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

 Dedication
It is important to recognize the efforts of those rare individuals who make
a difference in the lives of large numbers of people.
I would like to dedicate this tutorial to two such people who helped many
who recovered their lives from pain and despair to having hope and light.
Doug MacLean designed what is now known as the “Doug Coil Machine”
and showed what could be achieved with ingenuity and amazing curiosity.
His discoveries are admired by many thousands who appreciate his
contributions to all of us.
John Propster designed the current model of the Doug Coil Machine and
touched lives that he could not possibly imagine.
Our gratitude to these exceptional individuals is well deserved.

Thank you, Doug and John, for making a difference.

 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.
 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 139 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 so for this reason, this CD will always be free.

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 don’t understand something in the tutorial or have questions, please feel free to email me
at:
johnstolar1224@yahoo.com.
 Table of Contents
Pages
5 Schematic of a DCM
6 -8 Tools and Materials
9 - 14 Operating a DCM, Shutdown Procedure
15 - 20 Coils
21 - 40 Coil Winding Device, soldering speaker wire to the coil
41 - 43 Measuring your Coil’s Inductance
44 - 47 Multimeter
48 - 50 Amplifier
51 - 54 Switches
55 - 63 Capacitors
64 - 84 Making Capacitor Arrays
85 - 101 Connecting the Capacitor Arrays to the Switches
102 - 106 Resistors
107 - 108 Wave/Signal Generator
109 - 122 Coil Stand
123 - 129 Doug Coil Machine on a Cart
130 - 138 New and Alternate Ideas Section
139 Encouragement Page
 signal
generator

The Instek SFG 2004 signal generator

comes with a cable that plugs into the
Schematic of a DCM
BNC jack on the bottom right of the
generator and alligator clips on the other
end. I cut the clips off and attached fork
amplifier input amplifier output
connectors. The red wire should be
attached to Channel 1 + and the black QSC1850HD amplifier (back) _
Channel 1
wire to the Channel 1 – terminals.
Use a small wire loop to connect Mode Switches +
the – terminal and all are off (push
the ground terminals together. sliders to the left) +
except for #4 and _ Channel 2
#5 parallel inputs connect top & bottom terminals
barrier strip
(screws) with 12 gauge wire loop
Channel 1 & 2
inputs

double binding post

2 sets of
all other all other switch 5 resistors
12 ga..speaker wire
switches switches A each volt meter

cap
coil arrays
(2 are
no caps on
shown
wire nuts connecting switch A
there
2 coil wires and speaker are 15)
wires

A terminal block with two rows of 8 screws each (rated 20 amps)

could be used here. See terminals blocks on P.137
near the end of the tutorial.
 Tools and Materials
• wire cutter and insulation stripper
• electrician’s pliers for twisting wires together
• needle-nosed pliers (for reaching where fingers can’t fit)
• electric soldering iron or gun
• Solder - 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). If you use terminal blocks instead you will need two
• double row, 8 screw blocks.
• 44 female spade connectors for 12 gauge wire
• wire connector crimping pliers
• cable ties 11” length (for banding the wire in a coil and for holding the coil to the stand)
• cable ties 7” length (for banding capacitors to mounts or to a panel - about 25 needed)
• cable tie mounting bases (for mounting capacitors and resistors but a ¼” plywood panel and cable ties works well)
• electric drill or drill press, 1/2”, 5/8, and 1” Forstner bits, Phillips driver bit
 Electrician’s 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
Wire nuts together
 Soldering iron with temperature control and hot iron
rest stand. Soldering is mostly done to secure
Wire connector crimping tool. This does a much better job than capacitors together in a DCM. Cost is about $16.
regular pliers. Notice the bare wire inside the connector- the Check http://www.elexp.com for parts and tools
insulation should be stripped so the tinned metal sleeve is crimped
around bare copper wire. Get female connectors that are made
for 10 or 12 gauge wire.

Soldering iron – no temp. control and no rest stand

 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 100 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 8 feet away from TVs,
stereos, computers, memory cards, digital cameras, and credit cards. The coil’s
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 (or Com) in the multimeter and the red test lead in the red
jack that has V next to it.
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.
1. Turn on the signal generator and input a frequency such as 432 and push
the Hertz button. Push the “Wave “ button to get the curvy sine curve icon.
Push “Shift” and “8” to get the -20db icon. This subtracts current from the
input to the amplifier so the “Ampl” knob is much less sensitive and can be
adjusted better. 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 end of the red lead and the black lead wire.
When you use a frequency from about 800Hz you will need to remove the
-20db function or the meter may not be able to reach 1.5 volts when the
machine is operating.

2. 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.

3. 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)

4. Turn both amplifier dials clockwise to the maximum position

5. Turn the “Ampl” knob up on the signal generator until the reading on the
LCD multimeter display reads 1.5 volts. The coil machine is ready to use. It
hums fairly loudly. The coil heats up in time so if the phone rings – let it ring.
If the red clip lights on the amplifier ever go on turn the “AMPL” knob
CCW to lower the current.
The coil can get hot so it should be on a stand that you can hold or get close
to. It is recommended that you have a fan blowing on the coil for cooling
purposes and for ventilation. The plastic insulation on the wire in the coil
can emit fumes if the coil exceeds 235 F. so be sure to be in a well
ventilated room – a closet would not be suitable.

6. When you finish with one frequency and want to choose another, turn the
“AMPL” knob off and both gain knobs on the amplifier counterclockwise to
zero. Don’t change capacitor toggle switches when the amplifier volume
dials are anywhere other than zero. This prevents overloading the
capacitors with electric current.
7. Pull capacitance toggle switches down to the off position and turn on the
new set of switches for the new frequency. (see the freq cap calculator on
the CD).

8. Repeat the procedure on the signal generator but with the new frequency

9. Turn up both amplifier volume dials to maximum, turn the signal generator
volume dial so the multimeter again reads 1.5 volts.

10. That’s it – you just repeat the procedure for another frequency.

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 and then
restarts automatically – you can resume using the coil at that point.
 Shutdown Procedure

Shutdown is simply the reverse of the steps you do to operate the DCM
Turn the “AMPL” knob off, Turn the amplifier gain knobs off
(counterclockwise all the way)

Flip capacitor toggle switches to off (in the down position) however the
switches can be left on but it is advised to check that the correct switches
are turned on

Turn both the multimeter and signal generator off.

Keep the amplifier on for a few minutes to cool. The air coming out of the
front of the amplifier will be warm or hot at first. Push the rocker switch to
off after the air feels cool.
 Coils
Insulated copper wire coils are used to produce magnetic fields that
change the positions of the magnetic poles at different frequencies.
For instance at a frequency of 432 Hz the magnetic poles change
position 432 times per second

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. The copper is 2mm in diameter and
with the insulation it is 3mm in diameter.
2. different thickness of wire insulation
3. different width and
thickness of coil dimensions (width and thickness)
4. variation in tightness of wraps

A general rule is that the more wire you can get into a coil of a given
volume, the higher the coil’s inductance will be.
• 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. Another way to understand inductance is that it is a
measure of the amount of copper in a cross section of a coil if the coil could
be cut across the wires. Coils that have an alternating (the current travels in
a wave form) electric current running through them produce an alternating
magnetic field. Moving electric current (charged particles) automatically
produces a magnetic field. Even hot gas becomes charged and produces
very strong magnetism due to movement of the gas as in the surface of the
sun.

• 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.

• 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 an alternating magnetic with your coil.
• Most coil machine builders have one coil. This coil with an inductance of 7
to 8 millihenries (mh) will easily produce alternating magnetic fields from
about 20 pole reversals per second to about 2000. The unit of frequency is
Hertz where 1 Hertz is one pole reversal per second. To have higher
frequencies you will need a coil of lower inductance approximately in the
range of 4 to 5 mh. Overheating of the amplifier is the result of attempting to
generate higher frequency 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 calculator 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 I wrapped with 12 gauge solid, insulated THNN wire
(available in 500 foot spools at all Lowe’s and Home Depot stores) that
measures 2 inches wide and 1.5 inches thick, wound very tightly, measured
an inductance of 8.51 mh. 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
425 - 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.

•
A coil wrapped with the same gauge wire on the same form and measuring 1.5”
in thickness and 1.75” in width has an inductance of 7.20 mh. This coil has 15
layers on wire in the 1.5” of thickness and 13 rows of wire in the 1.75” of width.
This coil has the 6” diameter hole and 9” 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” now has an inductance of 2.98 mh. This coil has
11 layers of wire in the 1 3/8” thickness and 11 rows of wire in the 1 3/8” of
width. This coil has the 6” diameter hole and 9” outside diameter . A coil that is
too large in width and thickness and tightly wound could have an inductance of
12 mh or more and prove to be useless for higher frequencies.

What matters is that you end up with a coil of about 7 to 8 mh if you intend to
have only one coil. If your coil comes out slightly higher or lower, it doesn’t
matter significantly 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 don’t have to calculate anything since there is a calculator program
on this CD that will calculate everything you need. It is all very easy.
 Measuring Inductance with a Multimeter

Notice the position of the dial. It is pointing to the mH

symbol (Henry 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. The coils are not
connected to a coil machine in these pictures. The
magnetic field is very strong in the hole area of the coil
and would produce heating in any metallic object
placed there – your meter would be ruined.
 Coil dimensions and Inductance
(all coils have 6” diameter holes and are wrapped with 12 gauge THNN solid copper wire)

coil size layers of wire rows of wire inductance

1 3/8” thick x 1 3/8” wide 11 layers 11 rows 2.98 mH

1 3/8” thick x 1 ½” wide 12 layers 12 rows 4.39 mH

1 ¼” thick x 2” wide 11 layers 15 rows 7.01 mH

1.5” thick x 1.75” wide 15 layers 13 rows 7.20 mH

1.5” thick x 2’ wide 12.5 layers 16 rows 8.49 mH

1.5” thick x 2” wide 12 layers 16 rows 8.51 mH

These coils were wrapped over a 3 week period. It seems apparent that there must be some variation in either the thickness of the
insulation on the wire or of the tension on the wire during wrapping. It is assumed that the copper wire is the same diameter. The
spool winder was very rigid and is not a factor in introducing extra rows in some coils. Three of the coils are 2” wide but one coil has
an extra row. Wire tension during winding has more of an effect on the number of layers than on the number of rows so this is one
of those things to ponder( I suspect that if wraps nestle in between the wire wraps below them throughout the coil you will get a
higher inductance coil than if layers of wire sit exactly on top of the wires in the layer below). Some of each happens in every coil.
The 8.49 mH coil had 13 layers but I removed half of the last layer to get the inductance down from 9.58 to 8.49 mH. I removed the
wire foot by foot and checked the inductance continually. It was surprising how much the inductance changed with the removal of
just a few wraps of wire.
 Coil Winding Device
There are many good ways to wrap insulated solid copper wire tightly
enough to make a good coil. I wrapped 50+ coils in seven months with the
device I made and of course the last 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”) birch plywood. A series of pictures
illustrating the making of the winding device is on the next slides.

The first step was to use a compass to draw a 6” diameter circle on the birch
plywood. A 9” diameter circle was drawn using the same center point as for
the 6” circle. This resulted in two concentric circles. I drew a line across the
largest circle and through the center point and then drew lines 15 degrees
apart (I used a plastic protractor) from the center of both circles out to the 6”
circle. Thirty 3/8” holes would be drilled at these15 degree intervals along
the inside of the 6” 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 3/8” holes results in two identical pieces.
I used a band saw to cut out the circles (you cut on the outside of the line of
the 9” circle).

These are 15 degree spaces on the 6”

circle. A 3/8” hole will be drilled inside
the 6 inch circle at the end of each line. The
drilled holes will all be inside the 6” circle
and not cross over into the space between
the
6” and 9” circles. The center of each
3/8” hole should be on the lines pointed to by
the blue arrow.
These are 8 areas where slots will be cut to hold the cable ties that
will eventually hold the wire coil together. It’s a nice way to have the
ties held in place while winding wire. The birch plywood is stained
because it was a shelf from a large TV cabinet I made. I got a larger
TV and didn’t need the cabinet any more.
 The holes are completely inside the 6” 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.
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.
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.
• e
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” 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.
Drill a 5/8 inch hole for a dowel
or iron rod so the winding spool
can easily turn.
I highly recommend oak 3/8” dowel rods (from
Home Depot). The 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” long. This length allows them to
be firmly in each disk and to have 2” of space
between disks for winding a 2” wide wire coil. If
you want to wind wider coils – make the dowels
respectively longer.
 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 sits 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
All of the dowels are inserted into the holes and
second disk and just slowly work your way around the perimeter. You
are flush with the other side of this disk
will have to use your fingers to force some dowels into alignment. Don’t
hammer on the outer rim – it might break – hammer inside of the ring of
the dowel holes
 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” wide for a 2” wide wire coil.

A length of ½” steel rod makes a good axle but a

Since I wanted to wind a 1 3/8” wide coil, I placed 4 wood
blocks exactly 1 3/8” 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.
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 ½” so the wire coil
will be 1 ½” thick.
grooves for the cable ties

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”
cable ties because 8” ties are not
long enough to pull tight easily.
2 ½”
10”
7 ¼“
Clamp to hold
wire roll holder
The coil winding spool. I This the roll of wire that
used 3” long screws will be wound onto the winding
through the 2x4 bottom of spool to make the wire coil.
each wire roll stand and into
the end of the 2x4 upright
pieces. This is simply a
U-shaped structure.

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 - the start of
Cable ties in grooves a good coil is based on having
tight layers and rows.
Once you start to wind a coil you can’t 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
The wire is wound inch by inch with constant tension
with the fingers to keep the wraps tight. There is nothing The coil is finished. Now the cable ties can be tightened.
fast about this part. Try not to impart bends in the wire by You can cut the wire off leaving about 10” remaining.
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. I used a small wood block to push the wire
down into the space created.
 Use an oak dowel and a rubber hammer to drive the
dowels one by one through the top plywood disk. Sand
Push the socket end of the cable tie down into the groove in the
or file this dowel (at least the first 1 ½” or so) so it
wood disk so about ½” of the tie sticks up above the wire.
doesn’t stick in the hole
Put the tongue end into the socket and pull to the left so the cable
is tight. Don’t 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.
Hang the edge of the spool over
the edge of a work table or other solid
surface and hammer the dowels through All of the dowels are now through the
the top disk Once about 10 of the dowels top plywood disk.
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.
The work is almost finished. It
took 45 minutes to wrap this
coil. After making 50 coils I can
wrap the wire for a coil in 11
minutes.
Pry the coil off of the dowels with your fingers. If you
can’t budge the wire coil you will need to hammer some
dowels (hammer them to the left in this picture) so they
clear the coil for removal.
This is a fairly low inductance coil. It is 1 3/8”
wide and 1 ½” thick.

The inductance is 4.39 micro henries (4.39mh) and

will be used for frequencies over 2000 Hz.
 Adding wire to a coil

Let’s assume that you finished wrapping a coil and have cut the wire coming
from the original roll of wire. Upon using your multimeter you find that the
inductance of the coil is 5.6 mh and you were expecting a value closer to 7.6 mh.
What to do is a question you will ask to no one in particular as you worry about
having to buy another roll of wire.

The next pictures show a simple jig you can make in a few minutes that will
allow you to splice the wire back onto the coil and continue wrapping to get a
thicker coil and therefore a higher inductance coil.
This jig is very simple. Start with a block of wood and screw two strips of wood to the block.
The gap between the strips should be about 1 ½”. You should pre drill the screw holes so you
don’t split the strips. The strips should be at least ½” thick. Cut two more identical strips and
clamp one to each strip and drill holes through both strips. Put arrows on the top strip to
show the orientation when both were drilled so you can reattach them. It helps to have A and B
or 1 and 2 on the top strips also. Cut a groove across the top strips that is wide enough
for 12 gauge wire but not as deep as the wire is thick so the wire can be clamped and held
down when you screw the strips together.
Its difficult to see in this picture but the end of the wire has been cut
The second wire has been angled and screwed down
at less than a 45 degree angle (cut the wire at a very shallow angle,
by its wood strip holder. Use needle nosed pliers to form
placed in the groove and the wood strip has been screwed to the strip
the joint so it is as smooth a transition as possible.
below to hold the wire in place.
Be sure to slip a piece of heat shrink tubing onto one of the
The wire stripper/cutter tool is ideal for cutting this angle. Regular
wires before placing them in the jig.
wire cutters can’t cut as nice an angle since they are designed
for just cross cutting.

The wire shown is the end of the coil wire that needs to be extended.
Use about a 3” length of a strand of stranded copper wire and tightly wrap the
strand around the splice. You can see how small the bump is where the two wires
meet. A large lump here would make your coil have a lump.
Here is the soldered joint. It is very strong and will
allow you to continue to wrap a thicker coil. Here the wires are out of the clamp.

Shown is a piece of heat shrink tubing that is long enough to

overlap the wire insulation on both sides. The last step is to
carefully heat the tubing with a propane torch, a candle, or
a lighter so it shrinks around your solder joint. Don’t over do
it since you certainly don’t want to melt the wire insulation. If
you forget the heat shrink tubing you will have to cut the joint
off and start over.
 Soldering banana plugs to the coil’s 15 ft. speaker wire

Since the flanged ends of the banana plugs are delicate

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.
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.
Heat the end of the banana plug with the soldering
It is easy to forget to put the red or black
iron. Hold the roll in the other hand and insert the end
plastic pieces onto the wire before soldering.
of the solder into the hole carefully so it melts and
Once the metal plug is soldered to the wire, the
almost fills the hole. While the solder is molten insert
plastic insulator cannot be put on the wire. When
the end of one of speaker wires (strip about 3/8”
the metal plugs cool, turn the plastic insulator onto the
of the insulation) into the hole and hold there until
threaded plugs. The other ends of the speaker wires
the solder hardens (about 10 seconds).
are connected to the two wires on the coil. It doesn’t
matter which of the coil wires are attached to the
red or black banana plugs, in fact you don’t need red
black plug covers at all since any color will work fine.
 Measuring your coil’s 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, having the same
meter measure inductance is very handy. The meter will
have an H and mH on the dial for Inductance (measured in
Henries
• If you already have a True RMS multimeter you can measure your coil’s
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 coil’s 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
set of 5 resistors – set dial to V~ for alternating current.
• Turn on the amplifier and turn the 2 gain dials until the yellow lights come on
• Turn the large dial (clockwise or counterclockwise) on the signal generator
to change the frequency up or down 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 milliHenries – You can
now use the Excel freq 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

You can use the following formula to calculate the capacitance you need for
each frequency you want to generate if you choose to do the calculations
manually.

Capacitance = 25330/Freq2 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 “freq cap calculator” given on the CD.
 Multimeter
A well built meter 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 produce many
other meters for lower prices, I chose to get one that also measures
inductance and because I like to buy tools. Meters are constantly discontinued
and relabeled so don’t get locked into buying a particular model.

I recommend searching online for best prices and free shipping. Goggle
removed the Froogle option but you can still sort items by price. Do a search
by model number and click the hypertext “Products” or “Shopping” at the top
left of the page. Click in the menu bar “by lowest price” and you will see
what is available. Sometimes searching like this is not absolute. I have
searched for an item with a opened catalog next to me and searches many
times don’t include the company whose catalog I have or their price.
One of the basic differences between expensive and the lowest cost
multimeters is that the ranges of things like voltage will be limited in the
cheapest meters. For example the range of voltage may be half as large on
a low cost meter. The number of functions that you can measure is larger
on the more expensive models also. Measuring inductance is great if you
build coils but the price of a meter that measures inductance just one time is
probably not necessary.
Shown is an example of meter at http://elexp.com/tst_205e.htm. There are
literally hundreds of meters that you can buy.
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 The black test wire plugs in here
measure the inductance
if your coil – note the H
For Henries.

The red test wire is plugged in here when

measuring voltage
 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 2 to 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. The cost
of this amplifier represents about 36% of the total cost to build a DCM
 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
barrier strip (screws)
plugs into the binding post.
The red wire from the signal generator cable is attached to
to the top screw, the black wire from the signal generator
cable is attached to the 2nd screw and a wire loop must be used Run 12 gauge wire from here to the first
This is a bank of small to connect the 2nd and 3rd screws together. This mean that the set of 5 resistors
slider switches. Slide all 2nd screw down has two wires connected to it.
to the OFF position (left) .
except for the 2 switches
Run wire from here to the second set
labeled “parallel input
of 5 resistors (the side closest to the
#4 and #5 to the ON
amplifier). You can screw the plastic
position (right).
insulator out and fit 2 – 12 gauge wires
in the hole in the shaft (note that the top
black terminal will have 2 wires connected
to it. The 2 red and other black terminals
only have one wire connected there.
The input from a signal generator to the QSC185HD cannot be greater than
1.16 volts RMS (Root Mean Squared) or 3.34 volts peak to peak according
to the manual. If you use a signal generator other than the Instek SFG 2004
model be sure that the lowest output is as low as possible. The Instek 2004
lowest output is .1Hz which means that the lowest voltage output is also
very low. A better situation would be to have the lowest output be 0Hz
which would mean that the lowest voltage output is also zero.

RMS means that the entire sine wave is sampled and can be measured by
True RMS multimeters. You can usually choose the voltage output of your
signal generator - it can vary from some minimum value to as much as10v
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. You cannot choose the minimum voltage output of your signal
generator.
 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
 The toggle switches I used for this tutorial were purchased from Action
Electronics.
http://www.action-lectronics.com/switches.htm?zoom_highlight=toggle+switches#Standard

I used the heavy duty 20 amp switch # 30-305 for this project but used #30-310
for my first DCM. I recommend the #30-310 or the switch listed below which is
the lowest cost switch I found online.
http://www.alliedelec.com/Catalog/Indices/MfrLandingPage.asp?N=4294931389&Supplier=Carling_Technologies&sid=46C788005FB8E17F
The part number is 683-0049. This is the same company where I purchased the capacitors.
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.
Since my DCM structure is a cart, this panel will be secured on the second shelf of the cart.

An alternative to the cart is shown in the last section of the tutorial – a frame and panel cabinet.
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 plugs on the left are
the binding posts 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 ends
of the speaker wires 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. The switches and
binding posts are designed for panels up to
¼” in thickness or thinner.
 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
(1/1,000,000th of 1 farad). The DCM uses 15 capacitor combinations of
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 store and release electric charge which
produces the alternating magnetic field in the coil. The capacitor voltage is
180 degrees out of phase with the voltage output of the amplifier and when
these voltages are equal you have achieved resonance in the coil. This
means that the two voltages cancel each other out which produces the
magnetic field and resistance which results in the heating of the coil.
A 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 calculate capacitance 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 frequencies, you will need to calculate capacitance values.
• 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 3
capacitors each of 3μf capacitance in series – the total capacitance is:
• Total Cap. = (1/3 + 1/3 + 1/3) = 3/3 or 1 μf The toggle switch connected to
this series of capacitors should be labeled 1μf.
• 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 by turning
capacitors on, just those between approximately 230 Hz +/- and 2000 Hz
+/-. The +/- means that your coil’s inductance will determine how far above
2000 and below 230 you will attain.
• 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 mh coil, but what if you only
had 5 capacitors connected to 5 switches with capacitance values of 16, 8,
4, 2, and .1 μf. 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 your DCM
you’ll find that the capacitance list is very adequate.
So to answer the question again – you
need a variety of capacitances so their
values cover the range of the ones you • 30 μf B
• 16 μf C
need for your required frequencies. The • 8 μf D
list on the right is very adequate for a • 4 μf E
• 2 μf F
DCM. • 1 μf G
• .5 μf H
• .25 μf I
For example: Examine this list of the • .122 μf J
capacitances used in this tutorial for the • .062 μf K
• .033 μf L
building of a coil machine. If you choose • .015 μf M
• .010 μf N
a frequency that required a capacitance • .007 μf O
of 2.662 μf you would have to turn on the • .005 μf P

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.
.
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 get a
total of 62uf. A frequency requiring a greater capacitance than 62uf cannot be
done by using the switches. Instead you can use the A switch alone for any
Frequency lower than about 230Hz that requires a capacitance higher than
62uf.

This is the binding post

where you plug in the coil

switches A - H

switches I - P
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
 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. When it is
turned on all the other capacitors are inactive. 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
spacing 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 box or cabinet structure that could
hold the capacitor panels. The most important feature is that the switches
must be mounted on a ¼” thick panel so they can be wired to the
capacitors. 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.
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
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
 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 Lowe’s).
You could eliminate these bases by simply drilling holes in the plywood
panels and using cable ties to hold the capacitors in place.
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 if children have access to the cart.

The only items that gets warm are the two sets of resistors. None of the
capacitors have gotten warm with use of the coil machine.
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.
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

The list given on the next page shows the capacitors that will be connected to each toggle switch . I recommend
that you do not dump all the capacitors out of their bags when the box arrives. Each bag is labeled with the part #
and each capacitor is labeled with the capacitance but not the part #. I found it much easier to search through the
bags for the part number – then remove that capacitor, search any others that belong in that connection – connect
the capacitors, mount them to the shelf, panel, or whatever you are using and then go to the next array. The
majority of the switches have only one capacitor in the circuit so the term “array” may not strictly apply as
commonly used.
Switch Capacitance Quantity/connection Allied Elec. Part

no capacitors used for this

A none switch
B 30 μf 1 / one capacitor used 225-5010
C 16 μf 2 / 8 μf in parallel 591-7045
D 8 μf 1 / one capacitor used 591-7045
E 4 μf 1 / one capacitor used 591-7025
F 2 μf 2 / 4 μf in series 591-4205
G 1 μf 3 / 3 μf in series 591-4200
H .5 μf 2 / 1 μf in series 591-6085
I .25 μ 2 / 0.47 in series with 591-6075
1 / 0.015 μf in parallel 591-6150
J .122 μf 1 / 0.1 μf in parallel with 591-6175
1 / 0.022 μf 591-6155
K .062 μf 1 / 0.047 μf in parallel with 591-6165
1 / 0.015 μf 591-6150
L .033 μf 1 / one capacitor used 591-6160
M .015 μf 1 / one capacitor used 591-6150
N .01 μf 1 / one capacitor used 591-6145
O .007 μf 2 / 0.015 μf in series 591-6150
P .005 μf 2 / 0.01 μf in series 591-6145

These capacitors can be ordered

from www.alliedelec.com
 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. An easier way to mount the
capacitors is to drill holes through the panel and use cable ties. If you use a metal mounting panel
you will need to use rubber sheeting to keep the metal capacitors from contacting the metal. Gene
Dillman found considerable stray current in his metal cabinet but solved the problem by insulating the
metal capacitors.
This is the 30 μf capacitor. The dark
strip of wood on the left edge of the
These are two of the cable tie panel is a cap of cherry that hides
mounting bases. They have slots the edge of the plywood when this
for the cable ties to pass through plywood was used as a shelf long ago.
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.
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 shouldn’t 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.
 The 4 μf (PART 591-7025) capacitor for switch E has
On the next page these capacitors will be
been mounted to the panel and above the 8 μf (PART 591-7045)
connected in a parallel circuit
for switch D will follow.

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.
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 capacitors used in a DCM do not have plus and
minus terminals. By connecting the top terminals together
and the bottom terminals together you get a parallel Here is the entire side of the first panel. There is no capacitor
circuit (even if you turned one of the capacitors 180 degrees for switch A. Switch A is used for frequencies that require
and rewired it. Here the panel is lying flat and in the picture capacitances larger than 62μf which is the sum of all capacitors
to the right it is upright on its edge – the way it will be in a DCM.
mounted in the cart.
 They don’t all work out to be this neat but this one makes
These 4 μf (PART 591-4205) capacitors for switch F will
a good picture.
be in a series circuit. It doesn’t matter which ends you
twist together. Hold them as shown. Leave about ¾” 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 doesn’t migrate down toward the
capacitors.
 Decide where you want to place them then attach mounting
Trim the ends but not so much that the twist is loose.
bases and cable ties or drill holes and use cable ties.
All of the twist connections like this must be soldered
This series connection of 2 - 4μf (PART 591-4205) capacitor
For switch G three 3 μf (PART 591-4200) capacitors will be
will be connected to switch F
connected in a series circuit
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 another way to keep yourself organized

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.
series
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 which results in a
parallel connection I used pliers to twist these connections
since the available wire for the parallel connection is limited
in length.
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.

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. Don’t twist the wire so
much that the capacitors get close together.
F H
I
G
J K
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.
We are now working on the second panel (the third side for This is another single capacitor for switch M. It is a .015 μf
capacitors). This side will contain the remaining capacitors (PART 591-6150) capacitor.
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.
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
Switch P connects to this series of two
located to the right. Both panels will be mounted in a
.01 μf (PART 591-6145) capacitors.
perpendicular direction to the back of the switch panel
 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 of a capacitor. Ventilation is a good idea because the flux in the hollow core of the solder wire vaporizes
when you melt the solder. Vaporized flux damages the eyes and lungs. Once the soldering tip is hot, touch the wires
to be soldered and melt some solder on the tip of the soldering iron. The solder flows by capillary action so to ensure
that it seals the connection, heat just long enough until you see the solder appear to sink into the joint.

The soldering iron tip is under the twisted wire to be soldered.

The idea is to get the solder melted and onto the twisted wire
quickly. Heating too long can ruin components like capacitors.

This is a strip of solder

coming directly from a
1 lb. spool.
 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.

A wire is soldered to one end of each capacitor array and then
goes to the bottom spade terminal of the respective switch. In the
case of the large metal jacketed capacitors with spade terminals,
a spade connector is crimped to each end of the wire so no soldering
is necessary. The switches shown have 3 male spade connectors.
Switches with just 2 are easier to use since you don’t have to figure
which one is not used.
Here a spade connector is pushed onto one of the two
terminals of the 30 μf capacitor for switch B. Each of the
2 terminals has 4 spade connecting spots. You can choose
any of the spade ends but when we connect all the capacitors
together later you must use the other terminal to connect a wire to.
The grey wire shown goes to switch B so the upper terminal with
4 spade ends is the one we must use later. After all of the capacitor
arrays are connected to switches the wire on the other side of each
capacitor array are all connected together and will go to the
binding post where the coil plugs in.
The 30 μf capacitor is connected to the bottom
spade end of switch B.
You can choose any of the 4 terminals on these parallel capacitors
to connect to the switch. I chose the one on the lower capacitor and
the terminal back toward the panel. The grey wire is going to switch C.
When we connect all the capacitors together later, the terminal away
from the panel (on either capacitor must be used).
This wire from capacitor array C is connected to switch C. Connecting capacitor arrays that don’t have spade terminals
requires soldering directly to the capacitor wire. An easy way
to do this is to use about 3” of a strand of stranded wire and
wrap the copper wire going to the switch and the capacitor
wire together. Its easy to solder the connection this way.
Another way to make this connection is to wrap the capacitor
wire around the thicker 12 gauge solid wire and then solder
the connection
Capacitor array F is connected to switch F. You can connect
all the other capacitor arrays to their respective switches but I
recommend that you first do the operations on the next few
pages. The reason is that finishing the capacitor to switch
part is easy – just push the spade connectors onto the lowest
terminal of each switch. The next steps require a lot of finger
room and will prove to be easier if all the switch wires were not
in the way.
To avoid photographs that were mostly masses of wires
and clumsy to work around. I do not have the switches and
capacitor arrays connected to their switches in the next several
pages. The next step is to cut 31 four inch long pieces of
stranded 12 gauge wire. Strip 3/8” of the insulation off one end
of 16 of the pieces and crimp a spade connector to that end.
Strip about 5/8” of the insulation from the other end of the 16
wires. Attach the spade connectors to the middle terminal on
the back of each switch. Spread the strands into a fan to make
the next step easier. The top-most terminal on each switch
is not used.
There is an alternative method for this wiring shown in the last
section of this tutorial.
Take the remaining 4” sections of stranded wire and
strip 5/8” on insulation off of both ends. Spread the strands
into fans as shown above.

Take 2 of the wires you just stripped and fanned

and place them with the 4” piece of fanned wire
connected to switch H (top left on the back of the switch
panel). You will be twisting three pieces of wire together with
your fingers. The fan shape make twisting easier.
Here two of the pieces of wire and the wire attached to switch H
are twisted together. Don’t use pliers to twist since many of the fine
strands may be broken. It is sufficient to use your fingers. Use an
alligator clip or two to hold the three wires in place for soldering.
The connection has been soldered. When the solder cools
use a red wire nut to cap the connection. The stranded wire
that is almost vertical in this picture will be twisted with the
wire immediately behind it and another loose piece of wire.
What we are doing here is using the loose pieces of wire to
“jump” from one switch to the next. In the end all switches
will be connected together.
The piece of wire pointing to the left coming from the soldered
connection will be twisted with the wire below it and a loose piece
of wire.
Keep connecting the set of wires until you get to switch A.
This photo shows the detail of switch H. Notice that the wire
There are just two wires to twist and solder for this switch.
nut has two “jumpers” which allow you to continue across the
All of the twisted connections should be soldered and
top row of switches to the right to switch A and down to the
capped with wire nuts.
bottom row of switches to the right to switch I. When you get
to switch I do not solder until you see the next page.
When you get to switch I add in about 9” of stranded wire
(I used black so you can see it in the picture. This black wire
will be connected to both set of resistors
switch I
Notice the grey wires that are soldered to the bare copper wire
that connects a set of resistors. The grey wires go to the left and
are attached to the black wire. The black wire goes behind the
wood panel to the wire nut that leads to switch I as shown in the
picture to the left. The above resistor panel is not in the picture to
the left – it was added to show how the resistors connect to the
switches.
Building the resistors sets is discussed in the resistors section.
The grey wires coming from the left side of both
resistor sets go to the black wire and then to the
wire nut at switch I.
The other two grey wires go to the right and
go the back of the amplifier. Notice they are
soldered onto the bare copper wires
connecting the right sides of the resistor sets.
 Connecting all of the capacitor arrays

Notice how grey wires go from a terminal on a capacitor

to the switches. Also notice that grey wires now attached
to the other terminal go back toward the left. The wires will
be connected together and with “jumpers” will be connected to
all of the other capacitors.
Here are the rest of the capacitors on this panel showing the grey wires going to the left.
The top two capacitors labeled C are actually identical in size. The photo was taken at
an angle which suggests that the top capacitor is larger. Notice that the wire going to switch C
is connected to a different terminal than the wire going to the left. Both of these wires could
have been attached respectively to the other C capacitor at the top.
A large blue wire nut secures all of the capacitor wires. Notice that a “jumper” wire
goes to the left and through a hole to connect the other capacitors on the other panels.
An extra wire is joined to the blue wire nut and goes to the binding post where it will be soldered.
The wire insulation on the end of this wire is stripped so the bare end can be wrapped with a strand
of copper wire and secured to the post for soldering.
Grey wires were soldered to the ends of the capacitor arrays and twisted with
electrician’s pliers and will be soldered. The wire to the lower left is a “jumper” that will
connect with a group of capacitors mounted on the panel to the right. Again notice
that the wire on the other side of the capacitors will be connected to their respective
switches but are not yet connected in this picture

This picture shows the 3rd panel of capacitor arrays – the other side of this panel
is where the resistors are attached.
There are too many capacitor arrays on these two panels to twist all the wires together so I made
three bundles of wires connected by “jumper” wires. The arrow points to the “jumper” that is
already connected with the wire nut to all the capacitor arrays on the panel to the left. The next
page shows the 3 bundles.
• The

There are 3 jumper” wires in this picture. The wire bundles with grey wire nuts were
composed of fewer wires so required a smaller wire nut. See an alternative way of
connecting the capacitors together at the end of the tutorial on the “New and
Alternate Ideas Section.
The unseen side of this panel
has all of the metal jacketed
capacitors on it. The blue wire
nut connects all of those capacitors
together.
This is the wire nut connecting all the metal jacketed capacitors – the “jumper” wire
connects this panel of capacitors to all the other capacitors.
 Resistors
There are 10 resistors in a DCM. They are connected in two groups
of five resistors each. The wires coming out of a resistor are not quite
long enough to twist all five resistors together and still have
space for cooling around each one so I mounted each one on a cable
tie mounting base.
After 5 resistors are mounted and strapped down, strip a
The resistors on the left have been connected to each
length of solid 12 gauge wire of insulation and wrap about
other on both sides. Mount the remaining 5 resistors
½’ of each resistor wire around the solid copper wire. Do
on mounting bases and connect them together also.
the same thing on the other side of the resistors. Each
resistor could easily be held in place by drilling holes and
using just cable ties.

Here are the 2 sets of resistors. The resistor wire-
copper wire connections should now be soldered.
Choose the side of the resistor sets that is closest to the back
of your QSC1850HD amplifier. Two solid copper wires must be
connected to teach resistor set and one must go to the Channel 1
Minus output terminal and one must go to the Channel 2 minus
output terminal on the back of the amplifier. Since my DCM is
completely contained on a cart, I had to drill a hole in the shelf that
holds the capacitor arrays and resistors to allow these wires to pass
down to the first and lowest shelf to the amplifier.
The two copper wires are hard to hold in place while soldering
since you will have a roll of solder in one hand and the soldering
iron in the other. Use one thin strand of wire to wrap the two
together and then solder the joint and all the copper wire-resistor joints.
It doesn’t matter which set of resistors is connected to the
amplifier Channel 1 minus output terminal. Connect the other
set of resistors to the Channel 2 minus output terminal.
Here are two copper wires that lead to the amplifier channel 1 an 2
minus output terminals.

The wiring for the other side of the resistors is discussed in the
section on Capacitors.
One set of resistors should be connected to Channel 1 output.
The other set of resistors should be connected to Channel 2 output.
 Wave/Signal Generator
Many people wonder how a DCM can pulse a magnetic field at a given
frequency. It’s easy – you choose!

A DCM has as an integral part, a wave generator but you must purchase a
wave generator that produces low frequencies. – in the Hz range (for waves
such as 306 Hz, 432 Hz, 625 Hz, 2112 Hz). A short online survey of wave
generators will quickly show you that most produce waves in the mega Hertz
(MHz) millions of waves/second and many produce Giga Hertz (billions of
waves/second) frequencies. A wave generator such as these will not be
compatible with a DCM. You must have a wave (sometimes called a signal or
audio) generator that emits very low frequency waves - as low as you
can go toward zero waves per second. The Instek SFG-2004 generator
produces waves down to .1 Hz (waves per second).
 This is a BNC
jack – the cable
supplied with the
generator has a BNC
connector on one end
And alligator clips on the
red and black wires
that split from the main
cable. You can
change the clips to
fork connectors that
fit under the screws on
the back of the amplifier
if you choose

This is the Instek SFG 2004 signal Generator..

 Coil Stand
• I designed a coil stand that holds the
coil off the back of the stand about ¾
inches for better cooling. There are
four short 1 ¼” long dowel pieces
glued in ½” deep holes. Each of these
pieces has a ¼” hole drilled through it
so the coil can be strapped down to
these support pillars with 4 cable ties.
The weight of the coil is further
supported on 3 dowels that are 3 ½”
long and glued into ½” deep holes (so
3” of each dowel sticks out of the back
of the stand. This dowel length will
accommodate coils that are as wide as
2 ½”, which is wider than the vast
majority of coils used in coil machines.
The coil shown is an 8.51 mh coil. The
stand is made of red oak. The base is
1 1/8” thick and the tilted back is 7/8”
thick. The angle between the back
and the base is 14 degrees.
 Cutout for handle allows coil to be moved
but not abraded by constant handling. Cutout
was made by drilling overlapping 1” holes
with a Forstner bit with a drill press.

The cable tie goes through the pillar and
around the coil – there are 4 pillars holding
the coil off the back
The coil rests on three 1 inch diameter
dowels in addition to being strapped to
4 pillar supports with 4 cable ties. The two
bottom dowels are really the only ones needed
for support.
 Top support pillar

Bottom support pillars

The top right shows that two pieces of red oak have been
glued together to make a wider piece for a coil stand base.
The dried glue is shown along the glue joint. I use polyurethane
glue exclusively. The wood must be slightly dampened to
The slanted blades shown (an adjustable dado cutter)
activate the glue but when it cures in a day its very strong.
consists of two blades that rotate around a wedge that
tilts one blade so grooves (dadoes) of various widths
can be – up to 7/8”. The saw is tilted 14 degrees
to give the tilted dado. This helps to move the center of
gravity of the 9 lb. coil backwards and stabilizes
the stand
A spindle sander is great for cleaning up the insides of cutouts.
I drilled 1” diameter overlapping holes to make the cutout.

This is the vertical part that holds the coil. Here it is

being planed so it fits into the slanted dado groove
The 3” radius curves have been cut of a bandsaw for the edges. I could do without the sanding part but there are
The piece on the right is the base and the piece on the parts for 3 coil stands here and they all need a
left is the upright lot of sanding.
 The 4 dowel pillars have a 1/4” hole drilled so a cable tie
can be put through the hole and around the wire coil. This
straps the wire coil to the coil stand. Be sure to drill the hole
before the pillar is glued in its hole and be sure to turn the pillar
in such a way that the cable tie will go through the hole and
The 4 one inch circles will be drilled 1/2” deep
around the wire coil without twisting.
with a 1” diameter Forstner bit. One inch diameter
and 1” long dowel pillars will be glued in these
holes for the wire coil to sit on.
The other 3 one inch holes are for longer dowels to support All dowels are glued in place.
The weight of the wire coil. The coil for this stand is
1 ¾” thick and the holes are 3/8” deep so the dowel
supports end up about 2 3/8” long (they are slightly longer
than the coil is thick).

The wire coil is strapped to the 4 short pillars with
cable ties and the wire coil sits on the 3 longer dowels.
Three glued stands. They will dry overnight.
The cured glue usually squeezes out and must scraped
off with a sharp wood chisel. I use one coat of a tung
Oil..

A more universal stand would be to eliminate the long upper-

most dowel. Coils of different sizes could then just sit on the
two lower large dowels.
After removing any glue (with a narrow, sharp chisel) that
squeezes out around the dowels, the stand is sanded and
Here the cable tie has been pulled tight and
coated with tung oi lfinish. I let it dry for a day and then
the end has been trimmed.
mount the coil with cable ties that pass through the short
dowels and around the coil.
This is one of the 15’ long speaker wires that will attach
to the coil on one end and to a banana plug on the other end.
It has been stripped of its Insulation (about 1/2”) and twisted
around one of the solid copper wires of the coil. An alligator
clip is very handy for holding the two wires while they
are soldered.
The connection has been soldered. Cut off any
of the stranded wires that stick out and trim the
length of the solid wire if it sticks out. Use a wire nut
to insulate the connection.
This is a finished coil stand with an 8.51 mh inductance coil. The coil’s dimensions
are 2” wide and 1 ½ inches thick. This section on building a coil stand is not intended
to show the best way to support a coil. The intent is to generate ideas when one way of
supporting a coil is shown. This design however is especially nice to hold in your lap
while sitting.
 Connecting the speaker wire to the banana plugs

Unscrew the plastic insulator from the plug. A
small adapter (not shown) was screwed into
this plug in case the user wanted to solder
very thin wire Into the plug – just discard this
part. These plugs were purchased from
http://www.elexp.com but many suppliers have
Them.
I used regular pliers to hold the banana plug. To hold the pliers
in a closed position without squashing the tip portion of the banana
plug, I used masking tape on the handles. Strip about 3/8” of the
clear insulation off the ends of both wires and be sure to put the
red and black insulators onto the wires before soldering.
Hold the flat bladed tip of the soldering iron against the
threaded end of the banana plug. It will be hot enough
to melt solder in about 30 seconds. Put the end of the
solder into the hollow end of the plug and almost fill it The color of the insulated plastic barrel has
with molten solder. Put the soldering iron down and nothing to do with the color of the wire in the
quickly pick up the end of the speaker wire and insert above picture. The other end of the speaker
the well twisted stranded wire end into the molten solder. wires will be connected to the two wires on
Hold it there for a few seconds until it is secure. If you fill the coil – do it wrong and there will be a huge
the end of the plug with too much molten solder, it will run explosion – just kidding – just connect them.
out and into the threads of the plug. You might have to file
the threads off if the solder is too thick. Taper the end of the
plug with a fine file so the plastic insulator can be twisted on
without stripping the threads inside. It’s a lot easier to not
fill the hole with too much solder.
 Doug Coil Machine on a Cart
I designed a cart for my DCM so all components could be in one place and also
be portable. Since the QSC1850HD amplifier is the largest part and heaviest
(50 lbs.), the cart’s dimensions are based on it alone. The lowest shelf holds
the amplifier, the second shelf contains all of the capacitors, resistors, and
wiring to the switches. The top shelf holds the coil stand, the multimeter, the
signal generator, a stop watch, and a printout of the frequencies and switches.
The next pages will show the cart but not all the woodworking details. The
legs and shelf supports (stretchers because they hold the legs in place)
are all made of red oak. The shelves are ¾” oak-veneered plywood. The
wheels are 2 ½” diameter rubber swivel wheels (Home Depot). I am presently
designing a model that will eliminate the cart. The electronics will be in a frame
and panel red oak cabinet that will fit exactly on top of the amplifier and will
itself be about 7 or so inches high.
 The 16 switches are here The binding post is here
The bundle of wires
goes through a hole in
the top shelf to the
signal generator and the
multimeter
The 2 white wires go
The side panels have cutout
to a signal generator
hand-holds. I
+ and – output terminals,
they come through the
The cart seemed like a great
hole leading down to the
idea because it is mobile but
amplifier
it turned out to be in the way
most of the time. The last
The two sets of
section of this tutorial has some
resistors are here
details of an oak cabinet that has
the same footprint as the
amplifier.
One of the black wires is
the power cord for the
signal generator on the
top shelf.

The other black wire and

the red wire are the test
leads from the multi-
meter located on the top
shelf. The red and black
alligator clips are shown This is the cart with the top shelf removed so you can see the electronics shelf. This
attached to a set of is the first DCM I built and is not the one photographed for this tutorial but is virtually
resistors. identical. You can easily see the three panels of capacitors. If you go through the
tutorial a few times you will recognize everything that is here.
Each vertical plywood panel is held upright by twos ¾” x ¾” X 19” wood strip on each side of the
bottom of the panel. They are just screwed to the shelf. An additional screw or two could be
placed horizontally to the shelf through the wood strips and into the panels. The vertical panels
are not attached to anything at their tops
 New and Alternate Ideas Section
1. The twisting of capacitor wires together with wire nuts is messy looking. It
certainly works but here is an idea for a neater look. Radio Shack (and
many others) sells terminal blocks. You will need 3 if you have 2 upright
panels containing capacitors and resistors but just 2 if you have all of your
capacitors on one surface (shelf). The screws across from each other on a
terminal block are connected electrically but not to any of the other screws.
Here is a way to make all the screws have continuity.

The jaws of wire stripping pliers have grooves on the jaws that grip very
well. Strip about 2” of the insulation from some 12 gauge wire. Use the
pliers to grip the wire about 1/8” from its end. Turn the pliers to bend the
wire into a small loop. When you have a 180 degree bend use the pliers to
squeeze the bend into a tight U-shape. Make sure the ends of the U are
just far enough apart to fit between 2 adjacent screws on the terminal block.
You may have to adjust the shape of the U with the pliers. If your terminal
block has 8 sets of screws you will need 7 U-shaped bends of wire. The
pictures on the next page illustrate this idea.
This is a terminal block. Each set of 2 screws between the black dividers are
connected together with a metal plate beneath the screws. To get all the screws
connected together you need to use jumpers or bridges.

Here a loop of wire was formed with

the stripping pliers and then the loop
of wire was squeezed into U-shape.
Every screw on the top row can have 2 wires attached to it (on its left and right sides).
Notice the two end screws on the bottom row – 1 more wire can be attached on each
side of the terminal block for a total of 18 wires. The black plastic is a good insulator
so the block can be screwed down to a mounting surface.
The 4 wire nuts in this picture connect the wires from 15 capacitor arrays and 3 jumper wires to
connect the capacitor arrays together - it makes for a busy look. Three terminal blocks (one for
each capacitor panel) would be mounted on the panels and each of the wires going to the wire nuts
would instead go to the terminal blocks. Only 2 jumper wires would still be required to get from panel
to panel. If all capacitors and resistors were mounted on one flat surface – only 1 terminal block would be
needed. The 8 screws could each accommodate 2 wires from capacitor arrays plus the ends of the block
containing the copper loops has 2 spots for 2 additional wires. There are actually 18 places wires can
attach.
2. Most people do not have complete wood shops for cabinet making. Here is
an idea for a simple structure but not in (because the electronics are
exposed) a household with children or pets unless you could restrict access
to the coil machine when it is in use. To look balanced, the base of this
structure should be same size (or less) as the length and width of the QSC
1850HD amplifier since it would sit on top of the amplifier. Short feet, chair
feet protector buttons, or small blocks of wood could be attached to the base
to allow for air circulation above the amplifier.

The ¼” thick panel should not be thicker switches and

because the switches would not be long binding post
enough to secure the threaded collar go here
to tighten them onto the panel.
capacitors and
resistors

This base sits on

A few screws will hold the amplifier
the panel to the base.
3. Another idea is to eliminate the extra wiring with jumpers and wire
nuts to connect the switches together. A simple solution would be
to use #30-305 switches (the switches used in the tutorial #30-310
could be used as well) which have 2 terminals and on/off switch
action. On pages 82-85 a wiring method is shown to connect all the
switches to each other with the red stranded wire. All of this could be
eliminated by mounting one terminal block on the back of the switch
panel (and use copper U-shaped jumpers to connect all the screws on
the 2 row, 16 screw terminal block together) . Use a length of solid 12
gauge wire with a spade connector on its end to connect to the bottom
terminal of the switch. The other end of this wire would be connected
under one side of a screw of the terminal block. Do this operation with
every switch so that 16 switch wires would go to the terminal block. Two
additional wires would have to come out of the terminal block and go to
the two resistor sets to connect them into the system.
A much more compact DCM than a cart model is the frame and panel cabinet
model. The cabinet sits on top of the amplifier so the footprint is as small as
possible. The main disadvantage is that the space inside the cabinet for
capacitors and wiring is much more limited so the capacitor and resistor layout
is more important since space cannot be wasted. I decided to place the
resistors on a small vertical panel.

vertical resistor panel terminal blocks instead of

twisting wires and wire nuts
This is the back of the switch panel (switches are #30-310 – see the Word document
“Coil Machine Parts List” on the CD for the source for the switches - with 3 spade terminals).
If you would mount a terminal block above the switches you could simply attach a wire
to a switch’s middle spade terminal and attach the other end of the wire to the terminal
block. To do this with all switches would connect all of them electrically. Switch #30-305 only has
2 terminals so you would connect the wire from the correct capacitor array to the bottom spade
terminal. The wire going to the terminal block would attach to the switch’s other terminal. A
terminal block in this situation would save a lot time (no twisting of wires and no soldering).

Since the switch panel is 1/4” plywood you cannot attach the terminal block with screws.
One way around this problem is to glue a strip of wood about the width of a terminal block
but about 1/2” longer onto the panel. You will need to clamp the wood strip and let the glue dry
overnight. Place the terminal block on the wood strip – mark where the holes are located and drill
small holes in the wood strip and attach the terminal block.
I would be very pleased if anyone who invents an improvement in design or
finds an easier way to do any of the things shown in this tutorial would email
the ideas to me. Especially important would be structures to house the
electronics portion of the Doug Coil Machine, coil stands, wiring improvements
and I will incorporate them into this tutorial either in the main body
or in this section. The idea is to make the construction of this coil machine as
clear and as uncomplicated as possible for anyone to build. Your name will be
attached to your ideas.
 Encouragement Page
That’s all there is. I hope everyone who views this tutorial will do it more than
once because it will become more and more clear as you begin to understand
initial points. Don’t give up and say I can’t do it because you can start and
finish a Doug Coil Machine. Just think for a second that this might be the best
accomplishment, as far as making something is concerned, in your entire life. I
cannot believe that anyone who built a Doug Coil Machine would feel bad
about it afterward – you will not only feel good, but the most important point is
that you will be helping yourself.

If you have questions, I would be most happy to hear what you need to know.
Thanks for your interest, John Stolar

johnstolar1224@yahoo.com