| On Nov 3, 8:26 am, Randall <[email protected]> wrote: | ... One thing to consider about neon | tubes of this nature is that ambient light can effect the striking | voltage. I'm not saying this is your problem as you make no reference | to the voltages involved .... Also, a nearby | radioactive source (beta, gamma) can also lower the striking | threshold. (just what else are you working on in your lab ?;-)
Its been in the same spot all that time, so lighting conditions haven't changed. It never had problems striking, either at 350uA or 2mA. In the past it, the count would stall (get stuck - sticky) at the lower current. Now, after 2years-plus (24/7), at 2mA, it finally works at 350uA. 2mA is well past the 600uA "Absolute Maximum" operating spec. A couple of extra notes. The glass is pretty clean. No noticeable silvering ! I just installed that very tube into my one dekatron clock "Time Bucket": http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7z7xo_time-bucket-first-single-dekatron-c_tech The tube that was in there, did silver up pretty bad over the past 5- years plus that it had been operating. Lets see how this reprieved tube holds up. As for a radioactive source, a couple of years ago, Westdave had a medical test just the day before TRW. When he walk by a vendor selling a "Geiger counter", he pegged the needle on the thing. He's the only gamma source that got anywhere close to that tube. Only other radiation sources, are of the EM variety. The biggest being a 4000W CO2 laser about 100ft away. If any of that leaks out, the effects will be a bit more acute. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/neonixie-l?hl=en-GB.
