[Milsurplus] Mil Surp and radiation

[gl4d21a at juno.com]

I have heard that early VR tubes had something in them to keep the 
ionization up in the gas so they would start easier. Anyone have a 
list of what 
ones these would be? I have a box of them and am now dubious. Should 
I buy a 
"dentists x-ray bib"?

Jim Falls
KG6FWT
Eureka, CA

Jim:

The word "early" is your problem.

As I understand it, ALL VR tubes (and some neon lamps) have a tiny 
source imbedded in them to insure start of ionization.  Some special 
military tubes had a bit more radiation emitting material for reasons 
unknown to me at ths time, but those were supposed to be marked with 
the 3 leaf radioactivity symbol.  

So, as I understand it, close exposure to large numbers of intact 
commercial VR tubes (e. g. 0A2 through VR-150) falls somewhere 
between living at high altitude and having dental X-Rays once a 
year.  OTOH, breaking one open and ingesting the contents is 
discouraged.

HTH
George
W5VPQ