Path: csiph.com!au2pb.net!usenet.blueworldhosting.com!feeder01.blueworldhosting.com!peer01.iad.highwinds-media.com!news.highwinds-media.com!feed-me.highwinds-media.com!not-for-mail From: lawrence@cluon.com Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: fluorescents, was: optimum power supply for subway/light rail lines References: <5932e6a1-4930-466c-8bb8-4baadf9e9e77@googlegroups.com> <87h9nn593w.fsf@cluon.com> Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2015 04:13:30 +0200 Message-ID: <87d1ya6blh.fsf@cluon.com> User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.1 (gnu/linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:hGFBzLrAxDIlWAW1A6HgBmuQxw8= MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Lines: 27 NNTP-Posting-Host: f02ee543.nascacom.com X-Trace: DXC=2Q>J@HPejB99AmIGXU7hU3W`f@h307X6:a^32Dd;7V`?G]aUJY[^[39[LYWaOX:WZ6e]kW;K8[nR writes: > [snip... STILL regarding "camping" lanterns with fluorescent tupes] > > Hmm, I'm thinking of my electronic flash units 1975ish which > had that rising frequency AC whine as the battery fed into > the capacitor [a], but I don't recall any similar noise > from the lanterns. Might just not have noticed. The one I have gives off a slight 'buzz', but nothing as fierce as the trigger-coil whine of old flash-tube strobes. > Didn't the lanterns have a manual "start" push button? > The one I have (which I inherited from my father, which I remember quite vividly buying in 1975) does. It runs off the quad-E 6V 'lantern' battery, just like an incandescent lantern would use, and has a single 9-inch U-shaped tube. I assume because the waste of a thermal starter would be unacceptable for battery operated portable gear, where spilling 5 or 10W of heat off the line at home would be a non-issue. Of course, if it were being engineered TODAY, there'd be no LC flyback supply, or electro-mechanical starter -- it'd all be done with nice power FETs and solid-state switches.