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Thread: Old Laser Scam?

  1. #1
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    Default Old Laser Scam?

    The plasma tube on Ebay now in the link below is really strange. Neither Sam G., Phil B., nor I have seen anything like it and we all think it's nonsense. John Ekstrand (the oldest employee at SP, there since the mid-'60s) says it uses no parts from SP and certainly wasn't made there. The sticker doesn't look like any SP sticker I've seen. The guy wants an insane amount for it, and drops my name to give it credibility. Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone here can recognize the metal ends on it, or has any idea why someone would make such a thing.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/252985984745...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

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    swamidog is online now Jr. Woodchuckington Janitor III, Esq.
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    nothing the geographic location of the laser, maybe you should drive over there and set things straight.

    Quote Originally Posted by Eidetic View Post
    The plasma tube on Ebay now in the link below is really strange. Neither Sam G., Phil B., nor I have seen anything like it and we all think it's nonsense. John Ekstrand (the oldest employee at SP, there since the mid-'60s) says it uses no parts from SP and certainly wasn't made there. The sticker doesn't look like any SP sticker I've seen. The guy wants an insane amount for it, and drops my name to give it credibility. Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone here can recognize the metal ends on it, or has any idea why someone would make such a thing.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/252985984745...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
    suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconciousness.

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    Hmm so its a Helium neon argon ion laser tube, wow! never knew something like that existed LOL Ebay Scammers love to use that word Rare. Looks like an old hunk of junk. 800 dollars buys a lot of Budweiser.
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    I spotted that yesterday, I particularly liked the glass is 'slightly cracked in one spot' in the description, and I can't imagine why he hasn't tested it!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Eidetic View Post
    ...John Ekstrand ..says it uses no parts from SP and certainly wasn't made there. The sticker doesn't look like any SP sticker I've seen
    Uh, well.. I know you guys aren't the 'best of /pol pals' but.. Might try giving Pat B (Laserman532) a ping on it.. He was an SP-Man for many years, and Did work quite a bit with their glass-line.. Don't know if he'd be able to 'call it', either, but I know he knows thier stuff well.. You could / should also check with Sir Bohan, up in ol' Fremont.. He knows their glass-line / history pretty well, too..

    ..I'd concur, for Sure was not any kind of 'production model', and while I recall seeing somewhat-similar stickers on the Reeeally old 164-heads (inside, on the resonator-plates, usually..) it's definitely a 'Frankensticker' at best... How Big is this thing, any idea? Looks kinda small, but.. I'm guessing about 16 - 18" long? Hard to tell for sure...

    ..Maybe if he loses a Zero or two, before the decimal-point, it might be worth a peruse?

    Quote Originally Posted by NobleGas View Post
    ...I particularly liked the glass is 'slightly cracked in one spot' in the description...
    Heh, ya think? http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/KGAAAO...-v/s-l1600.jpg ..only Slightly cracked.. As-about like being 'slightly pregnant'.. Well, whatever it Was, it ain't, anymore, that's for sure..

    I suppose the P'fessor will come in here, soon, and tell us all what it is, what year it was made, what obscure Bulgarian Scientist they copped the design from, where to find the (partial) white-paper, and what he had for lunch on that eureka! October day in 1963..

    j
    ....and armed only with his trusty 21 Zorgawatt KTiOPO4...

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    The Serial number shows 385 and in small cottage industry manufacturing serial numbers can represent the number of units made so this may have been number 385 of the production run.
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    Post deleted, I looked at the picture again, and noticed something wrong with my analysis.
    ~
    It is a prototype RF excited ion laser design of some sort.
    ~
    I'm sure it was a real attempt at making an inductive excited laser with a ceramic bore. Probably by an academic and his pet glassblower.
    The water cooled induction coil is consistent with 1970s attempts at RF powered lasing, which turned out to be horribly in-efficient.
    ~
    Note the sticker under the sticker.
    ~
    Spectra's published early inductive design used a glass loop to couple the plasma from the excitation coil to the bore, which is way different from this design with a direct copper induction coil around the bore.
    !
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    Last edited by mixedgas; 06-15-2017 at 15:44.
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    Eidetic, mahoosive PMs sent on glassblowing and structural details.. No, I don't know or have a clue who made it. I suspect Uncle Bob, in the Library, With a Candlestick. Yes, its a valid ion laser prototype of some sort.

    Steve
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    I really appreciate the comments, and the information. It's a shame the tube is broken, and without any kind of documentation. And I need to soften my rhetoric.

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    Quote Originally Posted by mixedgas View Post
    Eidetic, mahoosive PMs sent on glassblowing and structural details.. No, I don't know or have a clue who made it. I suspect Uncle Bob, in the Library, With a Candlestick. Yes, its a valid ion laser prototype of some sort.

    Steve
    based on the yellow stains on the label, i would guess it was colonel mustard...
    suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconciousness.

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