thyRATron

[[email protected]]

Hi RATs!

So, I just found out I can use my big old NOS WE Thyratron as a HV B+
switch.

Just use a 9V battery to negative bias the screen to shut off HV while
the MVs warm up, then, switch off the battery and Kapow! or, it turns
on the HV.

I buy stuff at swap meets that looks cool. Sometimes I even use it for
something besides dust collection :)

Today my Bing Crosby P-P 6BM8 amp arrived.

Ear life is good life.

Happy Ears!
Al

[Johnny Tang]

Thyratron was used in Radars for generating HV pulses to the Magnatron. They
are rather cool as they have gold plated Anode top cap. It has blue glows
when it is running.

Johnny



>
egroups.com...
> Hi RATs!
>
> So, I just found out I can use my big old NOS WE Thyratron as a HV B+
> switch.
>
> Just use a 9V battery to negative bias the screen to shut off HV while
> the MVs warm up, then, switch off the battery and Kapow! or, it turns
> on the HV.
>
> I buy stuff at swap meets that looks cool. Sometimes I even use it for
> something besides dust collection :)
>
> Today my Bing Crosby P-P 6BM8 amp arrived.
>
> Ear life is good life.
>
> Happy Ears!
> Al
>

[Sander deWaal]

"Bret Ludwig" > said:


> What's even cooler is this new invention called a "switch". Takes no
>heater power and doesn't put out a pile of hash as gas filled tobes
>inevitably do. But Al probably thinks the mysterious raised noise floor
>sounds MUUUUUUSICAL. The dumbass.


Geez Brat, didn't you find some Scott or Dyna iron in your favourite
dumpster today?

Why don't you try Magnequest? ;-)

--
"Due knot trussed yore spell chequer two fined awl miss steaks."

[Bob H.]

Hi Al

What is the ballpark voltage drop across it? (forward biased, of
course).

Thanks
Bob H.


wrote:
> Hi RATs!
>
> So, I just found out I can use my big old NOS WE Thyratron as a HV B+
> switch.
>
> Just use a 9V battery to negative bias the screen to shut off HV while
> the MVs warm up, then, switch off the battery and Kapow! or, it turns
> on the HV.
>
> I buy stuff at swap meets that looks cool. Sometimes I even use it for
> something besides dust collection :)
>
> Today my Bing Crosby P-P 6BM8 amp arrived.
>
> Ear life is good life.
>
> Happy Ears!
> Al

[[email protected]]

Bob H. wrote:
> Hi Al
>
> What is the ballpark voltage drop across it? (forward biased, of
> course).
>
> Thanks
> Bob H.
>
>

Hi Bob,

I haven't tried it yet. I was just happy to find a use for it. It's
been on my night table for years. I had used a switch on the primary
separate B+ transformer, before, to allow all the MVs to warm up. They
haven't been in circuit for years, neither. They stand upright in the
back corner of my closet, waiting to be called to fight terrorism in
any form, or, at least block some AC ... I got an old Lambda power
supply for the filaments of the 866A. They drop about 15V. I have no
clue about the Thyratron drop. I had never seen a Thyratron mentioned
for audio application. I was a radio repairman in the army. No radar
experience.

Happy Ears!
Al

[Mike Gilmour]

"Johnny Tang" > wrote in message
news:txMFg.435139$IK3.14893@pd7tw1no...
> Thyratron was used in Radars for generating HV pulses to the Magnatron.
> They
> are rather cool as they have gold plated Anode top cap. It has blue glows
> when it is running.
>
> Johnny
>

I remember the Thyratron from earlyish marine radars, you could actuary hear
it 'singing' along to the prf (pulse repetition frequency) but as a DC
switch it would be quiet I guess. The blue glow indicates early Chav radar
;-) Another was the Triggertron, which sparked between electrodes to
ionise the gas, now that did sing very loudly and had a plastic type mesh
surrounding the glass envelope incase of implosion. I can't find out much
googling Triggertrons, anyone got a link?

Mike

[Bob Weiss]

Mike Gilmour wrote:
I can't find out much
> googling Triggertrons, anyone got a link?
>
> Mike
>
>

http://www.tubecollector.org/trigatron.htm

Bob Weiss N2IXK

[Mike Gilmour]

"Bob Weiss" > wrote in message
news:cR6Gg.19458$uV.3557@trnddc08...
> Mike Gilmour wrote:
> I can't find out much
>> googling Triggertrons, anyone got a link?
>>
>> Mike
>
> http://www.tubecollector.org/trigatron.htm
>
> Bob Weiss N2IXK

Thanks Bob - thats it. The quoted life does seem very short. During that
time (60's) the Shell owned ships that I maintained radars on, two sets were
generally left running H24 & only switched off in port & I can't remember
replacing trigertrons that frequently - that said, marine radars were then
high maintenence with reliability consistent with being almost totally valve
based and operating conditions under vibration and tropical heat. Having
dozens of valves in each set maybe the trigertrons were changed more
frequently than I can remember.

Mike

[[email protected]]

Mike Gilmour wrote:
> "Bob Weiss" > wrote in message
> news:cR6Gg.19458$uV.3557@trnddc08...
> > Mike Gilmour wrote:
> > I can't find out much
> >> googling Triggertrons, anyone got a link?
> >>
> >> Mike
> >
> > http://www.tubecollector.org/trigatron.htm
> >
> > Bob Weiss N2IXK
>
> Thanks Bob - thats it. The quoted life does seem very short. During that
> time (60's) the Shell owned ships that I maintained radars on, two sets were
> generally left running H24 & only switched off in port & I can't remember
> replacing trigertrons that frequently - that said, marine radars were then
> high maintenence with reliability consistent with being almost totally valve
> based and operating conditions under vibration and tropical heat. Having
> dozens of valves in each set maybe the trigertrons were changed more
> frequently than I can remember.
>
> Mike


Hi RATs!

Tubes got tested a lot in Viet Nam. Tropical heat, vibration, and Army
Regs required they be pulled and tested a lot. The testing procedure
itself was often the cause of failure. The most common failure mode was
keying the transmitter with the antenna not attached ;) I had worked at
Univac in Saint Paul before getting drafted. The tubes used in early
computers failed very rarely. Less vibration, A few hours of tropical
heat per decade and nobody pulling them until their little dedicated
failure light bulb lit was easy duty. I suppose some Gung Ho management
moron may have ordered them tested occasionally, but, nothing can save
those fools from themselves ;)

Happy Ears!
Al

[Mike Gilmour]

> wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> Mike Gilmour wrote:
>> "Bob Weiss" > wrote in message
>> news:cR6Gg.19458$uV.3557@trnddc08...
>> > Mike Gilmour wrote:
>> > I can't find out much
>> >> googling Triggertrons, anyone got a link?
>> >>
>> >> Mike
>> >
>> > http://www.tubecollector.org/trigatron.htm
>> >
>> > Bob Weiss N2IXK
>>
>> Thanks Bob - thats it. The quoted life does seem very short. During
>> that
>> time (60's) the Shell owned ships that I maintained radars on, two sets
>> were
>> generally left running H24 & only switched off in port & I can't remember
>> replacing trigertrons that frequently - that said, marine radars were
>> then
>> high maintenence with reliability consistent with being almost totally
>> valve
>> based and operating conditions under vibration and tropical heat. Having
>> dozens of valves in each set maybe the trigertrons were changed more
>> frequently than I can remember.
>>
>> Mike
>
>
> Hi RATs!
>
> Tubes got tested a lot in Viet Nam. Tropical heat, vibration, and Army
> Regs required they be pulled and tested a lot. The testing procedure
> itself was often the cause of failure. The most common failure mode was
> keying the transmitter with the antenna not attached ;) I had worked at
> Univac in Saint Paul before getting drafted. The tubes used in early
> computers failed very rarely. Less vibration, A few hours of tropical
> heat per decade and nobody pulling them until their little dedicated
> failure light bulb lit was easy duty. I suppose some Gung Ho management
> moron may have ordered them tested occasionally, but, nothing can save
> those fools from themselves ;)
>
> Happy Ears!
> Al
>

Agreed, valves don't being pulled and tested a lot. Equipment with built in
valve metering allowed valves to perform continuous duty and always lasted a
lot longer. Many years on some less stressed applications like communal
amplifiers and built in crew PA. It was a regular part of the job to log
valve readings ...lots of them.

Mike