[time-nuts] Source of Rubidium Lamp for Efratom FRK

Chuck Harris cfharris at erols.com
Wed Jul 29 23:49:07 EDT 2015


Hi Mike,

The Rb lamp voltage is just a guide.  If your Rb isn't working, then it
is important... If it is, it is just a guide.

If your bulb is clear, and it is glowing, it is probably also working.

I seem to recall from HP's descriptions of how their 5065 was made
that the lamp, and filter cell are a specially matched set.  Just any
lamp is not necessarily going to work with any filter cell.

-Chuck Harris

Mike Niven wrote:
> Thanks for the comment Bob.  Tracing Efratom through the ages, I see they are now
> Microsemi.  I wonder whether they will still have a lamp for such a geriatric Rb
> source and at what price - probably more than the cost of the complete Racal
> 9475? I will follow it up anyway as I hardly ever see working or scrap FRKs for
> sale in the UK. --------------------------------------------
>> On Tue, 28/7/15, Bob Camp wrote:
>>
>> Hi
>>
>> The Efratom bulbs have a “magic mix” of gas in them. The only place I have ever
>>  bought them is direct from Efratom. They were fairly expensive back in the
>> early 90’s …
>>
>> Bob
>>
>>> On Jul 28, 2015, at 9:56 AM, Mike Niven <mfniven at ymail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Would anyone know of a source of the Rubidium bulb fitted in the Efratom FRK
>>> (and probably other FRx) standards?  I have repaired and refurbished my Racal
>>> 9475, which is fitted with the older style FRK (not -H or -L) module.  It is
>>> working properly at present but the lamp voltage is down to 5.5V, which is
>>> below the stated minimum of 6V.  I have tried rejuvenating the bulb using a
>>> hot air gun, as described by Corby, but this has had no obvious impact. Hence,
>>> I have little feel for how much life the existing lamp has left and a spare
>>> would be good for my peace of mind.
>>>
>>> Many thanks.
>>>
>>> Mike _______________________________________________
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