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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Finally got it going - first Hene

Joined
Mar 10, 2013
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Seems to be a lot of firsts lately LOL :)

After much reading, research and luck, I finally fired up my HeNe tube.
I have to be honest as i have never done it there was much trepidation.
But with the success, i had to finally post and share!!

Thank you all for the great information provided in the forums.
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Joined
Mar 23, 2011
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Congrats on getting it up and going. There is nothing quite like a nice plasma glow. Good job on getting a good beam shot too. It's not that easy to do with all the light from the plasma.
 
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Mar 10, 2013
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Thanks! I was a little shocked when I pushed the button and it just lit up. But it is so frickin' cool! Looking forward to doing more...
 

daguin

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Mar 29, 2008
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There is very little more exciting than the thrill one gets when putting power to someting like this the first time

Nicely done

Peace,
dave
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2010
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Enjoy the HeNe. It's something that I think every serious laser enthusiast should have in their collection. I really need (ok want!) to get a bigger red tube like that since my only bare red tube has about an inch of plasma showing.


One piece of advice I give to all new bare tube HeNe owners:

Just be careful after you turn the laser off. The tube can hold a pretty decent charge that can zap you. While the shock, which feels like a nasty static electricity shock, is harmless in 99.99999% of people it will hurt like hell and could cause you to drop your tube which would suck. There are ways to discharge it quickly such as shorting out the leads coming from the tube if they're not permanently connected to the PSU or you could always wear gloves to insulate yourself from it. I have a cheap pair of winter gloves I paid like $2 from the hardware store a couple years ago that work fine for when I need to move a tube that's been recently run. Any cheap work gloves (preferably leather) should work fine as long as they don't have a real loose weave that could allow an easy path to ground for the tube. Of course the easiest way is to just let the tube self discharge on its own. How long it takes varies by tube but I'd guess an hour or two would probably be safe. O

I'm not trying to scare you but it's something that all bare tube HeNe owners need to be aware of so they don't find out the hard way!
 

DJZ

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Aug 27, 2008
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One piece of advice I give to all new bare tube HeNe owners:

Just be careful after you turn the laser off. The tube can hold a pretty decent charge that can zap you.

Very good advice, I too learned this the hard way. You tend to gain a good bit more respect for bare gas tubes after getting nailed by a HeNe!

Some fun with a bare HeNe tube: HeNe Laser in a Microwave - YouTube
 
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
Messages
956
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Lol i have bare co2. It hold BIG spark. i ground it bofor handling positive wire or tuching the tube's buisiness end
 
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
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Lol i have bare co2. It hold BIG spark. i ground it bofor handling positive wire or tuching the tube's buisiness end

Meatball know big spark well. Sometimes big spark bite Meatball. Meatball forgive big spark most time.
 




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