H-1 is a three-field period medium-sized heliac (R0 = 1 m, r = 0.22 m, and B0 = 1 T) nearing completion at the Australian National University, Canberra, and is intended for basic plasma physics studies, including finite beta effects, in toroidal confinement systems. Its design allows a wide range of “current-free” magnetic configurations to be explored for their properties of equilibrium and stability.