Subj : NASA, shuttle, anyone?
To   : WAYNE CHIRNSIDE
From : mark lewis
Date : Thu Aug 18 2005 06:41 pm

->  WC> Being a tad paranoid about such things I used a series high 
->  WC> value
->  WC> resistor in series with a lower value one with a neon bulb 
->  WC> across the smaller resistor as a visual indication of discharge. 

-> do you have a schematic? 
    
 WC> Nope I worked it out with ohm's law years ago, rather simple. 

well, heck, i could do that, too... i just thought i'd try something that has 
already been designed, built, tested, and used successfully... who needs more 
feathers, anyway O:)

 WC> No longer have it and anyway the resistors were in shrink wrap.    

if i were to create one, i'd definitely be putting the assembly inside 
shrinkwrap...

-> sounds like something that would definitely work... especially with 
-> an indicator that the is no more charge stored in the tube... that's 
-> always been my biggest fear... and why i ground the tube even after
-> discharging it... i don't like the stuff building back up and 
-> surprising me, either ;)

 WC> You should have seen me jump when I built a HV power supply
 WC> with 25KV and enough current to light cardboard afire in under a
 WC> second across a 3/4 inch gap.

 WC> It stayed in a drawer unused after that until I moved and tossed it
 WC> in the trash.

 WC> Took me 90 minutes to build on the cheap.

i hear ya... i have a self built power supply that uses a transformer from an 
old pinball machine... several bridge rectifiers on it off the taps... one tap 
is rectified to an 8 pole double throw high voltage relay that controls power 
to all the other outputs with one set of contacts used to short the huge filter 
capaciters across some resistors to drain them when the power is off... when 
the power is on, the caps filter the main 12 volt supply voltage... it was just 
something that i threw together to power 12 volt stuff on my bench and i 
decided to also tap off 5 volt for some digital stuff as well as a few other 
voltages needed for those circuts... i even had a computer connected to it at 
one time using it for the power supply instead of a switching supply like we 
more commonly see... worked great and handled everything that that system 
needed power for... AIR, i still had enough capabilities to connect in a car 
radio for some music O:)

)\/(ark

 
* Origin:  (1:3634/12)

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