Build your own Doug Coil Machine

1
Build your own Doug Coil Machine

• Easy to follow steps with clear explanations and
  numerous photographs
• Written by John Stolar
• Professor of Geology/Astronomy (ret)
• And Lyme victim

2
Disclaimer page

• Coil machines are not approved for the
  treatment of any disease or condition by the
  Federal Drug Administration or any other
  government, public, or private agency.
• Coil machines are not recommended for use on
  humans since the effects have not been fully
  researched and understood.
• Women who are pregnant and anyone having a
  pacemaker should not use a coil
• machine.
• Precautions regarding electrical devices and
  magnetic fields should be taken.
• Coil machines are for the purpose of
  experimental investigation into the effects of
  electromagnetic frequencies and magnetic fields.
• Users having serious medical conditions should
  heed the advice of competent and trained medical
  personnel. Do not substitute the use of a coil
  machine for competent medical advice and
  counseling.
• It should be understood that human biological
  responses to coil machines are not fully known.
• It is understood that the user is responsible
  for experimental investigation and accepts all
  responsibility for the use of this device.
• The user cannot hold the author of this coil
  machine tutorial responsible for any consequences
  that may result from the building of this
  device.

3
Introduction

• This presentation will organize the
  construction of a Doug coil machine (DCM) in a
  logical series of steps and will provide detailed
  explanations and illustrate the steps with many
  sequential photographs of a DCM being built. A
  person with no electrical experience will be able
  to complete this project safely with some basic
  tools and common sense.
• The tutorial took over 200 hours to
  complete. It contains 150 photographs and 130
  PowerPoint pages
• covering all of the topics Involved
  in building a Doug Coil Machine. The purpose for
  producing such a thing is
• to provide some aid to my fellow
  Lyme-infected sufferers. Its my chance in life
  to do something good for a
• large number of people, most of
  whom, unfortunately, I will never meet. Not
  many people get a chance like
• this for this reason, this CD will
  always be free (except for a 2 charge for
  postage, mailer, and CD).
• The material in the tutorial can be
  shared, copied, and printed but cannot be
  included in part or its entirety in
• any publication or in any other
  medium that will be sold. My point is to help
  people not to take their money.
• If you find that you dont
  understand something in the tutorial or have
  questions, please feel free to email me at
• johnstolar1224_at_yahoo.com I will
  help.

4
Table of Contents

• Pages
• 5 - 7 Tools and Materials
• 8 - 13 Operating a DCM,
  Shutdown Procedure
• 14 - 18 Coils
• 19 - 33 Coil Winding Device,
  soldering speaker wire to the coil
• 34 - 36 Measuring your Coils
  Inductance
• 37 - 39 Multimeter
• 40 - 42 Amplifier
• 43 - 46 Switches
• 47 - 55 Capacitors
• 56 - 76 Making Capacitor Arrays
• 77 - 93 Connecting the
  Capacitor Arrays to the Switches
• 94 - 98 Resistors
• 99 - 102 Wave/Signal Generator
• 103 - 116 Coil Stand
• 117 123 Doug Coil Machine on a
  Cart
• 124 129 New and Alternate Ideas
  Section
• 130 Encouragement Page

5
Tools and Materials

• Wire cutter and insulation stripper
• Electricians pliers for twisting wires together
• Needle-nosed pliers for reaching where fingers
  cant fit
• Electric soldering iron
• Solder (non-lead, rosin core), .062 diameter
  works well
• wire nuts (2 yellow size for each coil) (3
  large grey size) ( 20/- red size)
• (3 blue very large size for 5 or 6 (12
  gauge wires)
• 44 Spade wire connectors for 12 gauge wire (for
  connecting capacitor arrays and for switches)
• Wire connector crimping pliers
• Nylon wire ties 11 length (about 25 needed for
  banding the wire for 2 coils)
• Nylon wire ties 7 length for banding capacitors
  to mounts ( about 25 needed)
• Cable tie mounting bases (for mounting capacitors
  and resistors)
• Small screws (6 x 3/8 or ½ for attaching
  cable tie mounting bases to wood panels)
• Electric drill or drill press, 1/2, 5/8, and 1
  Forstner bits, Phillips driver bit
• Plus all the little things that you dont know
  you need

6
Electricians pliers
Wire stripper and cutter This tool is
specifically made for 12 gauge wire. Other
sizes are available but this may the most
important tool for this project so to avoid much
wasted time get the 12 gauge one.
Blunt ends allow for twisting 3 wires together
Wire nuts
7
Soldering iron with temperature control and hot
iron rest stand. Soldering is mostly done to
secure capacitors together in a DCM. Cost is
about 16. Check http//www.elexp.com for parts
and tools
Wire connector crimping tool. This does a much
better job than regular pliers. Notice the bare
wire inside the connector- the insulation should
be stripped so the aluminum sleeve is
crimped around bare copper wire. Get spade
connectors that are made for 10 or 12 gauge wire.
Soldering iron no temp. control and no rest
stand
8
Operating the DCM

• Knowing how to operate the DCM before building
  it may help people understand how the components
  work together.
• 1. Place the coil so the hole faces you. It can
  lean on something sturdy or can hang with ties to
  the back of a wooden chair, etc. It can get hot
  (well over 100O F) so be sure to keep plastic
  items away from the coil. Electrical tape can
  melt if used to hold a coil together or to hold
  it in place while in use. Details are given
  later in this tutorial for building a coil stand.
  Be sure to place the coil at least 6 or 7 feet
  away from TVs, stereos, computers, memory cards,
  digital cameras, and credit cards. The coils
  magnetic field may interfere with these things in
  addition to other things in your home. Plug the
  end of the 15 ft 12 gauge wire attached to the
  coil into the binding post jacks on the DCM.
• 2. Turn the multimeter on and set the dial for
  V (volts AC current) and use the RANGE button to
  set the units shown on the LCD screen of the
  meter to V (not mV which is millivolts). Be sure
  to dial the V for alternating current and not
  V---- for direct current. The manual helps
  here. The test lead wires coming out of the
  multimeter (with alligator clips to hold the test
  leads in place) must be placed at both sides of a
  set of 5 resistors (see picture on next page)
  that are soldered together. Be sure to plug in
  the black test lead wire into the black jack in
  the multimeter and the red test lead in the red
  jack that has V next to it.

9

Two sets of five resistors each. The red
alligator clip test lead Is attached to one side
of a set of resistors and the black test lead is
connected to the other side. Details on
soldering the resistors together are given in
the section on Resistors
This is how the meter should be setup to operate
the DCM. Notice the positions of the red and
black test leads. The dial is pointing to V
and the Range button was pushed to get the
decimal behind the first zero since the meter
will read 1.500 volts when the DCM is in use.
10

• 3. Turn on the signal generator and push the
  FREQ button, then the frequency number (for
  example 432), then push the Hz button, then push
  the SHAPE button and finally the 7 button to
  choose sine waves. The generator is now
  outputting waves of the frequency you chose. You
  could check this by setting your multimeter dial
  to Hz and using its test lead wires to touch the
  red lead to the terminal and the black lead
  wire to the - terminal on the front of the signal
  generator.
• 4. Turn on the amplifier with its rocker switch
  be sure that the 2 volume dials on the front of
  the amplifier are turned counter clockwise to
  zero.
• 5. Flip the correct toggle switches up to the ON
  position to set the required capacitance for the
  frequency you chose. (See the section on
  capacitors)
• 6. Slowly turn both amplifier dials clockwise
  both until you get a stable 1.5 volts on the
  multimeter. You will notice that turning a knob
  clockwise at a certain point will lower the
  voltage so turn the dials in conjunction with
  each other so they are at approximately the same
  dial position to reach a voltage of 1.5

11

• 7. The coil is ready to use. The coil heats up
  as well as the capacitors and resistors so if the
  phone rings let it ring. You have a limited
  amount of time until the circuit protection
  electronics in the amplifier kick in and the
  amplifier stops while it cools. If the red
  lights on the amplifier ever go on just turn both
  dials back to zero until the fan cools the
  amplifier.
• 8. When you finish with one frequency and want
  to choose another, turn both volume dials on the
  amplifier counterclockwise to zero. Dont change
  capacitor toggle switches when the amplifier
  volume dials are anywhere other than zero.
• 9. Pull capacitance toggle switches down to the
  off position and turn on the new set of switches
  for the new frequency. (see the 2 calculators on
  the CD, both are Excel spreadsheets)
• 10. Repeat the procedure on the signal generator
  but with the new frequency

12

• 11. Turn up both amplifier volume dials so the
  multimeter again reads 1.5 volts.
• 12. Thats it you just repeat the procedure.
• You will notice that a fan in the amplifier
  begins running at a higher speed a few minutes
  into the use of the coil. This is normal to
  control overheating of the amplifier. If the
  heating is more than the fan can handle the
  amplifier stops its output of current to the coil
  and shuts down until cooled you can resume
  using the coil at that point. I let my amplifier
  cool for a few minutes in between frequencies
  even though there are built in safeguards.

13
Shutdown Procedure

• Shutdown is simply the reverse of the steps
  you do to operate the DCM
• 1. Turn the amplifier volume dials to off
  (counterclockwise all the way)
• 2. Flip capacitor toggle switches to off (in the
  down position)
• 3. Turn both the multimeter and signal generator
  off
• 4. Keep the amplifier on for a few minutes to
  cool. The air coming out of the
• back of the amplifier will be warm or hot at
  first. Push the rocker switch to
• off after the air feels cool.

14
Coils

• Different coils are used to emit different ranges
  of frequencies. Coils differ from one another in
  various ways such as
• 1. different size (gauge) insulated wire, DCM
  coils use 12 gauge
• insulated solid copper wire
• 2. different thickness of wire insulation
• 3. different width and thickness of coil
  dimensions (width and thickness)
• 4. variation in tightness of wraps
• 5. overlapping wraps
• A general rule is that the more wire you can get
  into a coil of a given volume, the higher the
  coils inductance will be.

15

• An electrical measurement that is important for
  building a DCM is the inductance of the coil.
  Inductance for our purpose is not important to
  understand in depth but a short definition is
  that inductance is the ability of a coil carrying
  an electric current to resist a change in the
  current flowing through the coil. Coils that
  have an alternating (the current travels in a
  wave form) electric current running through them
  produce a magnetic field plus emit frequencies of
  electromagnetic radiation (very long wavelength
  radio waves for a DCM).
• The greater the current the greater the frequency
  (and the shorter the wavelength) of the waves
  emitted. The coil used by a DCM emits very long
  wavelength, very low frequency (waves per second)
  radio waves. These waves travel at the speed of
  light (186,282 miles/second so they get to the
  distance of the moon in 1.5 seconds). For
  example, for a wave having a frequency of 625
  Hertz, has 625 wave crests in a distance of
  186,282 miles making the distance between one
  wave crest and the next about 298 miles.
• In 30 seconds 18,750 of these waves will
  have been emitted by the coil.
• The reason Inductance is important is that it is
  related mathematically to frequency and
  capacitance. If we know two of these values we
  can calculate the third one.

16

• For example when make a coil you physically
  measure its inductance with your multimeter.
  This gives you one of the values needed. You
  choose what frequency to generate with your
  signal generator so now you have two of the
  values. A calculator program supplied on this CD
  will allow you to get the desired capacitance so
  you can turn on the correct capacitors to
  generate radio waves with your coil.
• Most coil machine builders have one coil
  that emits most of the radio wave frequencies
  desired. This coil with an inductance of 7 to 8
  microhenries (µh) will emit lower frequencies
  (from about 200 Hertz to about 2000 (Hertz or Hz.
  again is a measure of waves emitted per second).
  If you desire to have higher frequencies emitted
  by your DCM you will need a coil of lower
  inductance approximately in the range of 4 to 5
  µh. Overheating of capacitors and your amplifier
  is the result of attempting to generate higher
  frequency radio waves with a high inductance coil
  (you should use a low inductance coil for the
  frequencies over approximately 2000 Hz)
• You can try all of this out on the
  calculators by typing in various frequencies and
  inductances to see how capacitance changes
• How do you make a coil of lower inductance?
  Less wire - accomplished by less width and
  thickness of your coil (assuming you still have
  tight windings).
• For example a coil wrapped with 12 gauge
  insulated THNN wire (available in 500 foot spools
  at all Lowes and Home Depot stores) that
  measures 2 inches wide and 1.5 inches thick,
  wound very tightly with no overlaps, measured an
  inductance of 8.51 µh. This coil has 12 layers
  of wire in the 1.5 inch thickness and 16 rows of
  wire in the 2 inch width. It contains
  approximately 450 feet of wire. The coil was
  wrapped around a 6 inch form (described in detail
  in later slides) so the finished coil has a 6
  inch diameter hole in its center. The outside
  diameter of the entire coil is 9 inches.

17

• A coil wrapped with the same gauge wire on the
  same form and measuring 1.5
• inches in thickness and 1.75 inches in width has
  an inductance of 7.20 µh. This
• coil has 15 layers on wire in the 1.5 inches of
  thickness and 13 rows of wire in
• the 1.75 inches of width. This coil has the 6
  inch diameter hole and 9 inch
• outside diameter Another coil wrapped with the
  same gauge wire on the same
• form but this time the width and thickness both
  are 1 3/8 inches, now has an
• inductance of 2.98 µh. This coil has 11 layers
  of wire in the 1 3/8 inch
• thickness and 11 rows of wire in the 1 3/8 inches
  of width. This coil has the 6
• inch diameter hole and 9 inch outside diameter.
  (A coil that is too large in width and thickness
  and tightly
• wound will have an inductance of 12 µh or more
  and prove to be difficult to use. Reaching 1.5
  volts on your multimeter will most likely be
• impossible.)
• What matters is that you end up with a coil of
  about 7 to 8 µh if you intend to
• have only one coil. If your coil comes out
  higher or lower, it doesnt really
• matter because the capacitors you will switch on
  for a particular frequency will
• change with the inductance of the coil you make.
  That is precisely why this
• tutorial cannot supply you with a list of
  capacitor switches to use for a given
• frequency you wish to generate since your
  personal coil determines this factor.
• You dont have to calculate anything since there
  are two calculator programs

18

• Measuring Inductance with a Multimeter

Notice the position of the dial. It is pointing
to the H symbol (Henrys is the unit of measure
for inductance). Also notice that the red test
lead is plugged into the far left red socket
labeled with an H
19
Coil Winding Device

• There are many good ways to wrap insulated solid
  copper wire tightly enough to make a good coil.
  I wrapped 4 coils with the device I made and of
  course the fourth one is better than the first.
  I decided that I needed firm sides on the form I
  would wrap the wire upon. That decision
  eliminated anything that would flex with pressure
  so I used ¾ thick (actually .707 inches thick
  and not .75 inches) birch plywood. A series of
  pictures illustrating the making of the winding
  device are on the next slides.
• The first step was to use a compass to draw a 6
  inch diameter circle on the birch plywood. A
  nine inch circle was drawn using the same center
  point as for the 6 inch circle. This resulted in
  two concentric circles. I drew a line across the
  largest circle and then drew lines 15 degrees
  apart (I used a plastic protractor) from the
  center of both circles out to the six inch
  circle. Thirty 3/8 inch holes would be drilled
  at these15 degree intervals along the inside of
  the 6 inch circle. It is necessary to only draw
  the circles and lines on one of the plywood
  pieces since they will be taped together so the
  drilling of holes results in two identical
  pieces.

20

• I used a band saw to cut out the circles (you cut
  on the outside of the line of the 9 inch circle).

These are 8 areas where slots will be cut to hold
the cable ties that will eventually hold the
wire coil together. Its a nice way to have the
ties held in place while winding wire. The
birch plywood is stained because was a shelf
from a large TV cabinet I made. I got a larger
TV and didnt need the cabinet any more.
These are 15 degree spaces on the 6 inch circle.
A 3/8 inch hole will be drilled inside the 6
inch circle at the end of each line. The
drilled holes will all be inside the 6 inch
circle and not cross over into the space between
the 6 inch and 9 inch circles. The center of
each 3/8 inch hole should be on the lines
pointed to by the blue arrow.
21
The holes are completely inside the 6 inch
circle. The dowels that are placed in the holes
will form the surface that the wire is wound
upon. Note that the disks are taped together so
they can be drilled together.
Both plywood circles were drilled at the same
time. To do otherwise would make it impossible
to join the two disks together with dowels. The
disks must be in the orientation shown. To
assemble, the disk on the right will end up on
the outside of the winding spool and the surface
of the disk on the left will be on the inside of
the winding spool. The arrows show the alignment
of the disks when they were taped and drilled.
The dark holes are charred wood caused by a dull
drill bit. Its easy to see what a sharp drill
bit does on the other holes. The sharp bit I
used is a brad point wood drill bit. It has a
pointed tip which makes it easy to see where the
center of the hole will be when the bit is
turning in the drill.
22

• e

Drill a 5/8 inch hole for a dowel or iron rod so
the winding spool can easily turn.
beeswax
The grooves were cut with a radial arm saw but
there are other ways to cut the grooves but
none as easy as with a radial arm saw. A sharp
chisel would work but it would be slow. The
blade is raised otherwise I would cut the disk
into pieces. Since the saw blade teeth are 1/8
inches wide and the cable ties that will go Into
the grooves are wider, you need to make several
cuts to fit the ties. A groove slightly large
is better than a groove that is too narrow. The
depth of each groove is slightly deeper than a
cable tie is thick. Notice how these grooves
are between the holes. This is so the cable ties
can slide easily in the grooves.
I highly recommend oak 3/8 inch dowel rods
(from Home Depot). They are tough and will take
the hammering required to assemble the winding
spool for winding a coil and taking it apart to
get the wire coil off. I waxed them with bees
wax to make them easier to use. The dowels are
3 ½ inches long. This length allows them to be
firmly in each disk and to have 2 inches of
space between disks for winding a 2 inch wide
wire coil. If you want to wind wider coils
make the dowels respectively longer.
23

The head of this rubber hammer is filled with
lead shot. The inertia of the shot gives solid
hits.
The winding spool is assembled. I recommend
driving the dowels Into a disk as it is on a firm
surface. A rubber hammer will not dent and
destroy your wood disks and dowels like a metal
hammer will soon do. After all the dowels are
in the first disk as shown to the left it is a
little tricky to get the second disk started onto
the dowels. If you slightly tilt the second
disk you can get a few dowels started into the
holes of the second disk and just slowly work
your way around the perimeter. You will have to
use your fingers to force some dowels into
alignment. Dont hammer on the outer rim it
might break hammer inside of the ring of the
dowel holes
All of the dowels are inserted into the holes and
are flush with the other side of this disk
24

1 1/2
10
Notice the dowels are sticking out of what was
the top disk shown in the previous picture. If
the dowels would be flush with both disks, the
gap between the disks would be 2 inches wide for
a 2 inch wide wire coil.
A length of 1/2 inch steel rod makes a good axle
but a wood dowel would be fine. The distance
between the dowel rods in the gap between the
disks out to the outside edge of the disks is 1
1/2 inches so the wire coil will be 1 1/2
inches thick.
Since I wanted to wind a 1 3/8 inch wide coil, I
placed 4 wood blocks exactly 1 3/8 inches long
between the plywood disks and then I used the
rubber hammer to drive the disks together. That
is why the dowels are sticking out of the disk In
this picture. Remove the blocks and you are
ready to wind a coil.
Grooves for the cable ties
25

2 ½
10
7 ¼
Clamp to hold wire roll holder
This is one cable tie, the locking socket on the
right end and the tongue end on the left. It
loops down between the dowels and is held
in place in the grooves. I used 11 inch cable
ties because 8 inch ties are not long enough to
pull tight.
This the roll of wire that will be wound onto the
winding spool to make the wire coil.
The coil winding spool. I used 3 inch long
screws through the 2x4 bottom of each wire roll
stand and into the end of the 2x4
upright pieces.
26

A small hole is drilled here to secure the end of
the wire to start the coil. Without this hole
the stiff 12 gauge wire could not be pulled
tight enough to start the first layer of wire
The first wrap
Cable ties in grooves
Once you start to wind a coil you cant
stop unless you keep a piece of duct tape handy
and can tape down the wire on your coil it
will unwind for several layers if you release
the tension
27

The wire is wound inch by inch with constant
tension with the fingers to keep the wraps
tight. There is nothing fast about this part.
Try not to impart bends in the wire by the finger
or fingers that lay the wire in place. I used
my right index finger to lay the wire in place
while turning the spool with my left hand. You
will find that you need to pry wraps of wire to
get a tight row and to get the last wrap of the
row tight against the plywood. I used a
screwdriver with a flat bladed end to pry gently
great care must be taken to not cut the
insulation of the wire and a popsicle stick to
push the wire down into the space created.
The coil is finished. Now the cable ties can be
tightened. You can cut the wire off leaving about
6 inches remaining.
28

Use an oak dowel and a rubber hammer to drive
the dowels one by one through the top plywood
disk. Sand or file this dowel (at least the
first 1 1/2 inches or so) so it doesnt stick in
the hole
Push the socket end of the cable tie down into
the groove in the wood disk so about ½ inch of
the tie sticks up above the wire. Put the
tongue end into the socket and pull to the left
so the cable is tight. Dont over do it with
the tightening as the tie can cut the
insulation. The cable tie in this picture has
not been tightened yet. The cable tie in the
background has been pulled and tightened. You
can trim the excess length off all cable ties.
29

Hang the edge of the spool over the edge of a
work table or other solid surface and hammer the
dowels through the top disk Once about 10 of
the dowels are sticking out on the other side of
the spool you can then just balance the
entire spool on those dowels to hammer the rest
of the dowels out without hanging the spool over
the edge of the workbench.
All of the dowels are now through the Top plywood
disk.
30

The work is almost finished. It took 45 minutes
to wrap this coil.
Pry the coil off of the dowels with your fingers
31

This is a fairly low inductance coil. It is 1
3/8 inches wide and 1 1/2 inches thick.
The inductance is 4.39 micro henries (4.39µh) and
will be used for frequencies over 2000 Hz.
32

• Soldering banana plugs to the coils 15 ft.
  speaker wire

Since the flanged ends of the banana plugs are
delicate you should not squeeze them with
pliers. Here I used pliers and taped the handles
together with just enough pressure to hold
the plug so it can be soldered.
Banana plugs 12 gauge speaker wire is soldered
into the end of each plug. These are available
at Radio Shack. There is a small
screw-in adapter for smaller wire that I removed
and discarded.
33

Heat the end of the banana plug with the
soldering iron. Hold the roll in the other hand
and insert the end of the solder into the hole
carefully so it melts and almost fills the hole.
While the solder is molten insert the end of one
of speaker wires (strip about 3/8 inches of the
insulation) into the hole and hold there
until the solder hardens (about 10 seconds).
It is easy to forget to put the red or
black plastic pieces onto the wire before
soldering. Once the metal plug is soldered to
the wire, the plastic insulator cannot be put on
the wire. When the metal plugs cool, turn the
plastic insulator onto the threaded plugs. The
other ends of the speaker wires are connected to
the two wires on the coil. It doesnt matter
which of the coil wires are attached to the red
or black banana plugs..
34
Measuring your Coils Inductance

• There are two ways to measure the inductance of
  the coil you wrapped.
• The first method is to simply buy a multimeter
  that can measure Inductance. Since you will need
  a meter that also measures alternating current
  accurately to monitor the current flowing through
  the coil when in use, it would be prudent to get
  an RMS (root mean squared) meter that also can
  measure Inductance. The meter will have an H on
  the dial for Inductance and a V for voltage (make
  sure you choose V with the dial on the meter
  when you are measuring voltage on your DCM.

35

• If you already have a True RMS multimeter you can
  measure your coils inductance another way (to
  avoid buying a meter that measures Inductance).
  Your DCM must be operable to use this method
  since you need to turn it on to measure your
  coils Inductance.
• Turn on the signal generator and set it for 470
  Hz sine wave output.
• Turn on the 16 µf capacitor switch.
• Turn on your multimeter with the alligator clip
  lead wires connected to each side of a set of 5
  resistors set dial to V for alternating
  current.
• Turn on the amplifier and turn the 2 dials until
  the yellow lights come on.
• Turn the dial (clockwise or counterclockwise) on
  the signal generator to get the highest voltage
  reading on your multimeter you can get. Record
  the frequency you dialed on the signal generator
  when the multimeter reaches the highest voltage.
• You can calculate the inductance with the formula
  below. .(the Inductance will be in
• henries which means that you will need
  to move the decimal place 3 places to the right
  to change the unit to microhenries You can
• now use the Excel cap switch calculator
  on the CD by typing in the Inductance to get the
  switches that need to be turned on for a
• frequency you choose.)
• Inductance 25330/Freq2 X 1/capacitance

36

• You can use the following formula to calculate
  the capacitance you need for
• each frequency you want to generate.
• Capacitance 25330/Freq2 x Inductance
• The capacitance will be in microfarads, the
  frequency should be in Hertz, and
• the Inductance should be in henries. An
  excellent calculator can also be
• found at www.opamplabs.com/cfl.htm.
• The above calculation can be done with the Excel
  calculator
• program called Capacitance Calculator, given on
  the CD.

37
Multimeter

• A well built meter that does it all is the
  Wavetek Meterman 37XR. I
• purchased one from Electronix Express at
  1-800-972-2225 or at
• http//www.elexp.com/tst_38xr.htm. An online
  search will no doubt produce
• other meters but make sure they measure True RMS
  current I chose to get
• one that also measures Inductance. Most DCM
  owners will not need to
• measure inductance except if they build coils.
  A regular multimeter measures
• voltage with alternating current but will read
  only a small part of the sine curve
• of current traveling through the resistor set
  and will therefore give you a
• voltage reading different than the True RMS
  curent. A True RMS multimeter
• measures the entire sine curve of current The
  True RMS multimeter is used to
• monitor the electric current passing through one
  of the 2 sets of 5 resistors in
• the DCM after you set the signal generator for
  the frequency you want, turn on
• the appropriate capacitor switches, and turn on
  the amplifier.

38

• You dont have to select True RMS current with
  this multimeter it
• automatically reads the current in True RMS (RMS
  stands for Ratio Mean
• Squared) A good True RMS multimeter (it does not
  measure inductance) that
• is priced as low as any Ive found is at
  http//elexp.com/tst_205e.htm. The
• picture below shows this meter.

39
Range button moves the decimal point
This is the dial setting for voltage
alternating current
Dial setting for measuring the inductance of your
coil (microhenries)
Plug the red test wire in to this jack if you
want to measure the inductance if your coil
note the H For Henries.
The black test wire plugs in here
The red test wire is plugged in here when
measuring voltage
40
Amplifier

• The amplifier in the DCM is used to boost the
  power input to the coil. The amplifier of choice
  among coil machine builders is the QSC RMX1850HD.
  The HD represents heavy duty. The maximum
  power output is 1800 watts. The maximum output
  of contact and other frequency devices is
  approximately 10 watts. This amplifier is loaded
  with circuit protection electronics so the risk
  of overheating damage is reduced. It would be
  prudent to search for this amplifier online and
  find the best current price. Many times shipping
  is free. When searching you will find that many
  sites do not use the RMX in the name for the
  amplifier just QSC1850HD

41
These terminals must be connected together with a
piece of 12 gauge wire.
Run 12 gauge wire from here to one of the
terminals of the binding post mounted on the
switch panel. The coil plugs into the binding
post.
Input from signal generator
Run 12 gauge wire from here to the first set of 5
resistors
- Input from signal generator
This is a bank of small slider switches. Slide
all to the OFF position except for the 2 switches
labeled parallel input ON.
Run wire from here to the second set of 5
resistors (the side closest to the amplifier).
ground, make a u-shaped wire and connect to this
ground screw and the screw above that also takes
the input wire from the signal generator
Use 12 gauge wire to connect these two terminals,
you can use banana plugs on the ends of this
loop. These two terminals screw out so you can
secure a wire in a hole in the shaft and another
wire with a banana plug in the end of the
terminal this will be needed at the top black
terminal since 2 wires connect here
42

• The input from the signal generator to the
  QSC185HD cannot be greater than 1.16 volts RMS
  according to the manual. RMS means that the
  entire sine wave is sampled and can be measured
  by True RMS multimeters. The Ramsey SG560 has a
  Level touch pad button so you can adjust the
  voltage it sends out. You can choose the voltage
  output of the Ramsey signal generator - it can
  vary from 0v to 10v and is measured peak to peak
  which is not the same thing as RMS voltage. The
  peak to peak voltage is greater than the RMS
  voltage by a factor of 2.88. What this all means
  is that you can just accept the default output
  voltage the Ramsey always displays when you first
  turn it on (which is 1.2v (peak to peak) divided
  by 2.88 .4v RMS. This .4v RMS is well below
  the maximum RMS voltage acceptable by the
  QSC1850HD amplifier which is 1.16v RMS. If you
  wish you could push the touch pad button marked
  Level (after you have entered the frequency and
  sine wave choice see section on signal
  generator) and type in any voltage up to 3.34v
  (peak to peak) and not exceed the limit for the
  amplifier.

43
Switches

• You can use regular house wall switches used
  for lights, etc. - they
• require more space than toggle switches but they
  are much less expensive. I
• chose to use toggle switches to reduce the size
  of the switch bank on the front
• panel of my DCM and am very pleased with the
  result.

wall switch
Toggle switch
44

• The toggle switches I purchased were from Action
  Electronics.
• http//www.action-lectronics.com/switches.htm?zoom
  _highlighttoggleswitchesStandard
• I used the heavy duty 20 amp switch 30-305 for
  my first DCM. They work fine but I wanted to
  eliminate all the wiring required to connect the
  switches together so I called in my next order
  and stated what I wanted but got something
  (30-310) that works but not exactly how I
  expected. It turns out that their pdf files that
  show the details of the switches dont match the
  switch you see at all.
• Curious confusion but their switches and pricing
  are good. An
• improvement over what Ive illustrated in this
  tutorial would be to get switches that operate as
  shown below.

If the top spade terminals would have continuity
(be connected to each other whether the toggle
lever was on or off you could simply attach a
piece of wire with a spade connector on it to
the top right spade terminal and attach the other
end of the wire (again with a spade connector)
onto the top left spade terminal of the next
switch. This eliminates all the jumpers.
The above arrow represents a wire with a
spade connector going to the next switch. It
will attach to the top left spade terminal on the
next switch.
The wire coming from each capacitor array would
still attach to the bottom spade terminal and
would be electrically connected to the top spade
terminals only when the toggle lever is in the up
or ON position.
45

This is the back of the switch panel. I used
tape to apply the switch labels to aid in wiring.
Since each capacitor array is labeled with
letters B thru P, it makes sense to label the
switches also. This panel is actually a mock-up
for illustrating the wiring. I will remove the
switches and apply tung oil finish to the
panel. Since my final DCM structure is a cart,
this panel will be secured on the second shelf of
the cart. It would be difficult to show wiring
details in the more crowded conditions in the
cart.
46

This the front of the switch panel. Each switch
should be labeled with the capacitance and the
letter A thru P. The red and black plug on the
left is the binding post where the coil is
plugged in for use. A Word document on the CD
called Cap Switch Labels prints a set of labels
for you.
Shown are two banana plugs that will be soldered
onto the end of the speaker wire connected to the
coil. Each coil has its own 15 feet of speaker
wire and banana plugs.
The binding post. The ¼ plywood switch panel
ends up between the red and black plates shown on
the right.
47
Capacitors

• A capacitor is an electronic device that stores
  an electric charge to a certain level and then
  releases it. Capacitance, or the amount of
  current that is stored, is measured in farads or
  in our case with the DCM in microfarads (1/1000th
  of 1 farad). The DCM uses 15 single capacitors
  or combinations of capacitors that are connected
  to 15 switches altogether 26 capacitors are
  used. There are really 16 switches but one is
  not connected to any capacitors (switch A). The
  switches are labeled with the capacitance value
  of the capacitors connected to that switch and by
  letters A through P. A Microsoft Word document
  is provided on this CD that when printed will
  provide you with labels for your switches (a glue
  stick is a good way to stick the labels to the
  panel your switches are mounted on).
• Capacitors are used in the DCM to constantly
  store and release electric charge which produces
  the magnetic field and the radio waves emitted by
  the coil. Electric charge released into a coil
  by a battery instead would produce a magnetic
  field that is constant but no radio waves since
  the energy is not in a sine curve (or wave) form.
  

48

• A pulsating or resonating coil is necessary
  in the DCM which is the reason for using
  capacitors. Connecting capacitors together can
  be done in parallel or series connections.
  Imagine a train composed of many individual cars
  or units. The front of each car is connected to
  the back of the car in front connecting
  capacitors in this manner would be a series of
  capacitors. Now imagine that two trains are next
  to each other on their separate tracks. Now if
  the front of a car in train 1 is connected to the
  front of a car in train 2 ( the backs are
  connected also) you would have created train cars
  in parallel connecting capacitors in this way
  produces parallel capacitors.
• Adding the capacitance values of capacitors
  in series is different than adding them in
  parallel circuits. If you use the capacitors
  given in this tutorial you will not have to add
  values since they are given. If you decide to
  add additional capacitors to your DCM such as
  large capacitors to generate lower frequencies or
  very small capacitance capacitors to generate
  higher frequency waves, you will need to add
  capacitance values.

49

• If you only use the capacitors given in this
  tutorial you can skip this slide, but if you put
  different capacitors in your DCM or are curious
  read on.
• Adding capacitance of parallel capacitors is
  simple just add them together.
• For example if you have capacitors of 16 µf and
  .062 µf connected in parallel, the capacitance
  of this array is 16.062 µf. Your label on the
  switch connected to this array of capacitors
  should be labeled 16.062 µf.
• If you have capacitors in series train cars in
  a line - the adding of capacitance values is done
  differently. For example if you have 2
  capacitors each of 4µf capacitance in series
  the total capacitance is
• Total Cap. (1/4 1/4) 2/4 or 1/2 or
  (.5 µf). The toggle switch connected to this
  series of capacitors should be labeled .5µf.

50

• Why do I need to have some capacitors in series
  and others in parallel mode?
• The answer is that you need to have a list of
  enough capacitances to add together and be able
  to match any capacitance required by any
  frequency you choose. A DCM cannot actually
  produce all frequencies, just those between
  approximately 100 Hz /- and 2000 Hz /-. The
  /- means that your coils inductance will have
  an effect here.
• For example If you choose to generate a
  frequency of 625 HZ you would need a capacitance
  of 7.619 µf with an 8.51 µh coil, but what if you
  only had capacitors connected to 5 switches with
  capacitance values of 16, 8, 4, 2, and .1 µh.
  You would not have the right capacitances to add
  together to have a total of 7.619 µf. So
  capacitors are connected together so you can
  attain enough capacitance values that allow you
  to match almost any capacitance needed for the
  frequencies the DCM can produce. It would be
  possible and perhaps useful to expand the list
  with additional capacitors and switches to fill
  in the gaps of the list but when you actually
  use you DCM youll find that the capacitance list
  is very adequate.

51

• So to answer the question again you
• need a variety of capacitances so their
• values cover the range of the ones you
• need for your required frequencies. The
• list on the right is very adequate for a
• DCM.
• For example Examine this list of the
• capacitances used in this tutorial for the
• building of a coil machine. If you choose
• a frequency that required a capacitance
• of 2.662 µf you would have to turn on the
• switches with capacitances of 2, .5, .122,
• .033, and .007 to give a total of 2.662 µf.
• You would flip the toggle switches F,H,J,
• L, and O to the up or on position.

• 30 µf B
• 16 µf C
• 8 µf D
  
• 4 µf E
• 2 µf F
• 1 µf G
• .5 µf H
• .25 µf I
• .122 µf J
• .062 µf KL
• .033 µf L
• .015 µf M
• .010 µf N
• .007 µf O
• .005 µf P

52

• Here is a photo of the front of a coil machine.
  Notice that there are 16
• toggle switches each labeled with the capacitance
  of the capacitors
• connected to that switch. If you add all the
  switch capacitance values you are
• approaching the limit for producing frequencies
  that require higher
• capacitances. Switch A can take you farther by
  using it alone.

This is the binding post where you plug in the
coil
switches A - H
switches I - P
53

• Switch Labels The CD contains a Word document
  titled Cap Switch Labels that will print a set
  of labels for your 16 switches.
• A no cap K .062µf
• B 30µf L .033µf
• C 16µf M .015µf
• D 8µf N .01µf
• E 4µf O .007µf
• F 2µf P .005µf
• G 1µf
• H .5µf
• I .25µf
• J .122µf

54
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55

• For example, if you want to generate a frequency
  that requires a capacitance
• that is higher than about 50µf, use switch A.
• Every frequency you choose with your signal
  generator will require a certain
• capacitance to make the coil resonate the
  capacitance and the frequency
• must be compatible.
• Resonating the coil can be thought of as waves
  (like ocean waves but more
• uniform) of energy going in each end of the coil
  and by choosing the capacitors
• that match with the frequency you picked, the
  crests and troughs of the waves
• in the coil match up they are in resonance.
  When ocean wave crests match
• up the resulting single wave gets much taller.
  The same thing happens with
• radio waves - they get taller (they have greater
  amplitude) and therefore carry
• more energy. This is exactly what you want your
  DCM to do.

56
Making Capacitor Arrays

• There are 16 toggle switches on a typical DCM
  and are each connected to single capacitors or
  capacitors in series or parallel connections.
  Toggle switch A is the only switch not connected
  to any capacitors. In the next slides we will
  build 2 mounting platforms for all of the
  capacitor circuits. These platforms are nothing
  more than two pieces of birch plywood that
  are held in an upright position on a shelf. This
  provides a large amount of surface area for
  effective cooling of the capacitors without
  needing very much flat surface area as in
  shelves. The picture on the next page shows the
  upright panels with all of the capacitors
  attached on the second shelf of the first cart I
  made. You could easily eliminate the cart and
  build a well ventilated box structure that could
  hold the capacitor panels. A panel for the
  switches could also just be supported by framing
  wood the switch panel must be 1/4 thick to
  accommodate the toggle switches and binding post.

57

• To start building capacitor arrays I cut two
  panels (15 x 9) of birch plywood left over from
  another project. There is nothing special about
  this panel size except that everything fits on
  the 4 available sides and there is adequate
  cooling space between all components.

Back of the binding post. The coil plugs in on
the front (the other side) of this panel
This wire is going from the left terminal of the
binding post to the negative output terminal on
the back of the amplifier which is on the shelf
below.
The two panels are shown here. The far left
panel has the 2 sets of resistors on the hidden
side. This is a view from the back of the cart
so the switches are all just to the left of the
binding post.
58
This is .062 rosin core solder and is a good
size to use for this project. Shown is a 1
pound spool but much less is required to do all
the soldering for a DCM. I got this spool at
Radio Shack. Make sure that you get
non-lead solder (which is tin and antimony).

Velleman Soldering Station Model VTSS5U
http//www.elexp.com/sdr_ss5u.htm This is an
example of an inexpensive soldering iron with
temperature control from 374 to 896 F. A handy
feature is the black tube for holding the hot
iron when you are busy getting the next
connection ready.
Cable ties and cable tie mounting bases (Home
Depot and Lowes)
59

• In a setting with children or pets you might
  consider building a box so all
• electrical components are out of view. Some
  wires are not insulated such as
• the ones attached to capacitors and resistors.
  These are bare and electrified
• when the coil machine is in use plus capacitors
  store electric charge and may
• be dangerous to touch well after you turn the
  components off You may have to
• wrap protective insulating tape around these
  wires. A cart with exposed
• electrified wires would not be a good idea.
• A small computer/electronics fan can easily be
  added to whatever structure you
• choose to build. If you can find a fan (such as
  the type that is used in
• computers or other electronic equipment) that
  operates on house current you
• will have 3 things to plug into a plug-in strip
  the amplifier, the signal
• generator, and the fan. Most portable
  multimeters are battery operated
• so they dont need to be plugged in.

60

• As many doug coil builders did before me, I used
  the standard 26 capacitors given in this list. I
  ordered them from
• Allied Electronics at www.alliedelec.com. They
  are located in Fort Worth, TX but charge sales
  tax for every state
• even though they have their only facilities in
  Texas but they get the order out as fast as
  anyone.
• The total order quantities and part numbers are
  given below.
• 1 - 225-5010
• 3 - 591-7045
• 1 - 591-7025
• 2 591-4205
• 3 - 591-4200
• 2 - 591-6085
• 2 - 591-6075
• 1 - 591-6175
• 1 - 591-6165
• 1 - 591-6160
• 1 - 591-6155
• 5 - 591-6150
• 3 - 591-6145

61
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62

• In the next pages the capacitor arrays will be
  assembled and mounted on two
• birch plywood panels (each 9 x 15). Since 2
  panels have 4 sides, 3 of the
• sides are reserved for capacitors. I used
  cable tie mount bases (Home
• Depot) to secure the capacitors to the panels.
  For single capacitors I used the
• adhesive back to secure the mount base but where
  larger capacitors were
• involved, I used 6 x 3/8 Phillips screws to
  secure the mounting bases to the
• panels.

This is the 30 µf capacitor. The dark strip of
wood on the left edge of the panel is a cap of
cherry that hides the edge of the plywood when
this plywood was used as a shelf long ago.
These are two of the cable tie mounting bases.
They have slots for the cable ties to pass
through and up around the capacitors. The ties
are 7 inch ties and are just long enough for all
the capacitors used in a DCM.
The mount bases have an adhesive backing but
when mounting the larger capacitors there is some
prying action when you tighten the cable tie and
the adhesive releases. This prying occurs
because two bases are used for the large
capacitors so they can cradle in the gap between
the two mounts.
63

This 30 µf (PART 225-5010) capacitor is the only
one on switch B. I label all capacitors to avoid
mistakes in wiring to the switches. Avoid
pulling too tightly on the cable ties. The
capacitors shouldnt move around but make the
tie just snug enough.
These capacitors for switch C, each 8 µf (PART
591-7045) will be connected together in a
parallel circuit so they should be mounted near
each other.
64

The 4 µf (PART 591-7025) capacitor for switch E
has been mounted to the panel and above the 8 µf
(PART 591-7045) for switch D will follow.
On the next page these capacitors will
be connected in a parallel circuit
65

Use this section of the crimping tool to secure
the connector to the wire be sure there is no
wire insulation in the aluminum collar that will
be crimped. Also be sure that the wire does not
turn independently of the connector if it does
crimp It some more. Notice how flattened the
yellow insulation is where the crimping pliers
were used.
The short pieces of 12 gauge wire have their
ends stripped of insulation and the spade
connectors will be crimped on. These wires are
used to connect the two capacitors in cap array
C together in a parallel circuit.
66

The capacitors used in a Doug coil do not have
plus and minus terminals. By connecting the top
terminals together and the bottom terminals
together you get a parallel circuit (even if you
turned one of the capacitors 180 degrees and
rewired it. Here the panel in lying flat and in
the picture to the right it is upright on its
edge the way it will be mounted.
Here is the entire side of the first panel.
There is no capacitor for switch A. We will get
to the wiring for switch A later.
67

They dont all work out to be this neat but this
one makes a good picture.
These 4 µf (PART 591-4205) capacitors for switch
F will be in a series circuit. It doesnt matter
which ends you twist together. Hold them as
shown. Be sure that about ¾ to 1 of wire Is
between the capacitor and where they cross.
They will be twisted together with fingers
so once you start the twist be sure to pinch the
spot where the wires cross so the twisting
doesnt migrate down toward the capacitors. The
shorter the wires the hotter the capacitors will
get when soldering the twist.
68

Decide where you want to place them then attach
mounting bases and cable ties
Trim the ends but not so much that the twist is
loose. All of the twist connections like this
must be soldered
69

This series connection of 2 - 4µf (PART 591-4205)
capacitor will be connected to switch F
For switch G three 3 µf (PART 591-4200)
capacitors will be connected in a series circuit
70

Twist the wires together as before - place the
array to determine the location of mounting bases.
Using a marker to label helps when wiring the
capacitors together Its just a way to keep
yourself organized
71

series
parallel
Capacitor array H two 1 µf (PART 591-6085) to be
connected in series to switch H is shown mounted
on the panel. Notice that the wire twists that
will be soldered are all out where a soldering
iron can be used very easily.
The capacitors for switch I involve a parallel
and a series circuit. First connect two .47 µf
(PART 591-6075) capacitors end to end. Use
needle nose pliers to make a bend In each of the
free wires so they are perpendicular to the two
joined capacitors. Connect a .015 µf (PART
591-6150) to these free wires. I used pliers to
twist these connections since the available wire
from the two In parallel is limited in length.
72

Just a few more arrays on this panel will be
enough
Switch J is connected to capacitors in a parallel
circuit. Connect a .1 µf capacitor (PART
591-6175) front to front and back to back to a
.022 µf capacitor (PART 591-6155). They are
shown here mounted to the panel.
73

F
H
I
G
J
K
Switch K is connected to two capacitors connected
in a parallel circuit. Connect a .047 µf (PART
591-6165) capacitor front to front and back to
back with a .015 µf (PART 591-6150) capacitor.
Dont twist the wire so much that the capacitors
get close together
The second panel is finished. All the wires on
the left of each array will be connected to their
respective toggle switches. The wires on the
right of each array and all other capacitor
arrays will be joined together and go to one of
the terminals on the binding post. The binding
post is where the coil plugs into the system with
banana plugs.
74

We are now working on the second panel (the third
side for capacitors). This side will contain the
remaining capacitors and the other side of the
panel will contain the resistors. Shown is the
capacitor for switch L. It is a single .033 µf
(PART 591-6160) capacitor.
This is another single capacitor for switch M.
It is a .015 µf (PART 591-6150) capacitor.
75

Switch N connects to this Single .01 µf (PART
591-6145) capacitor.
Switch O connects to this series circuit
consisting of two .015 µf (591-6150) capacitors.
The switches are located to the right. Both
panels will be mounted in a perpendicular
direction to the back of the switch panel
Switch P connects to this series of two .01 µf
(PART 591-6145) capacitors
76

• Soldering capacitor arrays
• Soldering is easy and fun. Be very careful with
  the hot soldering iron tip since
• it would be very easy to melt a hole in the
  casing. Ventilation is a good idea
• because the flux in the hollow core of the
  solder wire vaporizes when you melt
• the solder.

These two pictures look identical except in the
left one the soldering iron tip is under the
twisted wire to be soldered. In the other
picture the tip is on top of the twisted wire.
In either case you need to heat the wire with
the flat blade of the soldering tip. The idea is
to get the solder melted and onto the twisted
wire quickly. Heating too long can ruin
components like capacitors
My personal choice is in the left picture. I
find I can control how much solder to apply
better if I can see the wire joint.
This is a strip of solder coming directly from a
1 lb. spool.
77

• Connecting the Capacitor Arrays to the Switches
• Each capacitor array has been lettered. It
  would be wise to check each array
• (before soldering) to be sure that where a series
  circuit is needed you actually
• do have a series connection and not a parallel
  connection. I chose to use
• solid 12 gauge wire to connect the capacitor
  arrays to the switches because
• there is always enough left over from coil
  winding but you could use stranded
• wire instead. Stranded wire is much easier to
  use than solid wire since it bends
• so easily.

78