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Re: Solid State Control of Neon Lights....
>Its great to see others with electronics knowledge here! Sounds
>like a great idea. I'll put circuits there.
Great! I'll start to set up an appropriate entry on the Web site.
>
>This brings up a question I have. Has anyone "played" with neon
>tubing being driven by a tesla coil device? I have hooked up
>tesla coils to flourescent lighting as demos - does neon act
>the same way. Since this is high-frequency transformer, other
>unusual effects may also occur.
Oh yes. Lot's of neat stuff.
>
>One can make a simple tesla coil out of a TV flyback transformer,
>two resistors, two 2N3055 transistors, and 12 VDC. You
>simply wrap a few turns of enamelled wire around the leg
>of the flyback, another wire set for feedback windings,
>and energize. Parts costs is around $15.00, and may be a
>cheap low-cost transformer approach, especially nice if one
>want to do elaborate switching arrangments - just switch
>on a bunch of flyback transformers.
You are very much on track here. This is the fundamental circuit for what
are called flow units or scripting units. (The originals were tube driven
and manufactured by Tubelite - I have two and it seems just about every neon
shop has come across at least one). Similar circuits also drive the storm
in a bottle effect where mixtures of gases bring about multiple colors.
I think there is a patent from the late 40s from someone named Hanson who
used a similar principle - though more of a classic rf transmitter to
charge metal plates sandwiched between glass plates and thereby achieve a
surface charging effect for filled 3-d objects. His 'big' commercial
success were the changeable neon letter boards that occassionally turn up at
flea markets.
So, what's this about continuous electron beams - any neat non-classified
stuff you can tell us about?
Kenny
Kenny Greenberg Neon Artist, Scenic Specialist, Columnist - Internet World
c/o KRYPTON NEON 34-43 Vernon Blvd Long Island City, NY 11106
Ph: 718-728-4450 Fx: 718-728-7206 Email: kenny@neonshop.com
http://www.neonshop.com gopher://gopher.panix.com:70/11/nyart
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