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: Hamfest and Updated list
Date: Mar 27, 10:09 am
Poster: Richard HullOn Mar 27, 10:09 am, Richard Hull wrote:
The new list now shows 4 demo fusors extant. Is this it then?...........Have I heard from all those who will to share status info?
Known active Amateur fusioneers and aspirants who
are.........
1.Assembling parts:
Ely Silk
Don Estes
Scott Stephens
Jim Lux
Jochen Kronjaeger
2. Operating a Demo fusor (using air or other gases):
Joshua Resnick
Ed Wingate
Tom Ligon
Marcus Kolb
3. Operating a real neutron producing fusor (normally
d-d fusion)
Richard Hull
Scott Little
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Well......... What a weekend!!
I went to the giant hamfest at Timonium MD this past weekend. The drive is about 3.5 hours from Richmond, but I cut this to 30 minutes by staying over with my friend who is an NRL physicist in Laurel MD. (I go to about 12 Hamfests each year)
I found a load of great stuff. Three HV supplies, one Keithley digital, one Bio-Rad, and one Spellman. The top end on each is 1kv, but the Spellman can go 200ma. I bought all three from the same guy and after haggling got all for $45.00.
I found 4 large 1 amp, 25,000v IR rectifier 1/2 bridge sticks for $20.00
I picked up two nice hydrogen Thyratrons, two EG&G pulse transformers for $5.00 and three Eimac 4-400Z tubes for $10.00 each.
I had given up on finding any vacuum related material until the very end when I was making a last past through the "cow barn" and found a woman with a cigar box that had "any item 25 cents. I rooted through and found two good, clean, Swagelock lock, bellows needle valves. They were for 1/8 gas lines. Very nice! Normally $175.00 each. This was quite a find. Just two tables down, I stumbled onto some nice insulators piled in a cardboard box. These are normally the E.F.Johson steatite insulators. There was only one quickly identifiable such insulator in the pile and it was a nice 4" tall job. Th guy said all insulators are 50 cents each. I bought it. I continued to root through and discovered to my glee that all the remaining insulators were UHV weldment and solder/braze cermaic to metal and glass to metal passthroughs!! Wiping the drool from my mouth I asked on a price for the entire box full. He said $5.00. I never got money out that fast in my life.
Upon getting the stuff home, I found all the supplies had problems, but all day Sunday in the lab with soldering iron and sweat got all of them funtional and calibrated.
Pouring over the insulators, I found (4) Lesker insulators of the 25KV type with 1/4 copper feed rods in a weld/braze UHV type that sell for $290.00 each. I found (16) 15kv rated insulators that lesker gets $88.00 each for. There were over 50 other additional lower voltage (5kv) ceramic to metal and glass to metal solder and weld feedthroughs in that box with an approximate worth of over $1000! That $5.00 box yeilded about a $3000.00 vacuum rated insulator bounty!
Other junk I picked up included an original old Atomic Energy Comission contract ionization chamber ratemeter by Technical Associates (circa late 40's early 50's -$5.00).
Books? you bet....
I snagged Knolls famous book on vacuum electron device construction, a book entitled "Plasma Physics", and another "Tritium and its compounds". All $5.00 each.
I also picked up bag of 100 tiny beryllia standoffs complete with warning label, a 1B85 geiger tube, a Xenon short arc power supply and an amazing deal for $3.00 which was touted as a strobe lamp box with power supply. To my amazement, when examining the item, the strobe lamps were in a hidden elliptical cavity complete with ruby laser rod!!!! The guy obviously just bought a surplus pallet and was piece meal selling junk! WOW.
Anyone else go to hamfests!!? If not, don't cry in yer beer about not having any neato stuff to do scientific work with!
Richard Hull