Re: [neonixie-l] Re: Homemade Purple Nixie Tube

[joshua dejaen]

I have an edwards e2m1 that I bought used for $200 which theoretically can 
reach .38 microns.

Its pumping speed however is slow and my rubber stoppers are not helping. 
My thermocouple gauge burned out unfortunately so I can't measure my 
current vacuum but I would not be 

surprised if I was achieving 5 microns or lower after extended pumping. 

A diffusion pump is not necessary in my opinion for experimenting, but 
probably is needed if you want to make a tube that will last for decades. 

Bombarding is an issue I have not solved, I currently just heat the tube 
with the torch for a while pumping to remove impurities and call it good.

This leaves the electrodes unprocessed however and will lead to a shorter 
life.

Simplifier and myself have both also both made functional Triodes using 
nothing more than a rotary vane pump, and he was able to achieve below 5 
microns with his generic Chinese 

pump.


Here is a link to Simplifier making a helium discharge tube using only a 
cheap rotary vane pump https://simplifier.neocities.org/discharge.html

And his Homepage https://simplifier.neocities.org/index.html

He has a whole list of vacuum and glass related projects and does them in 
the simplest way possible.






On Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 7:03:38 PM UTC-7 gregebert wrote:

> Did you need to use a diffusion pump to get below 10 microns ? Years ago I 
> researched doing neon tubes, but got discouraged by the high-cost of the 
> vacuum equipment and the dangers of bombarding.
>
> On Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 11:32:33 AM UTC-7 Chuck wrote:
>
>> I distinctly remember some of Dalibor's first tubes from mnay years ago 
>> when he first started experimenting.
>>
>> He made one that looked a lot like this one.   Nice Work!
>>
>> Chuck
>>
>>
>>  
>>
>>  Original Message 
>> From: "joshua dejaen" 
>> Sent: 10/24/2021 2:36:14 AM
>> To: "neonixie-l" 
>> Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Re: Homemade Purple Nixie Tube
>>  
>> Thanks for all the comments,  sorry I could not reply sooner.
>>  
>> I have added mercury to glow tubes in the past but I have not wanted to 
>> contaminate my new pump.
>>  
>> I could do it on my old pump but it is not able to pump below 1 torr and 
>> the tube would be left with impurities.
>>  
>> My electrodes consist of copper welded to tungsten with a nickel buffer 
>> and then the tungsten welded to nickel wire that forms the digits inside 
>> the tube.
>>  
>> The tungsten forms the actual seal to the pyrex glass and the copper 
>> provides a nice external lead.
>>  
>> I heat up the tube with the torch while pumping for about a minute and 
>> let it pump under high(ish) vacuum (5-10  microns) for 30 min.
>>  
>> I then open the bleed valve and adjust the pressure until the glow looks 
>> good and seal it off.
>>  
>> I also have made Triodes in the past and those require about 15 min 
>> heating with the torch on the pump along with an hour of pumping.
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>  
>>
>> On Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 12:49:28 PM UTC-7 nickja...@gmail.com 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I don't recall for certain if it was NeonJohn or another guy, or even 
>>> what group it was in.  Could've been the old geigercounterenthusiasts group 
>>> on yahoo.  This was some time ago, when we were laughing about the insane 
>>> overreaction to breakage of CFLs in school classrooms.  I've never tried 
>>> opening a tube in a controlled fashion myself, but have seen tiny droplets 
>>> in broken ones, usually near the ends of the tube.
>>>  
>>> Been playing with glass laser tubes a little the last week.  Found that 
>>> Gammex patient positioners used both red and green HeNe before diodes took 
>>> over.  Got one that won't lase though the plasma tube is a nice bright 
>>> pink.  It hisses or buzzes continuously but no beam output.  The PS is good 
>>> as it lit up a couple of similar size d tubes last night when I tried.  I 
>>> need to completely remove it and try sighting through the bore.  It's 
>>> possible it's leaking and coming up in pressure slowly and is now dead.  I 
>>> was looking at the metal evac/fill tube where it's crimped off and 
>>> wondering about the possibilities of re-gassing...  I have a couple of 
>>> those metal tube ends with some defunct old tubes I got from Laser Sam a 
>>> couple years back for experimenting.  More interests, less time...
>>>
>>>  
>>> On Wed, Oct 20, 2021 at 2:37 PM Mac Doktor  wrote:
>>>

 On Oct 20, 2021, at 2:59 PM, Nick Andrews  wrote:

 A guy built a device to try and capture the mercury, thinking he could 
 recover and build up a small supply.  He found that he never could get any 
 significant quantity from the tubes.

 Did he condense the vapor first?
  

 Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
 "The Mac Doctor"
  
 https://www.astarcloseup.com
  
 “...the book said something astonishing, a very big thought. The stars, 
 it said, were suns but very far away. The Sun was a star but 

Re: [neonixie-l] Re: Homemade Purple Nixie Tube

[gregebert]

Did you need to use a diffusion pump to get below 10 microns ? Years ago I 
researched doing neon tubes, but got discouraged by the high-cost of the 
vacuum equipment and the dangers of bombarding.

On Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 11:32:33 AM UTC-7 Chuck wrote:

> I distinctly remember some of Dalibor's first tubes from mnay years ago 
> when he first started experimenting.
>
> He made one that looked a lot like this one.   Nice Work!
>
> Chuck
>
>
>  
>
>  Original Message 
> From: "joshua dejaen" 
> Sent: 10/24/2021 2:36:14 AM
> To: "neonixie-l" 
> Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Re: Homemade Purple Nixie Tube
>  
> Thanks for all the comments,  sorry I could not reply sooner.
>  
> I have added mercury to glow tubes in the past but I have not wanted to 
> contaminate my new pump.
>  
> I could do it on my old pump but it is not able to pump below 1 torr and 
> the tube would be left with impurities.
>  
> My electrodes consist of copper welded to tungsten with a nickel buffer 
> and then the tungsten welded to nickel wire that forms the digits inside 
> the tube.
>  
> The tungsten forms the actual seal to the pyrex glass and the copper 
> provides a nice external lead.
>  
> I heat up the tube with the torch while pumping for about a minute and let 
> it pump under high(ish) vacuum (5-10  microns) for 30 min.
>  
> I then open the bleed valve and adjust the pressure until the glow looks 
> good and seal it off.
>  
> I also have made Triodes in the past and those require about 15 min 
> heating with the torch on the pump along with an hour of pumping.
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>  
>
> On Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 12:49:28 PM UTC-7 nickja...@gmail.com 
> wrote:
>
>> I don't recall for certain if it was NeonJohn or another guy, or even 
>> what group it was in.  Could've been the old geigercounterenthusiasts group 
>> on yahoo.  This was some time ago, when we were laughing about the insane 
>> overreaction to breakage of CFLs in school classrooms.  I've never tried 
>> opening a tube in a controlled fashion myself, but have seen tiny droplets 
>> in broken ones, usually near the ends of the tube.
>>  
>> Been playing with glass laser tubes a little the last week.  Found that 
>> Gammex patient positioners used both red and green HeNe before diodes took 
>> over.  Got one that won't lase though the plasma tube is a nice bright 
>> pink.  It hisses or buzzes continuously but no beam output.  The PS is good 
>> as it lit up a couple of similar size d tubes last night when I tried.  I 
>> need to completely remove it and try sighting through the bore.  It's 
>> possible it's leaking and coming up in pressure slowly and is now dead.  I 
>> was looking at the metal evac/fill tube where it's crimped off and 
>> wondering about the possibilities of re-gassing...  I have a couple of 
>> those metal tube ends with some defunct old tubes I got from Laser Sam a 
>> couple years back for experimenting.  More interests, less time...
>>
>>  
>> On Wed, Oct 20, 2021 at 2:37 PM Mac Doktor  wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> On Oct 20, 2021, at 2:59 PM, Nick Andrews  wrote:
>>>
>>> A guy built a device to try and capture the mercury, thinking he could 
>>> recover and build up a small supply.  He found that he never could get any 
>>> significant quantity from the tubes.
>>>
>>> Did he condense the vapor first?
>>>  
>>>
>>> Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
>>> "The Mac Doctor"
>>>  
>>> https://www.astarcloseup.com
>>>  
>>> “...the book said something astonishing, a very big thought. The stars, 
>>> it said, were suns but very far away. The Sun was a star but close 
>>> up.”—Carl Sagan, "The Backbone Of Night", *Cosmos*, 1980
>>>  
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>> --
>>
>>
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google 
>>> Groups "neonixie-l" group.
>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send 
>>> an email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
>>
>> To view this discussion on the web, visit 
>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/4D0670A0-1C14-4185-8491-4629E387CD7C%40gmail.com
>>>  
>>> 
>>> .
>>
>> --
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Re: [neonixie-l] Re: Homemade Purple Nixie Tube

[chuckrr]

I distinctly remember some of Dalibor's first tubes from mnay years ago 
when he first started experimenting.

He made one that looked a lot like this one.   Nice Work!

Chuck


 

 Original Message 
From: "joshua dejaen" 
Sent: 10/24/2021 2:36:14 AM
To: "neonixie-l" 
Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] Re: Homemade Purple Nixie Tube
 

Thanks for all the comments,  sorry I could not reply sooner.

 

I have added mercury to glow tubes in the past but I have not wanted to 
contaminate my new pump.

 

I could do it on my old pump but it is not able to pump below 1 torr 
and the tube would be left with impurities.

 

My electrodes consist of copper welded to tungsten with a nickel buffer 
and then the tungsten welded to nickel wire that forms the digits inside the 
tube.

 

The tungsten forms the actual seal to the pyrex glass and the copper 
provides a nice external lead.

 

I heat up the tube with the torch while pumping for about a minute and 
let it pump under high(ish) vacuum (5-10  microns) for 30 min.

 

I then open the bleed valve and adjust the pressure until the glow 
looks good and seal it off.

 

I also have made Triodes in the past and those require about 15 min 
heating with the torch on the pump along with an hour of pumping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



On Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 12:49:28 PM UTC-7 
nickja...@gmail.com wrote:



I don't recall for certain if it was NeonJohn 
or another guy, or even what group it was in.  Could've been the old 
geigercounterenthusiasts group on yahoo.  This was some time ago, when we were 
laughing about the insane overreaction to breakage of CFLs in school 
classrooms.  I've never tried opening a tube in a controlled fashion myself, 
but have seen tiny droplets in broken ones, usually near the ends of the tube.

 

Been playing with glass laser tubes a little 
the last week.  Found that Gammex patient positioners used both red and green 
HeNe before diodes took over.  Got one that won't lase though the plasma tube 
is a nice bright pink.  It hisses or buzzes continuously but no beam output.  
The PS is good as it lit up a couple of similar size d tubes last night when I 
tried.  I need to completely remove it and try sighting through the bore.  It's 
possible it's leaking and coming up in pressure slowly and is now dead.  I was 
looking at the metal evac/fill tube where it's crimped off and wondering about 
the possibilities of re-gassing...  I have a couple of those metal tube ends 
with some defunct old tubes I got from Laser Sam a couple years back for 
experimenting.  More interests, less time...



 


On Wed, Oct 20, 2021 at 2:37 PM Mac Doktor 
 wrote:








On Oct 20, 
2021, at 2:59 PM, Nick Andrews  wrote:



A guy 
built a device to try and capture the mercury, thinking he could recover and 
build up a small supply.  He found that he never could get any significant 
quantity from the tubes.




Did he condense the vapor first?

 








Terry 

Re: [neonixie-l] NEC LD-816 from Ebay

[SWISSNIXIE - Jonathan F.]

Sad to hear it is damaged  :( 

For identifying the symbols, maybe a laser pointer can help, i tried this 
once with a tube, by moving the laser pointer on the axis of the symbol. A 
green one did a very good job to identify symbols!

Also i bought from this seller a few times, it seems that he's some kind of 
reseller/seller of bulk tube assortments, maybe from house clearances or 
flea markets. Possibly not knowing that much about tubes, judging by the 
replies to messages. 



On Saturday, 23 October 2021 at 16:16:47 UTC+2 Jens Boos wrote:

> The damage to the tube did not happen during shipment. But it is easy to 
> miss if you are not familiar with Nixie tubes. If I had seen this clearly 
> on the photos I would not have placed such a high bid. I certainly don't 
> blame the seller for not spotting this.
>
> Jens
>
> On 2021-10-23 12:34 a.m., jb-electronics wrote:
>
> I will try that, sounds like a good idea. Will take me some time to set it 
> up, though. Jens
>
>
> On 2021-10-22 6:50 p.m., Audrey wrote:
>
> Wow jens that is so sad. Maybe you could try some pics with a razor thin 
> focal plane head-on with the tube and focus on each cathode?
>
> On Fri, Oct 22, 2021, 6:49 PM jb-electronics  
> wrote:
>
>> I won the tube. Unfortunately the base is cracked and it is completely 
>> dead. I am having some trouble identifying the symbols...
>>
>> Jens
>>
>> On 2021-10-22 4:59 p.m., liam bartosiewicz wrote:
>>
>> It might display some kanji characters, but it’s hard to tell from the 
>> photos
>>
>> On Oct 22, 2021, at 10:09 AM, 'Bogdan Paduraru' via neonixie-l 
>>  wrote:
>>
>> Friends
>>
>> Does any one of you got the below tube?
>>
>> https://www.ebay.com/itm/203624118285
>>
>> I am very curious on what it does display
>> -- 
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>>  
>> 
>> .
>>
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>>
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Re: [neonixie-l] Homemade Purple Nixie Tube

['Ian' via neonixie-l]

Super cool


> On 19 Oct 2021, at 02:52, Nicholas Stock  wrote:
> 
> 
> Nicely done! The inevitable questions...
> 
> strike voltage? Any idea of longevity etc?
> 
> Keep up the good work!
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Nick
> 
>> On Mon, Oct 18, 2021 at 6:46 PM joshua dejaen  wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> Hello, 
>> 
>> I wanted to share a Nixie tube I made.
>> 
>> It only has 3 digits and uses nitrogen for the glow instead of neon so 
>> 
>> it is rather primitive, but I have plans for more complicated ones in the 
>> future.
>> 
>> I made a video showing how I made it if anyone is interested.
>> 
>> (warning, it is barbaric)
>> 
>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7I61d27R3E
>> 
>> 
>> -- 
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> 
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Re: [neonixie-l] Re: Homemade Purple Nixie Tube

[joshua dejaen]

Thanks for all the comments,  sorry I could not reply sooner.

I have added mercury to glow tubes in the past but I have not wanted to 
contaminate my new pump.

I could do it on my old pump but it is not able to pump below 1 torr and 
the tube would be left with impurities.

My electrodes consist of copper welded to tungsten with a nickel buffer and 
then the tungsten welded to nickel wire that forms the digits inside the 
tube.

The tungsten forms the actual seal to the pyrex glass and the copper 
provides a nice external lead.

I heat up the tube with the torch while pumping for about a minute and let 
it pump under high(ish) vacuum (5-10  microns) for 30 min.

I then open the bleed valve and adjust the pressure until the glow looks 
good and seal it off.

I also have made Triodes in the past and those require about 15 min heating 
with the torch on the pump along with an hour of pumping.










On Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at 12:49:28 PM UTC-7 nickja...@gmail.com 
wrote:

> I don't recall for certain if it was NeonJohn or another guy, or even what 
> group it was in.  Could've been the old geigercounterenthusiasts group on 
> yahoo.  This was some time ago, when we were laughing about the insane 
> overreaction to breakage of CFLs in school classrooms.  I've never tried 
> opening a tube in a controlled fashion myself, but have seen tiny droplets 
> in broken ones, usually near the ends of the tube.
>
> Been playing with glass laser tubes a little the last week.  Found that 
> Gammex patient positioners used both red and green HeNe before diodes took 
> over.  Got one that won't lase though the plasma tube is a nice bright 
> pink.  It hisses or buzzes continuously but no beam output.  The PS is good 
> as it lit up a couple of similar size d tubes last night when I tried.  I 
> need to completely remove it and try sighting through the bore.  It's 
> possible it's leaking and coming up in pressure slowly and is now dead.  I 
> was looking at the metal evac/fill tube where it's crimped off and 
> wondering about the possibilities of re-gassing...  I have a couple of 
> those metal tube ends with some defunct old tubes I got from Laser Sam a 
> couple years back for experimenting.  More interests, less time...
>
> On Wed, Oct 20, 2021 at 2:37 PM Mac Doktor  wrote:
>
>>
>> On Oct 20, 2021, at 2:59 PM, Nick Andrews  wrote:
>>
>> A guy built a device to try and capture the mercury, thinking he could 
>> recover and build up a small supply.  He found that he never could get any 
>> significant quantity from the tubes.
>>
>>
>> Did he condense the vapor first?
>>
>>
>> Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
>> "The Mac Doctor"
>>
>> https://www.astarcloseup.com
>>
>> “...the book said something astonishing, a very big thought. The stars, 
>> it said, were suns but very far away. The Sun was a star but close 
>> up.”—Carl Sagan, "The Backbone Of Night", *Cosmos*, 1980
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
>> "neonixie-l" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an 
>> email to neonixie-l+...@googlegroups.com.
>>
> To view this discussion on the web, visit 
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/4D0670A0-1C14-4185-8491-4629E387CD7C%40gmail.com
>>  
>> 
>> .
>>
>

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