VIC design session v70: reasoning

This sweep confirms something I'd half-expected: around the 0.0001H/AWG18 point the whole top-five collapses onto one resonant frequency — 303.9 kHz — because L and C_eff are effectively fixed (1.37nF, 100µH). What actually separates the candidates is turns count, and that only moves coil Q and the fine details of cell voltage. More turns raises AC resistance, drops coil Q hard (394 → 118 from 180t to 600t) and pulls tank Q down modestly (25.4 → 22.1). Lower Q means less voltage magnification, so cell voltage sags 305V → 265V and the vapor-film lands lower on the Townsend ladder (122 → 106 Td). Every candidate still lights INSIDE the 80-250 Td / 3-6 eV cold-chemistry window, which is encouraging — the CGDE regime is robust to turns choice here.

The honest problem: all five VIOLATE the practical 1-100kHz band at 304 kHz. That's a driver/switching headache and I won't pretend otherwise. So the scoring is rewarding film chemistry while the frequency is impractical — a real tension, not a win.

I'm adopting #1 (180t, 0.0001H): highest tank Q (25.4), highest coil Q (394), stiffest cell voltage (305V), and 122 Td — deepest into the window. Fewer turns, less copper, less loss.

Next session I must break the frequency deadlock: this L/C simply resonates too high. I'll sweep C_eff UP — more cells in parallel or longer tubes — and push L into the 0.6-0.8mH gap deliberately, targeting f_r back under 100kHz while watching whether coil Q and the 120 Td window survive the climb.