Fusion Message Board

In this space, visitors are invited to post any comments, questions, or skeptical observations about Philo T. Farnsworth's contributions to the field of Nuclear Fusion research.

Subject: Re: The Holy Grail of Fusors
Date: May 19, 4:45 pm
Poster: Richard Hull

On May 19, 4:45 pm, Richard Hull wrote:


Ely, All,

I suppose I have done this over numerous postings, but a good listing of conditions might be nice in one spot.

First, The vacuum must not be overly contamenated with pump oil. Long pump times without oil traps or the use of worn out pumps inhibit the star.

Ideally the star must be in a pure gas environment of air (demo fusor) or Deuterium (neutron machine).

The above being said, the pressure needs to be under 10 microns (10 millitorr). Mainly in the range of 1 to 10 microns.

I have seen beautiful star mode rays with only 3-4KV on the machine in air in my bell jar demo system fusor II. I also see it at true fusion energies in Deuterium at 24KV. Currents should be in the 5-20ma range.

Current into the system actually allows you to adjust the contrast of the star. Too little and the rays are beautiful, needle like spikes barely perceptable. Too much current and the poissor blooms, intensifies, and blinds the eye to the now brighter but also blooming and fattening rays which can merge with the excited background gas.

Another important point is that your geometry and centration of the electron and ion optics (grids) be good. Just good, not precise! Lopsided oblate spheroid grids which are off center will not star well, though even these will show rays.

In short, it is almost impossible to avoid the star mode of operation in a decently made and aligned fusor, be it a demo with air or the deuterium burner, at any voltage over 2kv, which has a real clean vacuum of between 1 and 10 microns.

Now, you have to get external conditions right also. You will never ever see a star in room light. Even dim room light may subdue the subtle beams. Use only pitch black rooms or dangerously dark rooms to observe the beams. I say dangerously dark because if you have gear or cords or exposed high voltage wiring, then stumbling around trying to work a fusor or adjust it can be a real dangerous experience resulting in bruised shins, falls, electrocution or other mishap. I have an ultra bright LED and battery to shine on controls, etc which allows me to move about once my eyes are dark adapted.

For video recording, use black and white CCD cameras only, hooked to VCRs. These are much more IR sencsitive than the human eye and will show the beams off well when viewed on a monitor and record them to tape. Standard still film 35mm cameras will catch the beams as well, although this is an art. The best thing to do is to use one of the newer Kodak 200 max color films in a superb auto exposure camera such as a nikon or canon. Use a fixed aperture of about f2.8 or f4 and let the camera decide the time based on its auto adjusting shutter timer.

Richard Hull