3

supplied through headers soldered into the PCB if
you’ve got a bench power supply.
Connecting a music player to a device capable
of producing enough voltage for this spark is a little
nerve-wracking – especially since we’d soldered it
ourselves with the instructions written in a language
we don’t read. We didn’t want to risk frying our
phone, so we found an old MP3 player in the back
of a drawer and fired this up. A small (approximately
5 mm) spark danced from the end of the loose
wire on the coil. You’ll need to dim the lights to
fully appreciate the majesty of the raw electricity
flicking to the tune of your favourite song. It’s not
compulsory that you play Electric Six’s ‘Danger! High
Voltage’, but it is strongly recommended.

QUALITY CONTROL
The sound produced is audible but quiet. It’s just
about possible to make out the tune being played,
but from an audiophile perspective, it’s just about
the worst quality sound output we’ve ever heard.
That’s not really the point though – this is music
from lightning and that’s cool at any quality.
The main issue with the kit is that it’s made of
weak parts. The secondary coil is made of very thin
wire that is delicate when soldered onto the board.
The tube that the coil is wrapped around doesn’t
attach to the board in any way (unless you glue it
down), so this joint is very exposed and vulnerable
to breaking if the tube is knocked. We found that
hot glue didn’t adhere well to the PCB surface and
we had to glue all the way to the
edge of the board in order to get
a solid joint (see images). Some
other adhesive may work better,
but this produced a strong, if
unsightly, joint.

The power socket failed after several uses.

The flimsy metal connector that had been slightly

bent in transit snapped in two, despite gentle

handling. This is fairly easy to replace (and there are

additional points on the PCB to add wires to supply

power), but it’s another source of annoyance. For

the price we paid, we can live with the fact that

it’s prone to falling apart as it was a fun project to

make and even with a few uses we feel we got our

money’s worth. However, it does make it a little

hard to recommend this to hackspaces and clubs

unless you’re willing to take some measures to

toughen it up.

Obviously a certain amount of caution is

necessary with a kit like this. It will output plenty

of electromagnetic interference, could cause a

fire, and generally needs treating with the respect

any high voltage

project requires,

but for anyone

with the ability to

use one of these

safely, it’s one of

the most impressive

electronics

kits around.

Right

With two heat

sinks and a coil,

it’s quite an

imposing project

even when it’s not

spitting lightning

FIELD TEST

DIRECT FROM

(^) SHENZHEN