For the first time anywhere on YouTube - nimo tube shootout! But slowly - in the old-school FranLab long format. Savor all the drama as I embark on a quest to test three different tubes in my nimo clock, one new-in-box nimo tube vs. two very used - and there are some surprises. Plus I set out to discover once and for all whether or not nimo tubes produce X-Rays. Enjoy!
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The original nimo tube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmWg7CtN0Ac
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By Fran

15 thoughts on “Nimo tube shootout! x-rays??”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Eric Muschlitz says:

    I’m cringing every time she puts fingers on the terminals!😬

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars FJ S says:

    Fran, it probably does emit soft x-rays as all electron tubes do but if your power supply is 1.7kv then 1.7KeV x-rays won't penetrate the glass of the tube. Most tube manufacturers eventually incorporated lead in the glass to block but who knows which one. That thing is really cool, thanks for sharing!!

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Michael allen says:

    You have three numbers you could make an actual three digit memo clock

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Mary Ann the Nytowl says:

    Hey, you're in my daddy's territory, now! He had a dedicated screwdriver set up for exactly that purpose, making sure the voltage is discharged safely. I may still have it somewhere, in fact! 🤔 Really cool to watch, I've gotta say – brings back some memories!

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Hola! Martin Maunder says:

    they look cool ,i think i like them better than nixie tubes

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Jim Davis says:

    I remember from school that you require over 25KV on the anode to produce X rays.

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Roy says:

    Fran, your devotion to and time spent modifying your socket assembly for the two new tubes seems a fitting tribute to the time and devotion of the engineers who originally designed the tubes back in 1059-67.

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Michael Jobin L W PYRO the O G says:

    My guess it is for a selector display.

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Vision Lightlab says:

    Exotic, dangerous, eerie & green. I like it!

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars James Harris says:

    Pretty Amazing Technology For The Day… Considering The Wheel Was Invented Only A Year Earlier… 😄
    Just Kidd'n… 😉

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Paul Bycroft says:

    Split Enz Mental Notes LP on the shelf, very nice

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars PuppetXeno says:

    You had to put it near-contact, not an inch away. Now I am not convinced yet. Also, is your geiger counter sensitive enough for the low keV energy being emitted?

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars George Gonzalez says:

    X rays don’t show up until you get above 13 kilovolts or so.

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars The Teenage Engineer says:

    This just takes me back to a few years ago, my great uncle was very into the field of electronics, and I was just getting into the field of electronics, he passed away 2 years ago, and his wife invited me and my grandpa to go and look at all his stuff and we could have whatever we wanted, my grandpa is a mechanical engineer while my great uncle was an electrical engineer, so they did work on some projects together, my grandpa did the mechanical stuff and my great uncle did the electrical stuff, when we went down to his basement to see what we could find, we found all kinds of tubes, my great uncle was still using some tubes up until he died, in the 40s during WW2 he built a TV for the family out of parts he found and bought. He had everything to do with tubes though, he had a tube tester, vacuum tube analog volt meters, all sorts of stuff, I should have grabbed more. My grandpa has some stuff old electronics stuff, but nowhere near the amount he had. But my grandpa did have a lot to do with electrical advances in the 60s 70s and 80s he worked for HP and made all sorts of stuff for them, he would mill circuit boards, and his biggest project was when he made the parts for the first ultrasound machine developed by HP.

  15. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Fran Blanche says:

    I failed to notice how much larger the digits are on the "new" nimo tube compared with my original burned one. Honestly, that formerly new-in-box tube looks amazing in the clock!

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