Frank's Electron tube Pages

	Frank's Electron tube Pages
	Frank's Electron tube Pages
	Unknown Items	www.tubedata.org www.tubedata.info

2005-05-11 .. 2006-12-10
These were some unknown items but thanks to some interesting responses the riddle is solved! See responses below.
The serial numbers are worn so they are no help. They appear to be housed in a WW1 artillery shell. There is a thin rod running the length with a glass bottom and adjusting nuts at the top. The rod is not attached at the bottom, but is very ridged. When shaken, the rod vibrates much like a tuning fork would. They are under vacuum.

Thanks for your response!
2005-06-11
Jack Swindell Looking at the page, especially the bottom image reminds me of early hand-made Geiger-Mueller tubes. Just a thought.
2005-06-12
Jack Swindell Here is an interesting page of historical Geiger tubes. Back then, they patched together some interesting looking tubes for the purpose: http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/GMs/GMs.htm And some other old and interesting things: http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/glassbits.html If I ever stumble into any notes about early experimental tubes being built in shell casings, I'll send you a link.
2005-08-21
Seppo Töllikkö
Helsinki/Finland I do not have an exact answer, but consider this possibility. Those five unknown WW1 items can be triggers for naval (sea) mines. I have a faint idea that I have seen/read years ago of something similar.
2005-06-12
Jack Swindell Here is an interesting page of historical Geiger tubes. Back then, they patched together some interesting looking tubes for the purpose: http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/GMs/GMs.htm And some other old and interesting things: http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/glassbits.html If I ever stumble into any notes about early experimental tubes being built in shell casings, I'll send you a link.
2006-02-04
Dave
I doubt they were used in an artillery shell, most were armed utilizing the spin of the projectile and a mechanical arming device (fuze). A water mine, was and is pretty simple, an in line firing mechanism, one in each finger protruding from the mine, you run into it, "BANG". Due to it being in a vacuum, would keep it from vibrating under normal conditions, but say you drive some heavy equipment over it, say a truck, especially a tank would cause it to oscillate , a land mine triggering device ? Just some input.
2006-12-10
George Kamin
These tubes are all Gieger-Mueller tubes used for detecting gamma radiation. The bottom most tube has a thin mica window on it covered by an aluminum cap. In the photo, one can even see the thickness of the mica given in milligrams per square centimeter. The three tubes above it may be experimental in nature, but they also should have very thin end windows. They are not entirely filled with "vacuum" as speculated, but contain low pressure argon gas (~100 Torr) and a trace amount of an arc-quench gas like ethanol or isopropyl alcohol or a halogen gas like freon. The rod down the center is an anode for collecting electrons created in the ionizing event when a gamma/beta particle stops in the gas. This rod is usually biased to + 500 to +1200 volts with respect to the case of the tube.
A good description of the tube can be found here: wikipedia

Thanks for your response!
2005-06-11 Jack Swindell	Looking at the page, especially the bottom image reminds me of early hand-made Geiger-Mueller tubes. Just a thought.
2005-06-12 Jack Swindell	Here is an interesting page of historical Geiger tubes. Back then, they patched together some interesting looking tubes for the purpose: http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/GMs/GMs.htm And some other old and interesting things: http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/glassbits.html If I ever stumble into any notes about early experimental tubes being built in shell casings, I'll send you a link.
2005-08-21 Seppo Töllikkö Helsinki/Finland	I do not have an exact answer, but consider this possibility. Those five unknown WW1 items can be triggers for naval (sea) mines. I have a faint idea that I have seen/read years ago of something similar.
2005-06-12 Jack Swindell	Here is an interesting page of historical Geiger tubes. Back then, they patched together some interesting looking tubes for the purpose: http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/GMs/GMs.htm And some other old and interesting things: http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/glassbits.html If I ever stumble into any notes about early experimental tubes being built in shell casings, I'll send you a link.
2006-02-04 Dave	I doubt they were used in an artillery shell, most were armed utilizing the spin of the projectile and a mechanical arming device (fuze). A water mine, was and is pretty simple, an in line firing mechanism, one in each finger protruding from the mine, you run into it, "BANG". Due to it being in a vacuum, would keep it from vibrating under normal conditions, but say you drive some heavy equipment over it, say a truck, especially a tank would cause it to oscillate , a land mine triggering device ? Just some input.
2006-12-10 George Kamin	These tubes are all Gieger-Mueller tubes used for detecting gamma radiation. The bottom most tube has a thin mica window on it covered by an aluminum cap. In the photo, one can even see the thickness of the mica given in milligrams per square centimeter. The three tubes above it may be experimental in nature, but they also should have very thin end windows. They are not entirely filled with "vacuum" as speculated, but contain low pressure argon gas (~100 Torr) and a trace amount of an arc-quench gas like ethanol or isopropyl alcohol or a halogen gas like freon. The rod down the center is an anode for collecting electrons created in the ionizing event when a gamma/beta particle stops in the gas. This rod is usually biased to + 500 to +1200 volts with respect to the case of the tube. A good description of the tube can be found here: wikipedia