[ARC5] VHF SET

[Rich Post]

Here's a bigger one at the Museum of Radio & Technology in Huntington WV.
About half the size of a refrigerator.   In protective case for obvious
reasons.

Rich KB8TAD

On Fri, Dec 8, 2017 at 10:50 AM, David Stinson <arc5 at ix.netcom.com> wrote:

>
>
>
>
> *From:* J Mcvey
>
> Ø  What is the large glass bulb in the right hand side of the picture
> used for?
>
>
>
> That is an early rectifier.  It’s full of mercury.  The two “handles”
> contain the anodes and the pool of mercury, the cathode.  You tilted it
> over to run the mercury up to the anode and cause a spark, which vaporized
> some of the mercury and started the current flow, which vaporized more
> mercury.  So you’ve got a rectifier without needing a heater to vaporize
> the mercury.  I’ve seen one intact one in my life.  Most were destroyed to
> recover the valuable mercury, since one might contain several pounds.
>
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