[time-nuts] Source of Rubidium Lamp for Efratom FRK

Mike Niven mfniven at ymail.com
Sun Aug 2 10:33:43 EDT 2015


Thanks Chuck and Bob for the further comments.  I have actually had a reply from Sematron.  Seems that the lamps are still available at only £781.63 - call it $1,100!  Since that probably buys four Racal 9475s when they appear, I think I might go the other route.  I also think that the lazy approach applies at present i.e. do nothing unless the unit packs up.  Nobody else has commented on whether the same bulb is used in other Efratom Rb sources, so I will leave it there.  Again, thanks for all your feedback.

Mike

>Friday, 31 July, 2015 20:02 Chuck Harris wrote:
>
>Hi Mike,
>
>That bulb was sealed with an oxy-fuel torch at the melting
>point of the glass.  It was then annealed, starting at a much
>higher temperature than 150C before cooled slowly to avoid
>breaking.
>
>Heat it uniformly with your hot air gun until it is no longer
>black.  Reducethe heat slowly to allow it to cool... or, you
>can toss it into a can full of white ashes from your fireplace.
>
>Or, leave it be and wait until it really fails before fixing
>it.
>
>-Chuck Harris



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