New method of thyratron ranging and diagnosis

The thyratron is a very common switching device in many high power pulse systems. However, it is difficult to diagnose the switching characteristics of the thyratron. From a convection heat transfer, we have discovered the diagnostic factor of the thyratron, for which the variation of the heater current occurs according to the variation of the internal gas pressure. By this diagnostic factor, the thyratron ranging and diagnosis is possible. We have verified the theoretical propriety of the diagnostic factor and confirmed that the assumption used in the theory is applicable to the thyratron. Using this diagnostic factor, we have designed and constructed an auto-ranging and auto-diagnosis device for the thyratron.