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Ideas for Flash tube funniness

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Grant

Tue Feb 14 2006, 08:14PM

Registered Member #7 Joined: Thu Feb 02 2006, 04:32AM
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 18

I'd say go-ahead set up a sequential flash unit. I've heard that idea thrown around several times but I don't recall seeing any that were actually built.

As for getting disposable cameras, as Pete said persistence helps. You may only get a handful of cameras on every trip but if you make it routine that adds up quickly. Or you might just get lucky like I did once and walk away from a single store with 3 grocery bags full of cameras.

Dr. Slack

Wed Feb 15 2006, 01:13PM

Registered Member #72 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 08:29AM
Location: UK St. Albans
Posts: 1659

Or you might just get lucky like I did once and walk away from a single store with 3 grocery bags full of cameras.

The stress of hunter/gatherer is not right for everyone, including me, I got chased out of Jessops once for my temerity in asking for their used cameras. Dairy farmer is more my style, know where your herd is going to be at milking time. Take some time to find the medium sized low budget supermarket that doesn't recycle, and "do them a favour" by putting a bin in their photoshop. Fix a lid on marked "cameras only" with a small hole in it, or it will fill up with wipes and floor sweepings saturated with nasty chemicals. Go empty it once a week, be nice and tell them if you're going to be away. Be efficient and ruthless about disposing of the left-overs, or you'll be knee-deep in months.

Dr. Shark

Wed Feb 15 2006, 01:22PM

Registered Member #75 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 09:30AM
Location: Montana, USA
Posts: 711

Another idea: If you are willing to take up the challenge, you could try pumping a small YAG or Ruby rod with a bunch of flashtubes for a small pulsed laser. You can probably push those tubes to 20J without exploding them, and surrounding a rod with 10 tubes for 200J would easily get it to threshold. You cannot put flashtubes in parallel, but you would have to series them. This would actually be an advantage, as with a higher voltge (a few kV instead of a few 100V) you can power them with a proper pulse cap. If you are interested I have a reference on a photoflash YAG laser.

Pete

Thu Feb 16 2006, 12:53AM

Registered Member #106 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 09:39PM
Location: Portland, OR and Istanbul, Turkey
Posts: 47

Actually yes. The YAG laser was an idea I had but I didn't know if the photoflash tubes were the right material to pump the crystal. I would love the reference. Thanks.

Pete

Dr. Shark

Thu Feb 16 2006, 08:35AM

Registered Member #75 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 09:30AM
Location: Montana, USA
Posts: 711

there you go! Acutally there is not a lot about the pumping scheme, but its proof that it works.

has some information too, altough he uses bigger photoflash tubes.

Man, this makes me want to get back into lasers! Maybe we should take the thread to the EM board for more discussion?

Madgyver

Thu Feb 16 2006, 11:32AM

Registered Member #177 Joined: Wed Feb 15 2006, 02:16PM
Location: Munich, Germany
Posts: 214

Firkragg wrote ...

Maybe noo need to use fotoflash circuits, just charge some capacitors >(microwawe oven maybe)
and discharge trough paralleled tubes...

Can't do. One of them will ignite first and consume all the current.

Pete

Thu Feb 16 2006, 09:43PM

Registered Member #106 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 09:39PM
Location: Portland, OR and Istanbul, Turkey
Posts: 47

Madgyver wrote ...

Can't do. One of them will ignite first and consume all the current.

Exactly. But, to fire more than one, we can use the microwave caps to fire them in series. Very doable I think. What is the rating of a Microwave cap? 2500v I think? So we can get about 8 in a series. I have an unimaginable supply of broken microwaves if I need. I know if at least 4 or 5 that I can readily get my hands on back home. So no problem on the caps. So I think we deffinently have 2 good projects to do with flash tubes.

1. Build a sequencial strobe light/Column/bar
2. YAG laser (If money allows)

Pete

Marko

Thu Feb 16 2006, 09:55PM

Registered Member #89 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 02:40PM
Location: Zadar, Croatia
Posts: 3145

Did I say paralell .. sorry im thinking one and saying other paralell doesnt make sense as volage is very high, you dont need 3kV on each tube...
few in series will be OK maybe a trigger circuit would be needed?
(im soo dumb)

Electroholic

Fri Feb 17 2006, 02:53AM

Registered Member #191 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 02:01AM
Location: Esbjerg Denmark
Posts: 720

first post*
I have been using BBQ ignitor to trigger flash tubes, very easy and effective.

Self Defenestrate

Fri Feb 17 2006, 03:14AM

Registered Member #87 Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 01:36PM
Location: San Jose
Posts: 191

The place I frequent for cameras just show me to the huge barrels full and lets me take what I want. I'll end up taking home three or four garbage bag fulls of just kodak max cameras, and as such, I've got hundreds of the tubes as well. Something I enjoyed doing was bending the reflector around the tube, setting a lens on top, and powering it with a bank of flash caps. I managed to get a burn prick in paper with 200j, but I also got a burst tube. Pouring a bunch into a pie tin and putting it ontop of a tc could be cool.

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