Re: Ignatrons for sale

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Ed Phillips by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <evp-at-pacbell-dot-net>

Tesla list wrote:
 >
 > Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" 
<Kidd6488-at-aol-dot-com>
 >
 > Hello everyone,
 >
 >         Can I ask, what is an ignatron?

	A bad spelling of IGNITRON, a very high current switch tube.  The tube
has a large pool of mercury in it, plus an anode to conduct current and
an auxilliary "igniter" electrode to initiate current flow.  A pulse on
the igniter switches the tube ON, and conduction continues as long as
the voltage across the tube is positive.  No good for RF, but great for
such things as spot welders.

Ed