Neon tube characteristics

Information supplementing and confirming the studies of voltage and current waves in neon tubes published in a previous issue of ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING are presented herewith. It is shown that there is a peaked starting voltage at the beginning of each wave, the current is practically zero at this point, the time during which the current wave remains at zero is negligible for a properly processed tube, and flickering will occur if the current remains at zero for even one-third cycle. Information on transformer regulation also is given.