Tesla Groups

Tesla Universe : Community : S.H.V.E. - Southeastern High Voltage Enthusiasts

Southeastern High Voltage Enthusiasts

Who We Are

The Southeastern High Voltage Enthusiasts is the name we've given our group, which currently consists of three members in the states of Alabama and Tennessee. We get together regularly in the summer months and even a few times in the winter. We travel to each other's homes and run our coils, work on new projects, go on salvage runs and see what we can find at hamfests.

We're just regular guys who share a common interest in experimenting with electricity. Above you can see some of our work in our gallery. We also chat here on Tesla Universe almost daily in the Tesla Coils chat room. We welcome you to come by and say hello.

S.H.V.E. Members

Cameron B. Prince

Cameron B. Prince

Cameron is thirty-eight years old and lives in Decatur, Alabama. Cameron has been interested in electricity since early childhood and built his first Tesla coil at around age 14.

Cameron runs his own Internet consulting firm and is also the webmaster of Tesla Universe. He uses his spare time to continue building and expanding the site but continues to make time for experiments and new projects as well. Not one for naming his projects, Cameron's largest coil is very similar to David Rieben's “Green Monster” in dimensions, components and output.

Cameron has been collecting parts for many years and has plans for numerous other projects as time permits. Cameron enjoys visiting salvage yards/stores, hamfests, etc. and searching eBay for high voltage components to add to his collection.
David Rieben

David Rieben

David is forty-six years old and lives near Memphis, Tennessee. David has had an innate fascination with electricity since early childhood and began to try to build “sparking machines” from automotive ignition coils as a teenager. He began to take an interest in Tesla coils around the mid-1980's but found that available information about them was quite limited at that time.

David completed his first successful NST powered Tesla coil around 1990 but still found reliable sources of parts very difficult and/or expensive to procure in those days. He signed up with Harry Goldman's Tesla Coil Builder's Association newsletter in 1994 and from that point began to get a better understanding of Tesla coil design. He also signed up on the internet with the Tesla Coil Mailing List (TCML) in 2000, which was also about the time that he successfully completed his first large Tesla coil that was powered by a pole-mount distribution transformer.

David's most ambitious coil project to date is his “Green Monster” Tesla coil system, so named for the green enameled magnet wire that is wound on the secondary coil. It was started around 2004 and completed in a few months. It is also powered by a pole-mount distribution transformer (AKA pole pig) and produces 12 to 14 ft. sparks. David has also built a VTTC although it has been dismantled at this time.
Phillip Slawinski

Phillip Slawinski

Phillip is twenty-one years old and lives in Huntsville, Alabama. Phillip has been interested in electricity nearly his whole life. He has had an interest in Tesla Coils and high voltage since he was about fifteen or sixteen. Unfortunately due to living at home, and later at a college dormitory he was unable to effectively pursue these interests.

In April of 2008 he moved into an apartment, and shortly after moving in he began construction of his first Tesla Coil. His first coil was somewhat disappointing, but he kept working at it and eventually he ended up with a 6" coil capable of making over six foot arcs. Now Phillip has a VTTC, and DRSSTC in addition to the 6" coil.
Billy Alexander

Billy Alexander

Billy Alexander took an interest in lightning during his early childhood. Located in one of the highest geographical points in his area, he has witnessed lightning's beauty and power up close and personal. This interest carried through to his teen years when he learned of Nikola Tesla and built his first Tesla coil at age 16. Billy's first coil was a small ignition coil powered unit with a secondary wound on a toilet paper tube. This led to the building of two more coils, the first a 4-inch, followed later by an 8-inch that was 6-foot tall. The monstrous large coil included both asynchronous and static spark gaps and was powered by a 14.4kV pole pig.

Billy has a deep interest in all fields of energy and his career includes work as a consulting engineer with a biodiesel company and as a partner in Progressive Machining, located in Moulton, Alabama. Billy recently sought out areas that further these interests through friends and business contacts which is how he discovered the Tesla Universe website. Like Cameron, Billy has been seeking out parts for many years and has plans to build many projects. With more time on his hands now, he's looking forward to the newly found local camaraderie and wealth of knowledge.

Joining

Are you into high voltage and live in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, or Tennessee? We welcome new members and would love to meet you. For more information please contact us at: shve@teslauniverse.com



Sign-In To Manage Your Universe
Remember Me
Forgot Your Password?
Shopping Cart
Join Tesla Universe Today!
Site Stats
Tesla Universe Newsletter

Want to stay up to date on the latest Tesla news? Enter your email address here to subscribe to our newsletter.


Newsletter Archive
Unsubscribe
Review Our Privacy Policy