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Thread: Need help starting an ALC-60X Argon

  1. #21
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    Posts
    129

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    1, 3, 5 - Those are not Fibonacci numbers

    The thought has crossed my mind, but the logistics will be unfun. We went to South Carolina for the eclipse last year, and it was quite a fiasco. Need a few more years before a major trip is in the cards. SELEM is a great event, and I will be back.

  2. #22
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Charleston, SC
    Posts
    2,147,489,446

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    Yeah, I live in Charleston, and for those to traveled into town the eclipse was a bit of a bust. Even some of the locals got skunked.

    I watched the weather like a hawk that day and decided early on to head inland a bit to dodge the building clouds. Set up in Monck's Corner and thought we would be just fine, but about 20 minutes after it started the clouds started getting closer, so in desperation I jumped back in the car and speed further inland to near St. Stevens. Managed to park and get out the lawnchairs with about 10 minutes to go before totality. What a show! And sure enough, about 10 minutes after we came out of totality, the clouds finally reached us. But at least we got to see it!

    Adam

  3. #23
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    Posts
    129

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    Glad you made out ok. We wanted to go to Charleston, but for some reason, I decided Columbia would be our best bet. I think I thought the coast would have more chance of clouds. We had a 14 hour ride from Philly with thunderstorms and traffic the whole way down. 2 month old daughter in the car, with 2 other toddlers. I booked a hotel late, and the best thing I could get was a 2 star hotel in Lexington, but when we got there (at 4am) it was basically -2 star; musty, smoky, bugs, filthy dirty, it was a damn nightmare. After 8 hours in that hell, we managed to snag a last minute cancellation at a Hyatt Place in the city (at regular rates!) and the rest of our stay we felt like we won the lottery.

    We scouted out a secluded spot in a cul-de-sac of a brand new housing development with no houses. We were right on Lake Murray and watched the whole eclipse in private from first sliver to last with no cloud interruptions whatsoever. Clouds came in as we were packing up to go back to the hotel. Could not have asked for a better viewing experience, but the thought of long distance travel is quite unappealing for now.

    Anyway, I haven't had a chance to work on the coil or the laser recently, but I do have a few ideas to get the coil apart.

  4. #24
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    Posts
    129

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    Well, I'm an idiot - there were two screws covered in wax at the bottom of the coil unit. Got it fully apart and found two broken wires and soldered them back together. Now the unit hums, but no output at the probe tip.
    The magnet coil has resistance, so I suspect the capacitor is bad.
    I'll probably just a get a new unit so I can get back to the laser.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 20180617_164006.jpg  

    20180617_170419.jpg  


  5. #25
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Posts
    145

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    Electro Technic sells a replacement cap, if you wanted to repair the existing unit.

  6. #26
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Cherry Hill, NJ
    Posts
    129

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    Well, I think this tube is dead.

    I got a new BD-10AS (the internal bakelite bracket was cracked clean through on my old one, and I think that's why it isn't working).
    I gave it some sparks near the cooling box on both the cathode and anode side, but nothing happened.

    I can't even get the cathode side to come on to take the tube current measurement.

    The head just clicks and clicks, with the anode side giving a weak flash on every click, and the cathode side giving an occasional flicker.

    I did have a dream I was at SELEM last night, but I forgot to bring the laser.

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