Re: Golka's Wendover "secret" gap

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Original poster: Russell L Thornton <Russell.L.Thornton@xxxxxxxx>


Greetings All,
As a temporary lurker here I usually refrain from comments and leave 
it to the experts.  However in the case of SF6 I do have some experience.
I have 17 years of radar experience with the Air Force and we use it 
in the waveguides of high powered radars.  The purpose is to provide 
additional insulation above normal compressed air or 
nitrogen.  Typically our pressures are lower than the 45 PSI 
mentioned in Jim's website.  I don't have a copy of the curves with 
me but I believe that increasing the pressure asymptotically 
approaches a limiting insulation effect.  My main point is that the 
idea is to NOT have an arc in our systems.  If an arc does occur it 
converts the SF6 into a white power that must be removed by 
maintenance before resuming operation.  I cannot imagine designing a 
system that continuous exposed SF6 to arcing.  Maybe that is why it 
was a secret!
An alternative that I noticed in the Reference Data For Radio 
Engineers is Freon 12 ( I know, It's an old copy).  However, R134a is 
still real similar to its predecessor and may exhibit similar 
insulating characteristics.  It might be worth some 
experimentation.  Then that could be a secret!
Cheers,
Russ


Aerospace Corporation