Some more eBay orders arrived today, the first delivery in quite a while. I ordered some fast switching 200V 8A diodes and a CCFL inverter board complete with two very nice-looking transformers, which I have now de-soldered.

I have been making some nice little purple arcs with the transformer, I’m wondering if I can get better results by increasing the input voltage to something like 24v, I also wonder if I can try winding another primary around the core, as there is a good amount of clearance between the windings and the core.

The 555 timer-based circuit is still limited though, it’s creating DC pulses, so not true alternating current to the primary. I should really be now aiming to build a half-wave circuit with MOSFETs, or even IGBTs, but I need to learn more about IGBTs before I attempt a circuit.

More eBay items coming shortly, hopefully! I also really want to start an electronics project soon, even if it’s just a 555/TL494/UC3842-based oscillator/inverter type circuit.