The Cathode-ray oscillograph has become an, indisiensable tool for various research works.
Among several similar types, Dufour's type has been used by several authors other than its originator and its excellent characteristic has been highly appreciated.
In working this oscillograph effectively, a considerable skill is required. This paper is the record of authors' experience of one year since the start of the work.
The blackening of the cathode was soon observed and we arranged the cathode to be detached from the tube; this principle has been also used independently by Dufour and Gabor.
In damp atmosphere there is appreciable surface leakage from cathode to anode, thus resulting in the unsteady focusing.
To overcome this difficulty, a special chamber is developed, and thus enabling the use of the oscillograph during the whole year. Without this device during 4-5 months the atmosphere is too damp (relative humidity ranging from 80% to above 90%) to get the oscillogram. The introduction of this chamber also lessened the blackening of the cathode.
The sweeping originally proposed by Dufour is to break the current in the sweeping coil by means of the mercury contact operated by the synchronous switch. To avoid the undesirable effect of mercury contact, a sweeping system using 50 cycle current was developed. Synchronous switch, high tension transformer and sweeping coils are fed from a ccmmon source of commercial power frequency. The current in the sweeping coil is always kept in quadrature with the voltage applied to the cathode, and the sweeping velocity is checked by measuring the current in coils. Another sweeping coil of higher velocity will be prepared before long. A synchronous switch of excellent flexibility is developed.
The deflecting coil and plate were found to be the unexpected source of error. The uniformity of the magnetic or electric field due to the field due to the deflecting coil or plate, especially of the former, was poorer than previously imagined. It is concluded that the deflecting coils should be placed nearer to the cathode than the deflecting plates.
The accuracy of the deflecting plates was computed from the theoretical basis, the report of the complete research will be published elsewhere by one of the authors.
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