[R-390] Gettering old tubes

[Tisha Hayes]

I do not even want to approach the discussions on how to getter a 3-500 by
heating the anode until it is cherry red (follow that on eHam under
amplifiers if that is your baby). But I recall seeing in some of those
1960's vintage tube videos (someone posted a link to them a year or so ago)
that they would getter a tube after manufacturing by heating it via an
induction furnace.

There really is not that much to an induction heating device. Maybe someone
wants to try to make one and see if they can make the getter to reactivate
on old tubes. There is a limited amount of barium/ zirconium/ sodium (name
your own metallic gettering materials here). As long as the metal has not
entirely turned into an oxide it still has some gettering potential and may
be able to scavenge some gas molecules out of the tube.

This is sort of like asking at a Mexican restaurant "how many times have you
refried the refried beans this week?" Sooner or later the getter "ain't
gonna do anything else" or with refried beans, you get salmonella.

This may be at least another choice rather than crapping out the cathode
with poisons.

Remember the old B&K Precision picture tube rejuvenator? It would run the
filament at a higher voltage and do some other things. Sometimes it would
give at least a few more months of life to a tired old color television set.
It was an easy way to make extra money during high school that did not
involve getting nekkid <joke>.
-- 
Ms. Tisha Hayes/ AA4HA
----------------
"I'll be a diode, cathode, electrode
Overload, generator, oscillator
Make a circuit with me." -- The Polecats