[Milsurplus] Radioactive OA2 tubes?

[Peter Gottlieb]

  Nickel (don't remember which isotope), and for gas, krypton 85.

All the krytrons I had for starting flashlamps had the nickel; radar TR 
tubes etc had the Kr 85.

Never really checked into the 0A2 VR tubes, I only collected them for 
their glow :-)

Peter




On 9/26/2010 4:50 PM, J. Forster wrote:
> "60s is post WW II :)
>
> Some have solid elments. Cobalt maybe?
>
> -Jo9hn
>
> =============
>
>
>> Actually the warnings are a 60's thing.  A small percentage of the gas in
>> the tube is the or one of the radioactive isotopes of that gas.  I never
>> did
>> understand the logic of the comment about cuts in the warning.  What you
>> wouldn't want to do would be to inhale right over a tube that had just
>> been
>> broken.
>>
>> In a message dated 9/26/2010 1:48:45 PM Central Daylight Time,
>> jfor at quik.com writes:
>>> My guess is that all gas tubes, including Regulators, indicators, and
>>> T/R
>>> Tubes, have radioactive solids or gas in them in small quantities.
>>> There
>>> may well have been differences between manufacturers.
>>>
>>> I suspect the manual cautions were a post WW II caution, when concern
>>> about radioactivity grew.
>>>
>>> FWIW,
>>>
>>> -John
>>>
>>> ==============
>>>
>>>
>>>> The Wikipedia entry on gas discharge regulator tubes states that some
>>> of
>>>> these
>>>> contained small amounts of radionuclides to facilitate ionization. The
>>>> benefit
>>>> would be more reliable turn-on, meaning lower striking voltage or if
>>> the
>>>> tubes are
>>>> in the dark.
>>>>
>>>> It would be interesting to know how tube that were enhanced in this way
>>>> were
>>>> marked. I wonder why they weren't given a different designation, since
>>>> they
>>>> are
>>>> really a different tube?
>> Robert&  Susan Downs - Houston
>> wa5cab dot com (Web Store)
>> MVPA 9480
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