no 
mechanical switching. The suitably enthused build them with resonant 
stages for better than N times multiplication.

Here's one putting out between 1 and 4 megavolt for a 50 kV input
Theory and construction details and graphical and numerical results.

    http://users.tm.net/lapointe/MarxMain.html

Google will find you much more.



        Russell McMahon 

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