Myron, you get the research gold star. I see the 1959 QST article uses a
neon bulb, although it was not the one I was thinking of. I think I quit in
QST when I got to 1959 because I thought the transistors would eliminate the
tube dividers. I was about to go through CQ, though, so you saved a lot of
time there.

Colin K7FM

Myron, you get the research gold star.

Thanks.


I see the 1959 QST article uses a neon bulb, although it was not the one
I was thinking of....

That one used the NE-51? Another one used an NE-2.


I was about to go through CQ, though, so you saved a lot of time there.

For the almost-50 years I've been a ham, my method of indexing articles
has been to TEAR & FILE. Most QST's, CQ's, HAM RADIO, RADIO ELECTRONICS,
RADIO & TELEVISION (in its many incarnations), 73's, and several other
electronic-related magazines, including many printed before I was born,
have passed through my ripping claws, so all I did was turn to the right
file (labeled "frequency standards", in this case) and start listing them.

I also have an almost-complete set of QST's dating back through 1936,
but quit saving the actual magazines in 1977 (78?) when they went to
the bigger format. I'm thought about buying the CD set, but, at my
age, the payback will not happen.

Unfortunately, I've spent more time tearing & filing than I have building,
and now, what with the Internet.... Someday I've just gotta get my
priorities right.

--73, Myron, W0PBV.
--
--Myron A. Calhoun.
Five boxes preserve our freedoms: soap, ballot, witness, jury, and cartridge
NRA Life Member & Certified Instructor for Rifle, Pistol, & Home Firearm Safety
Also Certified Instructor for the Kansas Concealed-Carry Handgun (CCH) license

"COLIN LAMB" ) writes:
Myron, you get the research gold star. I see the 1959 QST article uses a
neon bulb, although it was not the one I was thinking of. I think I quit in
QST when I got to 1959 because I thought the transistors would eliminate the
tube dividers. I was about to go through CQ, though, so you saved a lot of
time there.

I would have stopped about then also, not so much that we'd see dividers
at that point, they were never a routine part of crystal calibrators
until logic ICs became readily available (you did see dividers before,
but they weren't common), but because transistors were starting to
come in. Transistors were ideal for such small projects, because they
didn't need filament power (or B+), and they weren't ready for power
or high frequency use.

The earliest Handbook I have is 1961, and I see a transistorized
crystal calibrator but no tube based one.

Michael VE2BVW

"miken" wrote in message
...
Hi all

Is there anyone in the group who has a 1980 ARRL handbook who could
scan and email me the circuit of the xtal calibrator/marker generator.
I've a friend building replica glowbug regen receivers who needs this
info to help get his unit operational.

Thanks miken, zl1bnb

Try the BAMA boatanchor manual archive. I know at least the calibrator
schematic for the Heath HR-10 receiver is posted there. It should be
easy to duplicate.

Pete

"COLIN LAMB" wrote in message
...
Hi Peter:

Well, go ahead and time me starting - - now.

Colin K7FM
Hi Colin

Please don't go to any great effort on my part! I didn't think about using
two neons in
a multivibrator! I wonder what the maximum useable frequency would be, and
the
strength of the harmonics...

Pete k1zjh

The harmonics should easily go to 30 MHz. Good measure of sensitivity as
the harmonics decrease as you go higher. If one band drops greater in
proportion to the others, then that band could have a problem.

Colin K7FM

In article ,
Michael Black wrote:
do you have a link for using a neon lamp as a frequency divider? This is
the first reference I've seen for this, and I'm fascinated to learn more
about it.

Peter


When I saw Colin start to suggest a tube calibrator, my thought was
"what will you use for a divider, a neon bulb?"

But like him, I can't put my fingers on a circuit. Undoubtedly
somewhere someone did build a crystal calibrator with a neon divider
to get closer together markers, before there were IC dividers.

Another common place would be electronic organs, they'd use neon
bulb dividers to get the next lower octave from a master oscillator.

I'm sure in those "101 things to do with Neon Bulb" books, or even
the wide coverage articles in the magazines, would have a divider.

There's a section in my GE "Glow Lamp Manual" on neon dividers.


sync in -------------+
|
250 V ----/\/\/\---+---|*|-----+------|*|-----gnd
5.6M | n1 n2
|
+------|(-----+-------|(----gnd
| c1 | c2
| +------- output
|
|
+------|(-----+-------|(----gnd
c3 | c4
+------- sync output

C2 = 10 * C1 (For 200 Hz output, .005 and .05 uF)
C3 = C4 = 100 pF

The problem here is that neon bulb relaxation oscillators top out
at, according to the charts in the book, at between 10 and 30 kilohertz,
depending on bulb type.

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

"Mark Zenier" wrote in message
...
In article ,
The problem here is that neon bulb relaxation oscillators top out
at, according to the charts in the book, at between 10 and 30 kilohertz,
depending on bulb type.

Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)


I was curious if there was a limit on the upper frequency, and I was
wondering
about the waveform as well; that is if the circuit can produce strong
harmonics
up into the upper HF regions. It would be an interesting project to build!

Pete

Ok, finally found a single tube 100 kHz. crystal oscillator that uses a neon
bulb relaxation oscillator that is synchronized to achieve 10 kHz signals.
The article appears in the fifth edition of Amateur Radio Techniques, on
page 287 and 288. It cites the original article from DL-QTC (August 1966).

The relaxations circuit is set up on the screen of the pentode oscillator,
which is also used as the feedback source for the crystal. So, it is used
apparently used as a synchronized 10 kHz source for the oscillator tube,
which is then operated as a mixer. So, we do not need the neon bulb to
operate at a high frequency.

73, Colin K7FM

COLIN LAMB wrote:
Ok, finally found a single tube 100 kHz. crystal oscillator that uses a neon
bulb relaxation oscillator that is synchronized to achieve 10 kHz signals.

Phase Locked Lightbulbs?

--
One phrase that explains 99% of all idiot driving:
"You can't block traffic if you're not in the way."