This paper presents a compact and portable high-voltage generator based on magnetic-core Tesla transformer for driving an UWB high power electromagnetic source. In order to optimize the performance of the high-voltage generator, a novel open-loop cylindrical magnetic-core adopting the quad-division lamination structure is proposed and manufactured. The designed high-voltage generator using the proposed magnetic core has a battery-powered operation and compact size of $280mm{ imes}150mm$ in length and diameter, respectively. The high-voltage generator can produce a voltage pulse waveform with peak amplitude of 450 kV, a rise time of 1.5 ns, and pulse duration of 2.5 ns at the 800 V input voltage.