A low power-loss circuit for thyratron test and evaluation

A cheater circuit technique for thyratron evaluation is examined in detail. The design, construction and operation of a pilot circuit based on the technique is described. A CX1825 thyratron is operated in the circuit, where the current pulse is 1000 A peak with a half-sinusoidal base width of 11 μs, the anode voltage is 35 kV, and the pulse repetition rate is 500-600 p.p.s. With an average current of 4 A, the pilot circuit thus operates at an effective thyratron average power of 70 kW, but only consumes 1350 W of circuit power, representing a power bill reduction factor in excess of 50. A CX1536 thyratron is operated in a higher-power version of the cheater circuit at an effective average power of 250 kW, with an anode voltage of 50 kV and a peak current of 2.1 kA at 1100 p.p.s. It is concluded that the technique represents an effective and versatile means of evaluating thyratrons at high average powers, particularly where only moderate peak powers are required