[ARC5] OD3 VR Tube

[Richard Knoppow]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Hutchins" <jphutch60bj at gmail.com>
To: <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2012 7:14 AM
Subject: Re: [ARC5] OD3 VR Tube


> All -
>
> "--> For one thing, VR-tubes must be able to have some 
> input from light to
> "encourage" the formation of the internal "plasma" "  <---  
> What that's a new one?
>
> Lighter side:
> So the question is: Does a VR tube work in the dark, 
> completely shielded from any form of radiation ?
> Similar to : does a tree falling in the forest make a 
> sound....
>
> Hutch
>
     All too long ago I read an article explaining why some 
VR tubes had some radio-active material in them.  I can't 
remember exactly the conditions in which they were found not 
to fire reliably but evidently it was fairly common. For 
decades VR tubes were made without a built-in source of 
ionization and seemed to work fine but some military 
application came into being where they were not reliable. 
Perhaps someone else's memory will be better about the 
details.


--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles
WB6KBL
dickburk at ix.netcom.com