>From those voltages I speculate a long life. In the various RBs I have 2-3.5 V seems to be trouble. Every units a bit different. When the units gets very old you will see the lamp re-ignite. Generally this will be noticed as a significant random phase jump. If you have a lock light it will go out for 30-60 or so seconds until the system comes back on. When I get an old rb I attach a cheap digital pedometer with an opto coupler etc (Could be a FET or transistor just as easily) to the lock signal. It increments every time the system unlocks. Humorously I call it a loc-O-meter. Regards Paul WB8TSL
On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 5:55 PM, Bob Camp <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi > > On Aug 12, 2013, at 3:21 PM, Yuri Ostry <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hello, > > > > Tuesday, July 30, 2013, 3:03:57, Bob Camp wrote: > > > >>> 3) what is the typical life of such a unit? > > > > B> If it's run without a heat sink, about two years. > > > > B> If it's power off on the shelf, many decades. > > > > There was another "aging factor" mentioned in some documents that > > circulate around the net. Helium can diffuse from atmosphere through > > glass walls ans change buffer gas composition inside the cells. > > From what I have seen of "stored" cells - it's not a major issue. > > > > > Run well cooled, >> 10 years for 90% of the units > > > > As I can see, my FRS-C still works well after approx 10 yrs on a cell > > site working 24/7 and 5 yrs sitting on the shelf. But lamp voltage > > that was recorded 5 yrs ago differs from the one that I measured > > when I put it back to work. It is lowered little bit. > > The key question is - was it powered up in the cell site or simply sitting > powered down? A *lot* of the cell site Rb's were in "emergency backup" > applications (cell sites on trucks …). They sat around for 10 years, but > didn't run for very long at all. > > Bob > > > > > 73! > > Yuri > > UA3ATQ/KI7XJ > > -- > > Best regards, > > Yuri mailto:[email protected] > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] > > To unsubscribe, go to > https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > > and follow the instructions there. > > _______________________________________________ > time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe, go to > https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts > and follow the instructions there. > _______________________________________________ time-nuts mailing list -- [email protected] To unsubscribe, go to https://www.febo.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts and follow the instructions there.
