Vacuum Tube Tesla Coil Staccato Controller with Arduino
I built a staccato controller for a vacuum tube Tesla coil using a microcontroller. I used an Arduino Nano , which is an older (2008) and well-known microcontroller based on the Atmega328 . It's relatively slow compared to many newer microcontrollers, but still fast enough to follow the 50-hertz frequency of the mains power, which is the basis of the staccato controller's operation. View in CircuitLab . In the circuit diagram, at the bottom right, there is a transformer, 230/12 V 6 VA. I initially used a 2 VA printed circuit board transformer, but it had a tendency to overheat. A 4 VA transformer would likely be fine, but I installed a 6 VA transformer . Above the transformer, there is a full-wave rectifier , BR1. Following the bridge is an electrolytic capacitor C1, rated at 1000 uF and 35 V. After that, there is a 7812 voltage regulator that steps the voltage down to 12 volts, which is the highest allowed operating voltage for the Nano. Even though the rated voltage of the tr...