Instructables.com - DIY Electron Accelerator: A Cathode
Contents
1. instructables Food Living Outside Play Technology Workshop DIY Electron Accelerator A Cathode Ray Tube in a Wine Bottle by Xellers on August 15 2011 Table of Contents DIY Electron Accelerator A Cathode Ray Tube in a Wine Bottle 2 0 0 0 ee 1 Intro DIY Electron Accelerator A Cathode Ray Tube ina Wine Bottle 0 0 00 es 2 Step 1 DESIG INCOM 2 6255 025965 00 00 A A eee OR RON Awe A e Oe eS ee Ee OR OS ERE OO eS ORO AO 3 Step 2 Gather Mates sensor Ht46 4 tte cwsa Gar iy AAA eee bE Ge Pie taboo bee we See A eee eS Cade ooo A 3 Bleep oF Gleam Ne BONE esas pte ou dag he ag ase ket Soe he kes St ears aiioa a 4 BEE ow Sag ete Seabee dee Se A Qe hh ped GS ra aes bE GR aoe Se ane 5 Siep 4 Drill The Anede MOUN e cc cache ake Cocoa cer CASES ii SEY Oe ORO ee ROS Se ae ea A RAR OO SRR ANA OS ae ese 6 Step 5 Build the Cathode Vacuum POR eee ea ae oe DAE as Se A dee dw ews ENR ee be eee 7 Step 6 Assemble the Tube ie cn See a de ech cu sowie ah Se ete Bt a nik ts bth Mn ae wee Wt Be howe Wa wl BR as a Bde Rev oh Beet he Sr de ws a wake ws As ee a ew cee wh Hh wo ae aa 8 Sieo 7 Prepare ine PUMP i262 ve neha s eae netsh A ewe Hoe le eae bs SUE eee Bee bebe eke oe eee teed Leh EA ee eee Seba et e 8 Step 8 Assemble the Vacuum System e sopesar bo Hane SA ww AR A ME ES OR SHEL SOE OS Ha SE wR WAR I ON BOR AREA 10 Step 9 Build and Hook Up th Power SUPPI swedish ihe dar whee abo RG oe da eS Se a SRE OR AAA la ES 10 SIE2. It can easily be used for a high school physics or science fair project and is compact enough to be demonstrated virtually anywhere You could be accelerating electrons to non relativistic velocities after a trip to Home Depot and a visit to your local AC repair store and neon sign shop Best of all no advanced electrical or mechanical knowledge or tools are required Judges see step 12 for contest entry details Here s some video evidence CLICK TO PLAY VIDEO kkk Note am currently on vacation and didn t take as many pictures of my project as should have so some steps may be missing photographs of certain parts of construction don t think that this should prevent anyone from completing this project but will try to take more photos once get back Thanks for looking at my instructable and please don t forget to rate vote Xellers PS Thanks for all the support guys This project was featured on Slashgear Engadget Gizmodo Gadgetblog Tecmundo Matuk Zedomax DIY and Make as well as in the weekly newsletter and multiple times on our own front page kkk Step 1 Design Theory As complex as the idea of a particle accelerator might seem it s actually strikingly simple to implement The design we will be using was first created in the late 19th century by J J Thomson and subsequently used to make several important discoveries about the fundamental nature of the atom and the electron Later in the early 20th cen
3. inside the interlocking threads of the screw connector and converter Basically this means you need to keep screwing the converter onto the pump until little or no Teflon tape is visible Third apply a layer or two of Teflon tape over the hose end of the pump to hose converter and slide the hose over it until it is all the way on Then use a screw clamp to secure the hose Fourth use a screw clamp to secure the other end of the hose over the Teflon tape on the steel brake line sticking out of the cathode ray tube phew The mechanical portion of the exercise is now complete If you re never worked with Teflon tape before you should be warned that it s not actually tape there s nothing sticky about it The way you secure it is by wrapping it tightly around your work piece and then letting the vacuum pump do the rest When you turn the pump on the difference in pressure will cause it to assume whatever form you ve forced it into and it will block air from leaking into the system which is something that it s very good at The first time assembled my system decided not to put any tape over the vacuum pump s screw connector and only used the screw clamp to hold the rubber tube in place Big mistake wasn t able to reach anywhere near cathode ray tube operation pressure until added that tape It is possible to assemble the system without a pump to hose converter if your pump s inlet is small enough for the rubber tube to fit over it Ins
4. nose pliers to bend the end of the anode that is protruding from the bottle into a small circle and put a bead of solder over it This optional step will help to reduce corona discharge losses and will make it easier to make a solder connection to the anode OPTIONAL Scrape some phosphors off the inside wall of a fluorescent tube dissolve them in water pour the mixture into the tube before mounting the cathode and allow it to evaporate so the phosphors are deposited on the bottom of the bottle to make a screen for your tube Electrons that make it past the anode will continue down the tube hit the phosphors and cause them to fluoresce This is something that will definitely do if ever get around to making a second tube Image Notes Break line epoxied into place Electrical connection between epoxy and vacuum line Clamp Vacuum hose Epoxied to mouth of bottle Doorknob Wine Bottle NOJAAN Step 7 Prepare the Pump If you ve worked with vacuum pumps before and already know what goes where and who connects to what then you can skip this step On the other hand if you re never used a vacuum pump before and are just pulling yours out of the box it shipped it my condition when began this project then read on to learn how to set everything up correctly The first thing you will need to do once you unpack your pump is to fill it with oil Most new pumps come with a small bottle that should be enough to get st
5. the GP 6 I ve found use an analog multiplier IC and although pricey at 10 each from Digikey I d recommend using a AN633 to keep down the overall complexity and reduce potential drift issues with additional discreet components The largest expense might be the large number of banana jacks needed over 100 in the GP 6 and banana plug cables Other kinds of plugs and jacks would work of course but the stacking banana plugs really work great Let me know how it works out And you re welcome dreadengineer says Aug 25 2011 10 18 PM REPLY Some baking soda in the hot water soak will help with label removal MaxX says Aug 21 2011 10 02 AM REPLY awesome modify the anode and coat the bottom with a florescent substance kelseymh says Aug 21 2011 1 35 PM REPLY And if you add a couple of pairs of metal plates near the neck you can make yourself an oscilloscope Xellers says Aug 25 2011 1 24 PM REPLY just built a new tube with a redesigned electron gun and phosphor screen Once wind some deflection coils an oscilloscope instructable will surely follow Here s a quick video taken from my friend s phone the robot isn t letting me embed videos today MaxX says Aug 25 2011 6 14 PM REPLY nice have you stuck a few magnets near it of got a few nasty shocks and can you explain how the electrostatic deflection plates work or actually how to build them Xellers says Aug 25 2011 8 00 PM REPLY I m going to
6. the doorknob as it might clog it attached a diagram and some pictures to better illustrate how all of this is done Coithiode Lo subi ci i Vin nye 157 EPLI fre Cor Image Notes Break line epoxied into place Electrical connection between epoxy and vacuum line Clamp Vacuum hose Epoxied to mouth of bottle Doorknob Wine Bottle NONIAN Step 6 Assemble the Tube To finish construction of your cathode ray tube first apply a layer of epoxy over the rim of the mouth of the wine bottle Then carefully lower the cathode construction so that the glue is even and the brake line is centered on the vertical axis of the bottle Make sure no epoxy gets into the tube so that it doesn t become clogged After that bend the steel wire into a C shape roughly the inner diameter of the wine bottle Allow a couple inches of extra wire on one end of the C for an electrical connection Next insert the C into anode hole drilled in the wine bottle so that the couple inches of extra wire sticks out of the bottle Twist the electrode until the C is normal to the vertical axis of the bottle In other words you should orient the anode such that all points on it are roughly equidistant to the cathode This may take a few tries so be patient Once the anode is mounted correctly secure it with plenty of epoxy to make sure the hole is airtight When everything has dried give it at least a few hours use a pair of needle
7. there are you will need to start over Drilling this hole is something you may want to practice a few times before you do it on the bottle you plan to use If you re afraid of using a drill to make the hole then you can also do this by hand First use the spade bit to chip a small dent into the place where you plan to drill Then just apply some pressure and twist back and forth until the hole is cut You should hear a scraping sound as the bit chips away at the glass Make sure you work in place where it will be easy to clean up small shards of glass in case your bottle shatters and wear appropriate protective clothing long sleeve shirt closed toed shows leather gloves etc Finally once you re done vacuum up the glass powder created by drilling the hole and proceed to the next step Unfortunately don t currently have any pictures of myself cutting or drilling the anode mount my hands were a bit tied up at the time When get back home l Il get an assistant and try to take some In the meantime here is a picture of the completed system to give you a better idea of where the anode mount should be IMPORTANT NOTE If you are afraid that your vacuum pump won t be able to pull the level of vacuum required for cathode ray tube operation with a tube this size then all you have to do is mount the anode closer to the cathode to reduce the level of vacuum that you need Image Notes 1 Anode the black band is caused by sputterin
8. try to get an instructable published in time for the magnets weekly challenge some things still need to be refined for stable operation was running the transformer without additional current limiting so burnt the electron gun tube in half that s the inner tube with the plasma that you see in the picture did manage to deflect the beam with an ordinary fridge magnet in the video Iceng says Aug 25 2011 5 32 PM REPLY Cool ngunarathne says Aug 21 2011 11 25 AM REPLY know that this could sound dumb but could this be modified into a laser kelseymh says Aug 21 2011 1 27 PM REPLY No They re completely different principles Both of the Wikipedia articles are accurate and have good references for more information if you want it http en wikipedia org wiki Laser http en wikipedia org wiki Crookes tube duct tape says Aug 25 2011 7 37 PM REPLY Theoretically it could be http en wikipedia org wiki Free electron_laser bpenner says Aug 25 2011 8 33 AM REPLY JUST an FYI The type of laser system Epilog is offering will not cut metal It can however mark metal when combined with a coating such as Cermark Xellers says Aug 25 2011 8 37 AM REPLY Drat Marking metal would be just as good though could still make professional looking panels and then invest in a circle cutting bit to make mounting holes for all my parts Thanks for the heads up though bpenner says Aug 25 2011 9 50 AM REP
9. LY No need to buy a circle cutter You just need some punches and a hammer To make straight cutouts use a chisel and a straight metal rule all clamped down so it doesn t shift Seth the Man says Aug 25 2011 4 32 AM REPLY This is awesome Im deffinately trying this Xellers says Aug 25 2011 8 30 AM REPLY Ditto the comment to ElectricUmberlla Good luck alzie says Aug 25 2011 6 30 AM REPLY Very nice Idea Convert it into a double ended accellerate toward the center config crank up the HV add some deuterium and do some low power fusion experiments Xellers says Aug 25 2011 8 30 AM REPLY Actually that s how some fusors are bulilt Adding an ion gun or two into the mix usually has the effect of greatly increasing neuron counts If ever get the chance to build my own fusor it s something that I will definitely try out Of course you would need a slightly different electrode configuration you re looking to accelerate positive deuterium ions not electrons but the idea is the same bahii says Aug 25 2011 7 10 AM REPLY Buen vino y mejor instructable Gracias ElectricUmbrella says Aug 23 2011 12 46 PM REPLY can t wait to try this out You Are Awesome Xellers says Aug 24 2011 10 32 AM REPLY Good luck and please rate vote for me in the Epilog and Green Tech contests Also be sure to post some pictures videos once you re done makincoolstuff says Aug 23 2011 3 33 AM RE
10. NDO Pew aoe sive ea tetas ata eee e Say Be Shee ia Wy he ae ae bs ees ada ee ean Sn eso eae ge Oe eee Wy a ea ee oe ee ice 11 os SN CUY riea dee dey Be a ios We Sd de me a hae tn eb am AG Dw wa aie Wowk an ws Doe A ee mw te i on Bed de ee Bot hw a we Hae ae a 12 Slep 12 Cones ENIES iras prees og dee See argos BROS dee ed ti Bk EGE hoe Sew eee GPR aa dod pad ag bok lS Be eed we ae he eee BS ee ee be 13 Step 13 dit PNG POU imac as ox See eee ee ee cee oe ee eee dae oe ee nae Se rd Ode wee be oe oe ee eee ewe ea ee ewe eae eee ek 15 Related IMStUerables cocer ron renta ri aya Tae SOT ba HF SEO FOE 2 OF See A thaw ee eee Ful ad Oe A a el 15 Comments 0000 ee ne ee ee eee eee eee eee en eee eee eee 15 Author Xellers Zayats Electronics My name is Daniel Kramnik am an electronics hobbyist and high school student from Boston Massachusetts Starting with my latest Tesla coil project have been trying to improve the quality of my work here on instructables I m currently gathering parts for a particle accelerator that hope to take to next year s Intel Science and Engineering Fair Intro DIY Electron Accelerator A Cathode Ray Tube in a Wine Bottle Learn how to build your own subatomic particle accelerator in a weekend This simple project will allow you to investigate a variety of intriguing effects including magnetic deflection of an electron beam Crookes dark space plasma striations in a gas discharge tube and many others
11. PLY i also here that air conditioner s pressurizing pumps when used in reverse can create deep vacuum s Xellers says Aug 23 2011 9 15 AM REPLY tried building my own vacuum pump using an AC compressor but it turns out that even a compressor from a pretty powerful air conditioning unit just isn t strong enough to pull the levels of vacuum required for a cathode ray tube It was good for making mediocre gas discharge tubes but not much else makincoolstuff says Aug 23 2011 4 50 AM REPLY 4 this is an awesome instructable and when you drill the hole i dont think you mentioned what the actual anode is how you secured it and what you used to seal the whine bottle Xellers says Aug 23 2011 9 13 AM REPLY The anode is the positive electrode explained this in the step where talk about the overall design of the accelerator Later when talk about constructing it mention that all you need to do is insert it into the tube and secure it with 5 minute epoxy Good luck Xellers A tholopotami says Aug 22 2011 12 57 AM REPLY am on your side In my work as a physicist have personal experience with high voltage and vacuum systems like SEMs and others have put down and up again more than one electron beam column in my life am saying this just to emphasize that feel joy and admiration when see a cathode ray bottle like the fact that you are building things for their own beauty and not because th
12. a A ES Ardei Hede a M ur He 4 m 3 a E j E id MERA hd e E ped a Hi me Bol J p J a T 1 Pape E Cael il ee E O Ee pe in F f I a CITA La g Aisi Ces or EN we Jone Hrem nS troche bee Cor Image Notes 1 Anode of diode 2 Cathode of diode Image Notes 1 9kV 30mA Neon Sign Transformer Step 10 Fire it Up Image Notes 1 Cathode of diode 2 Anode of diode 3 Anode of cathode ray tube 4 To cathode of cathode ray tube 5 Improvised HV insulator 6 Funnel and excess oil from filling the vacuum pump TA iA i ear i A iz j Image Notes 1 A high voltage diode recovered from a microwave oven Any high voltage diode with the same higher peak voltage current rating as the transformer will work Note peak voltage RMS voltage Once you ve assembled the vacuum system and connected the high voltage power supply you re ready for a test To begin simply turn on the power supply and vacuum pump sit back and enjoy the show At first a continuous red purple discharge will appear between the anode and cathode Then the two colors will begin to separate until there is a distinctly visible dark space between them called the Crookes dark space After that striations in the plasma near the cathode will appear and the colors of the discharge will start to become paler Finally the striations and dark space will disappear and the entire tube will be filled with a pale blue w
13. ago managed to melt holes in my plastic vacuum chamber multiple times Of course that s why decided to use a wine bottle skrubol says Aug 26 2011 12 15 PM REPLY Ah hadn t thought about the tubing Vaporizing burning too much of whatever polymer that tubing is made of suppose could be bad for the pump 7 7 theshades says Aug 26 2011 9 53 AM REPLY This is neat but remember this little device emits X rays also Xellers says Aug 26 2011 9 58 AM REPLY X ray danger is addressed in the safety step The level of vacuum between 50 and 100 microns and electron energy around 10keV is not enough for this this to be a concern At this level any x rays produced are called soft x rays and do not have enough energy to leave the glass chamber Thanks for your concern though dewshaft says Aug 25 2011 8 38 PM REPLY Interesting that you mention the Heathkit EC 1 Analog Computer When I was in high school in the late 70s actually used an ancient Heathkit EC 1 Analog Computer that was hiding in a cabinet in the back room of the physics classroom even had a college class in the early 80s in analog computers however the class was mostly math and very little use of the more professional owned by the college Just recently a friend called with questions about some nixie tubes he d found and the conversation wound up about analog computers After doing some Google searches Google is awesome read about a solid state
14. analog computer the Comdyna GP 6 that was manufactured almost unchanged from 1968 until 2005 A bit more searching turned up manuals for the GP 6 which include enough circuit diagrams that an enterprising electronics hobbyist could easily build a work a like analog computer If you re interested in building an analog computer these would be a good place to start Various upgrades can be made such as using modern low noise opamps but otherwise very little has changed Good luck with your analog computer Xellers says Aug 25 2011 9 12 PM REPLY Thanks for the comment That s basically exactly what I m looking to build and taking a look through the user s manual has definitely provided me with some good ideas on how to implement it All would really need is just a bunch of opamps and binding posts along with a few other simple parts If you have any experience with designing analog computers do you think it would be better to just use analog multiplier ICs or to put together analog multipliers using a few opmaps I ve read that it s best to keep designs as simple as possible to reduce noise and to avoid differentiators but using an analog multiplier IC feels a little bit like cheating and they re quite expensive too Thanks for the help dewshatt says Aug 26 2011 1 47 AM REPLY don t have experience specifically in designing analog computers but do have design experience in analog electronics including opamps Both manuals for
15. arted To do this you will need to remove the exhaust filter picture 3 by unscrewing it Then using a plastic funnel carefully pour your entire bottle of oil inside of the pump picture 1 If you re not using a bottle that was included with the pump then this may be too much so you will need to check the oil level indicator picture 2 on the side of the pump Give the oil a few minutes to reach the indicator after you pour it in If there is no oil visible in the indicator then you will either need to wait a little longer or add some more oil into the pump Add oil in small increments remember the oil you are using has a relatively high viscosity and it needs to flow all the way though the pump before reaching the indicator so it will take time for changes to become apparent If the oil level is anywhere between the MIN and MAX markings then you are ready to go Reattach the exhaust filter and follow any pre use instructions that may be included with your pump ie run it for 15 seconds and then check the oil level to make sure it is ok If there are no problems then proceed to the next step If the oil level is above the MAX marker then you will need to drain some of it away Unscrew the oil drain picture 2 and transfer the excess oil back into the bottle or into a plastic container You should do this in small increments for the same reason that you should add oil only in small increments http www instructables com id DIY Elect
16. chine a really nice enclosure that could use for years Homebuilt oscilloscope With the success of this project am currently building a version 2 cathode ray tube with a more advanced electron gun design that will produce a more focused electron beam and direct it at a phosphor screen Then using magnetic deflection coils and a simple sweep generator and vertical amplifier I ll be able to make my own oscilloscope from scratch Combined with my planned analog computer it would make for a true 1950s computing experience However to hold the homebuilt cathode ray tube in the enclosure will require precision metalwork that do not currently have to tools for With a laser cutter would be able to use a computer to design an enclosure and electron tube mount that would allow me to demonstrate my analog computer cathode ray tube wherever need to In the future also plan to improve the oscilloscope to make it into a simple television set The electronics are not too complex and Jon Stanley designed a circuit that he used to display television images on his oscilloscope If this project will be successful then think might just be the first amateur to ever build their own television from scratch and from commonly available parts Some others have made their own simple televisions using already manufactured cathode ray tubes but none so far with homemade tubes This project is still a long way from completion but it is possible in the relat
17. d by the high voltage power supply and that those electrons will also be accelerated by another field B in a manner that is dependent on the velocity v of those electrons Since the velocity vectors of the electrons will be pointing roughly from the cathode to the the anode without an external magnetic field we can use this to find out what effect a magnetic field will have if we introduce one Let s say we bring a magnet close to the tube while it s energized and we align it so that its field is roughly normal to the surface of the vacuum chamber If we compute qv x B we will find that the force due to the magnetic field is perpendicular to the paths of the electrons and to the magnetic field by the definition of a cross product In other words the magnet curves the paths of the electrons and this effect is amplified by the duration that the electrons spend in the field This effect can easily be observed inside of our cathode ray tube if a magnet is present nearby I ve included a diagram of the mechanical construction of the accelerator to give a rough idea of how everything will work Step 2 Gather Materials For the vacuum chamber you will need 1 Clear Wine Bottle 1 Mini Chrome Plated Metal Doorknob 1 3 Piece of 3 16 Steel Brake Line 1 Piece of Steel Aluminum Wire Several Inches Long 1 Tube of Pressure Rated 5 Minute Epoxy For the vacuum system you will need 1 2 Stage High Vacuum Pump 1 1 2 s
18. doing it at the time In a stereo design each triode would be assigned one channel reducing the number of tubes in the design Step 13 In The Future With the success that this project has been am planning on publishing a series of vacuum experiments starting with an oscilloscope you can build from scratch using a cathode ray tube similar to the one describe here Later projects hope to share include spectrum tubes and a plasma only Farnsworth fusor ion multipactor built from simple components am also working on a Kickstarter project to gather funds for a larger particle accelerator that hope to take to ISEF The goal is my project is to design and build a modular open source accelerator that can be assembled for under 1000 by high school or college students High Voltage How to make a Building A Power Supply macro particle Work safely an z Stereo Tube For Marx accelerator by th high JACOB S Build A Fusion Amp by thobson Generator by emcelhannon voltage by kovo FORKS by Reactor by Plasmana jacobfork christensent Comments Eee Add Comment kelseymh says Aug 21 2011 1 34 PM REPLY This is outstanding One of the best at home particle physics projects I ve seen on I bles neither the cyclotron nor the fusion reactor have writeups Thanks especially for including the non relativistic physics background Pyrophoric says Aug 21 2011 2 15 PM REPLY When one takes a doorknob to accelerate particles i
19. ection of 1 4 rubber hose 2 1 4 Screw Clamps 1 Brass Pump to Hose Converter 1 Roll of Teflon Tape For the high voltage power supply you will need 1 9kV Neon Sign Transformer 1 High Voltage Microwave Oven Diode Read this instructable to learn how to safely extract one from a microwave oven or any other source of at least 10kV DC a DC flyback will work even better than a rectified NST You will also need a drill with a 3 16 bit that can cut metal and a small glass tile spade bit for cutting the bottle All of the parts excluding the wine bottle and vacuum pump can be purchased at almost any hardware store If you don t include the cost of the pump and neon sign transformer then this project should cost no more than 30 total The pump used was a Viot VPD3 15 micron dual stage refrigeration pump bought it on eBay for 200 including shipping and handling At this price it is easily the best deal most other pumps in this range only pull around 75 microns which may not be enough for cathode ray tube operation Here are pictures of some of the more important parts Image Notes Image Notes 1 Make sure the epoxy you choose is good for metal and glass 1 This side attaches to the pump the gender size of the thread depends on the type of connector your pump has Image Notes Image Notes 1 Steel wire from a hardware store used in the anode 1 A high voltage diode recovered from a microwave oven Any high volta
20. ey are useful We do not eat dolphins do we dbell says Aug 21 2011 11 23 AM REPLY Cool project But want to know why the analog computer implementation of classic damped harmonic motion mass damper spring is on the whiteboard Dave Xellers says Aug 21 2011 6 32 PM REPLY Haha I m glad someone noticed that accidentally stumbled upon a Heathkit analog computer kit manual online and was captivated by how simple analog computers that could solve pretty hairy systems of differential equations were so decided to grab a spare quad opamp IC from one of my Tesla coil projects and design a simple integrator based computer that could do something cool What you see on the whiteboard was the result Pyrofan says Aug 21 2011 9 07 AM REPLY 3 How dangerous is this La ee 4 tlynch1 says Aug 21 2011 11 11 AM REPLY kill you dangerous dont mess up Xellers says Aug 21 2011 10 26 AM REPLY See step 11 if you think you can restrain yourself from touching the high voltage power supply while its turned on and wear proper protective clothing then there s nothing to be worried about This is no more dangerous than an average Tesla coil kretzlord says Aug 21 2011 1 06 AM REPLY F dude this is intense haven t even gotten past the first page and love it
21. g or electrons knocking off nuclei from the positive electrode and causing them to be deposited on the glass envelope Build the Cathode Vacuum Port The doorknob and steel brake line assembly at the top of the bottle will serve a dual purpose functioning as both the cathode negative terminal and the vacuum port To start construction of this component remove the screw that comes with the metal doorknob and set it aside We won t be using it Next drill a 3 16 diameter hole straight through the doorknob starting from the side that the screw was mounted in The best way to do this is to use progressively larger drill bits to widen the screw threads until they disappear and the hole is wide enough to accommodate the steel brake line Then use a smaller bit to drill all the way through the doorknob It s important that the holes goes all the way through otherwise there would be no way for the pump to suck the air out of the bottle It s also important that the hole be 3 16 wide at the back of the doorknob so that the brake line fits in but no as wide closer to the front of the doorknob so that it doesn t slide all the way through One this is done and you have confirmed that the brake line fits snugly into the area where the screw was mounted but does not slide all the way through apply some epoxy to the inside surface of the hole you drilled and slide the brake line in Do not allow the epoxy to enter the narrower hole that goes all the way through
22. ge diode with the same higher peak voltage current rating as the transformer will work Note peak voltage RMS voltage http www instructables com id DIY Electron Accelerator A Cathode Ray Tube in a Image Notes 1 9KV 30mA Neon Sign Transformer Clean The Bottle The first step in our adventure is to clean out the wine bottle and remove any internal or external labels it might have After washing the bottle with warm soapy water to get rid of any leftovers allow it to sit for several minutes in a sink filled with hot water This will weaken the adhesives that bind the labels to the bottle Next carefully use a knife or potato peeler to cut the labels loose Make sure you remove them from the sink before you drain it so that nothing gets clogged You may have to work back and forth with the knife for a few minutes to completely clean off the bottle Do not under any circumstances crack the bottle This will weaken its integrity and cause it to shatter when a vacuum is applied Here are some pictures of this procedure Image Notes 1 Step 1 Soak Image Notes 1 Before cleaning Image Notes 1 Step 2 Cut Image Notes 1 After cleaning Drill The Anode Mount This is the only part where you will need to drill glass Carefully using a small glass tile spade bit drill a hole large enough for the metal wire to fit through about half way down the length of the bottle Make sure there are no cracks if
23. hite glow At this point you have reached cathode ray tube operation Here is a brief document that explains some of the plasma related phenomena visible inside the tube http Awww madsci org posts archives feb2001 981 7581 42 Ph r html I ve included a picture of the tube operating in cathode ray mode and some pictures of what it looks like during the pump down sequence Image Notes Image Notes 1 This is what happens when you don t ground the cathode Since there is a 1 Crookes dark space potential between the cathode and the vacuum pump the pump is grounded electrons go both ways To avoid this problem try not to use a mid point grounded supply like an NST 2 The dark band is caused by sputtering 3 Some electrons are accelerated past the anode and continue down the length of the tube Step 11 Safety There s something inherently dangerous about mixing high voltage power supplies with glass containers under high vacuum and if you re going to attempt this project you should be acutely aware of that fact Always wear appropriate protective clothing when working with glass or when operating your accelerator and NEVER use a cracked vacuum chamber An implosion is a very serious risk if this is the case Also there is no need to keep the tube energized for more than 30 to 40 seconds at a time A properly built tube could easily run indefinitely in it s energized state but it s safer to keep things running cool by giving it
24. ifier using these tubes could probably be built for 150 or less my estimate including output and power transformers and that it would rival the performance of systems costing many times that price think this is an exciting project that just needs a little touch of laser to get it going again Analog computer I m currently working on a fully functional opamp based analog computer that would be able to solve complex systems of differential equations that might not have analytic solutions became interested in analog computers when read the Heathkit EC 1 Analog Computer Kit manual i found here It used 9 vacuum tube based opamps to solve relatively simple DEs but with modern technology could easily increase that number to as many as want plan on making it a modular unit Of course instead of having a whole box full of vacuum tubes for each unit there will only be a few ICs already tested my ability to make a simple analog computer by building a rudimentary 2 opamp computer that solves the equation of motion of a harmonic oscillator All that remains to be done is more testing with more opamps construction of the individual integrators multipliers adders other operators and construction of an enclosure Since plan on demonstrating this at my school and college want it to look as professional as possible With my level of metalworking ability however the best could do would be a mess With a laser cutter would be able to ma
25. ively near future Tesla coil control panel and interrupter Apart from allowing me to machine professional looking enclosures control panels for my Tesla coils and external controllers like audio modulators and interrupters the Zing laser cutter will also allow me to make the precision parts need to put my newest mid size DRSSTC together Unfortunately with the tools have there is no way for me to make the precision cuts need in order to make a good clean looking primary support system My project is currently stuck with a fully wound secondary assembled toroid built and painted enclosure tested half bridge and primary capacitor but no primary coll 2 Green Living amp Technology Challenge Experiments involving particle accelerators vacuum systems and high voltages often require expensive or esoteric equipment and professional assembly but not this one I ve been wanting to build my own fusor or small scale accelerator for years now but just didn t have the money to buy parts and supplies for even a bare minimum steel or Pyrex vacuum chamber easily several hundred dollars However after visiting Robert Hunt s site teralab and reading about how he used custom glass vacuum envelopes to perform a variety of experiments including building his own vacuum tube triode realized that a professional grade vacuum chamber was not necessary to get started with some of those projects I ve been inclined towards for years Unfortu
26. mplifier that was obviously horribly mismatched to the output tube was using also quickly learned that the 5AQ5 tube had was leaky by the faint blue glow it emitted during operation Nonetheless it worked The reason didn t pursue this project was my inability to build a proper enclosure for the amplifier With the tools had and have there s just no good way for me to punch precision holes in aluminum to mount transformers tube sockets screws etc the last time tried to use my dremel to make a square mounting hole in an aluminum project box was a disaster It worked but ended up with jagged uneven cuts and scratches all over the place acceptable for that project but not for an amplifier That s where the laser cutter comes in Using the Zing laser cutting system would easily be able to make cuts in the thin sheet of aluminum that plan to mount everything onto and this would allow me to pursue my project without having to worry about the impossible nightmare that doing everything by hand would create would also be able to engrave professional looking labels and switch mounting holes Given that the 5AQ5 an 8FQ7 tubes are actually nonstandard versions of already worthless tv tubes the standard versions are the 6AQ5 and 6FQ7 they are extremely cheap especially when compared to even the most inexpensive 6V6 and 12AX7 variants 5 per tube versus 30 or more per tube This means that a high quality stereo tube ampl
27. nately scientific glass blowing is not quite as easy as Mr Hunt makes it seem and proper equipment can be rare and difficult to procure there s not too much demand for it anymore after all do most physicists blow their own glass vacuum chambers these days didn t think so That s where the glass bottle comes into play Once watched this 5 minute fusor video realized that if glass bottles and 5 minute epoxy are strong enough to hold up to a pretty decent vacuum then maybe wouldn t need one of those fancy custom machined steel chambers with 100 CF flanges stuck in at every possible angle that had been dreaming of to perform some basic experiments Thus the wine bottle CRT was born Other experimenters confirmed that this was possible link link This is the reason would consider this to be a green project Instead of using a large expensive steel contraption used a wine bottle Instead of using a lab grade adjustable high voltage power supply recycled a transformer from an old neon sign and a high voltage diode from a trashed microwave Sorry it seems like some of my links were deleted for unknown reasons I ll try to get them back as soon as figure out what went wrong Danie Tora Y Ophenal Iki Revisor T T M Waag F Sui po NEE jig ee ES A Filaments art pourra with echki NAC and Voltage dtoppng Resi Story Image Notes 1 The two triodes in the 8FQ7 envelope are paralleled because saw no harm in
28. o will get to play with it too will do All of my teammates are just about as passionate about science as am and just as willing to tinker around and build something cool Some of them even have instructables accounts and I m sure they ll be dying to write up what they ve made once they ve made it know that sounded a bit cheesy but I really hope to make it the truth Ok ok realize I ve somewhat of avoided the central focus of the question what will do so here s a quick list of some stalled projects that could really use a kick in the behind from a laser cutter engraver Tube amplifier After finding a trashed 1950s tube type television set in unserviceable condition about a year and a half ago did the only sensible thing could and gutted it for parts to build a tube amp Interestingly enough this particular television used a 5AQ5 output tube and an 8FQ7 deflection oscillator Why is that important Well as it turns out the 5AQ5 is electrically identical to the held in high esteem 6V6 output tube and the 8FQ7 is the same as the famous 12AX7 Both of these tubes are commonly used in high end audio and instrument amplification Once realized that was holding the key ingredients to a pretty darn good amplifier designed a circuit with what parts had my original drawing from ninth grade is attached and got to work Unfortunately didn t have any suitable output transformer so used something scavenged from a transistor a
29. ron Accelerator A Cathode Ray Tube in a Gas Ballast Valve The gas ballast valve picture 3 should be tightened all the way for maximum vacuum to be attained My pump shipped with the gas ballast valve in this condition but your may not Check to see that it is tight before moving on Image Notes 1 Use a funnel to fill with oil Be careful not to overfill it may take some time for the oil to reach the indicator Image Notes 1 Oil level indicator anything between the MIN and MAX markings is fine 2 Oil drain use it to reduce the oil level if you accidentally overfill the pump Image Notes 1 Exhaust filter remove it when filling the pump with oil and take off the red cap before starting it up Some vacuum pumps may have a different spot for filling with oil and or may not have a cap over the top of the filter 2 Gas Ballast Valve make sure it s tightened all the way to achieve the highest vacuum possible 3 Intake is over here connect to vacuum chamber via plastic tube Step 8 Assemble the Vacuum System To connect the vacuum pump to your cathode ray tube you will need your brass pump to hose converter about 2 feet of 1 4 rubber tubing a pair of screw clamps and some Teflon tape First apply a few layers of Teflon tape over the middle of the steel brake line and over the middle of the threads on screw connector of your vacuum pump Second install the pump to hose converter such that the Teflon tape is
30. some time to rest after all you will need to handle the tube once the demonstration is complete A note about x rays and other radiation With the sort of vacuum levels that can be reached using a two stage mechanical pump there should be absolutely no cause for concern regarding the production of harmful radiation If your accelerator will produce any radiation at all it will be in the form of soft x rays that will be contained within the chamber In order to produce harmful amounts of radiation you would need an oil diffusion pump with an expertly constructed vacuum system that includes a foreline trap and a 30kV power supply Such a system is far beyond the scope of this instructable and there s no way a mechanical pump could accidentally pull a few more orders of magnitude of vacuum than it s rated for That said think the above warning sign should serve as a general guide towards safe behavior in the presence of high voltage and high vacuum Be as careful as you possibly can and be aware that you are the only one who is responsible if something goes wrong Good luck Xellers Step 12 Contest Entries started laying down some ideas had about why I d entered this instructable into various contests as part of another step but then realized how much I d written so transplanted everything here Enjoy 1 4th Epilog Challenge Be sure to tell us what you ll do with the Zing if you win What would do if won a laser cu
31. t s glorious leea9 says Aug 26 2011 5 20 PM REPLY Might not some wine bottles implode from the vacuum especially flat bottoms Xellers says Aug 26 2011 9 25 PM REPLY It is indeed a real risk but neither nor anyone else know of who uses these sorts of glass vacuum chambers has experienced an implosion think that if you use your best judgement when selecting a tube you should be fine Anything that looks abnormally flimsy or has a crack in it should be avoided otherwise most wine bottles will work techno guy says Aug 25 2011 8 43 PM REPLY Is the tube connecting the bottle to the vacuum pump actually glowing or is that a wierd camera illusion Xellers says Aug 25 2011 8 54 PM REPLY Nope it s not an illusion didn t ground the cathode because the NST is already mid point grounded so there was a potential difference between the cathode and the vacuum pump As you might imagine this isn t too good for the pump so in later tests grounded the cathode and left one side of the NST floating skrubol says Aug 26 2011 11 03 AM REPLY Shouldn t grounding the inlet of the pump take care of any potential damage to the pump Xellers says Aug 26 2011 11 39 AM REPLY The pump is already grounded so think that s why the arcing occurred in the first place guess there s no real harm done to the pump but it might cause the vacuum line to weaken In my original gas discharge tube experiments several months
32. tead of screwing ona converter just force the hose over the Teflon tape and clamp it down Image Notes 1 Several layers of Teflon tape 2 Clamp 3 To cathode ray tube Step 9 Build and Hook Up the Power Supply The cathode ray tube gas discharge tube does not require any sort of specialized power supply Any high voltage power supply that can produce over 10kV of potential difference will work In fact you can even use an AC power supply if you don t mind the electrons going the wrong way half the time The best type of power supply to use would probably be a roughly 20kV DC flyback transformer using a low current driver like a 555 oscillator and MOSFET In fact almost any of the quick high voltage power supply instructables we have here should work However did not have a flyback power supply on hand when was building this project so used a rectified neon sign transformer instead I ve included an electrical schematic that shows how to hook the diode up to the transformer One end of the transformer is hooked up to the cathode of the cathode ray tube while the other end is hooked up to the anode of the high voltage diode the triangle end Then the cathode of the diode the vertical line segment is hooked up to the anode of the cathode ray tube The second picture is of the completed electrical setup and the last two pictures show the transformer and diode individually Hom CET Er gar Le de TW Revo RST HV Diad
33. tter What wouldn t As the captain of my high school s science team who is responsible for managing building events can see dozens of ways in which our school could use this device Not only will it allow us to assemble balsa wood structures with never before seen precision but it will also significantly reduce the time it takes and thus the number of structures we can test before we take one to an event Usually due to the time it takes to cut and measure everything by hand we can only make one or two structures in time for an event which means that if a design flaw shows up once we re done building there s little we can do to correct it Not anymore with the Zing We also build other complex things like musical instruments and Rube Goldberg devices that require precision parts to work smoothly While duct tape and glue work to a certain extent we ve always ended up with something that falls apart on the last day or doesn t work the right way when we demonstrate it Using computer designed mechanical components rather than those pieces of scrap wood we found in redacted s basement we ll be able to make our stuff work right But enough about what this device could do for my team in terms of the competitive advantage it gives us given that this laser will be available to anyone know who asks tools are shared among the team and this is tool like any other the real question to ask is not what will do but what will the dozens of people wh
34. tury Cockroft and Walton yup the same hooligans responsible for the voltage multiplier used a similar design to build the first true electrostatic linear accelerator or static linac for short Nowadays advanced versions of this type of accelerator are commonly used for radiotherapy and ion implantation Essentially our cathode ray tube is just two electrodes in a vacuum chamber with a high voltage applied between them When enough of the air in the chamber has been removed electrons will freely accelerate from the negative electrode cathode towards the positive electrode anode However instead of impacting the anode and returning to the power supply some electrons will fly right past it and keep going until they hit a glass wall Some interesting effects that can be observed at this stage are sputtering and magnetic deflection Sputtering If the acceleration potential is high enough then some electrons striking the anode will have enough energy to knock metal ions right off the electrode These ions will be deposited on the walls of the chamber near the anode and will create a silvery band somewhat reminiscent of the getter inside of an old vacuum tube Magnetic Deflection In physics we all learned the Lorentz force law F q E v x B or the force on a point charge due to electromagnetic fields In this context it tells us that electrons will be accelerated from the cathode to the anode due E the electrostatic field create
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search