rectifier switching noise

[Chuck H]

... there may not be anything at all except the math.

Then he pressed "enter" and was absorbed. Transcending mind and flesh to become pure energy.

[Enzo]

RG fights for the users, against the evil master control program.



(Now THERE is a nerd reference...)


I was a physics major in college, I ought to know some of this. Ought to...

It is handy to think of electrons as little balls when envisioning them racing from a cathode to splat against a plate. But just like the water metaphor, it is just a handy crutch.

The double slit experiment demonstrated that photons are particles... no wait, that they are waves... no wait... I always thought that experiment demonstrated that our descriptions/definitions of photons were inadequate to describe the actual phenomenon. That I think is the real problem rather than any apparent paradox.


Air has mass, what is its shape?

[potatofarmer]

The double slit experiment demonstrated that photons are particles... no wait, that they are waves... no wait... I always thought that experiment demonstrated that our descriptions/definitions of photons were inadequate to describe the actual phenomenon. That I think is the real problem rather than any apparent paradox.

Yeah! Analogies often get us in trouble, though most of us don't have it as bad as Erwin Schrodinger who came up with this idea about a cat that clearly showed the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics was absurd...

What really baked my noodle with QM was stuff like phosphorescence. "So this electron absorbs a photon and goes to a higher energy level, but the only way for it to release a photon and go back down would require it to flip its spin, which should be impossible, but it turns out it just takes a little longer than usual." Oh, okay.

[Jazz P Bass]

I would imagine that the term "Spin" is what got you.

Spin cannot be described in Classical physics.

In Quantum physics, spin starts out simply as a quantum number.
One of many numbers that describe the state of subatomic particles.

But spin is a real entity.

http://www.qudev.ethz.ch/phys4/PHYS4...10v1_2page.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_(physics)

[potatofarmer]

Oh yeah, I know. I managed to do pretty well for one semester of QM after one semester of thermodynamics (the physical chemistry 1-2 punch). It was just the spin-forbidden transitions that got me, and that "glow in the dark" was so amazingly complicated and improbable on a QM scale but relegated to dollar-store wristwatches in the Newtonian world.

Maybe cats really understand lasers and that's why they're so fascinated by them.

[trem]

Air has mass, what is its shape?

I realize this may have been a bit of a rhetorical comment, but.......
... are you "just" making a point...or are you implying that the shape of an electron(s) is abstract, like the shape of air.?
Also...air is not oxygen, it is made of several other elements. Are electrons similar to air in That Respect as well.?
Thank You
ps.....I hope you guys can understand MY Understanding of an electron.
I view an electron as a "planetary" type of thing.....like you see in a text book...where a "round" electron(s) is in orbit(s) around a Nucleus.....a bunch of tiny round balls locked in circular existence so to speak.

[Jazz P Bass]

Well you can view electrons as little tiny balls.
As Enzo stated, if it helps in visualizing how a vacuum tube works, go for it.

R.G. described electrons how they are.
They are not point particles, as such.
When dealing with quantum mechanics, the electron must be viewed as a smeared charge.

Aside: I don't know if anybody read the article (http://www.qudev.ethz.ch/phys4/PHYS4...10v1_2page.pdf) but Hund's Rule was brought up.
This is what the I found cool: "ferromagnetism of the 3d metals iron (Fe26), cobalt (Co27) and nickel (Ni28) is a
consequence of Hund's rule."

[trem]

Well you can view electrons as little tiny balls.
As Enzo stated, if it helps in visualizing how a vacuum tube works, go for it.

R.G. described electrons how they are.
They are not point particles, as such.
When dealing with quantum mechanics, the electron must be viewed as a smeared charge.

Aside: I don't know if anybody read the article (http://www.qudev.ethz.ch/phys4/PHYS4...10v1_2page.pdf) but Hund's Rule was brought up.
This is what the I found cool: "ferromagnetism of the 3d metals iron (Fe26), cobalt (Co27) and nickel (Ni28) is a
consequence of Hund's rule."

Thanks for reiterating that point.
I will not pretend to have the education nor the intellectual horsepower to understand this "stuff".
I did read some of your guys links and catch phrases:
Smear
Wave Structure
Quantum
etc etc
It all gets very heady, and honestly is plain beyond my grasp.
And again, you guys are 100% correct.....my basic need for understanding the "flow of electrons" will pretty much be limited to 1940's audio technology and the basic home wiring of everyday items.
I DO appreciate the degrees you guys have, and the associated knowledge and expertise that go along with it.
It's a topic that I really have no place participating in.
Now.....just like round, marble-esque, Free Electron, I will jump to anther thread.
Thank You All So Much

[jpfamps]

The rectifier switching spikes in the HT get into the audio by first capacitively coupling to the heater supply, and them capacitively coupling from the heater supply to the valve cathode.

If you 'scope the filament supply with and without the HT on then you can see these switching spikes appear on the filament supply.

It's best of course to eliminate these at source, and various strategies are listed above, including DC filamrnt supplies. I've also seen RC filtering before the rectifier.

You can try tying both sides of the filament supply to ground with a largish film cap, a common mode choke in the LT supply or a separate filament transformer.

[R.G.]

The rectifier switching spikes in the HT get into the audio by first capacitively coupling to the heater supply, and them capacitively coupling from the heater supply to the valve cathode.

If you 'scope the filament supply with and without the HT on then you can see these switching spikes appear on the filament supply.

Well, that's certainly ONE way they can get in. They can also get in by ringing the wiring L-C parasitics and radiating in as radio waves and being detected like your neighbor's illegal citizens' band radio transmitter. And by direct capacitive coupling into grids.

And probably other paths - Mother Nature is perverse.

[Electronican]

Tunnel diode acts like a negative resistance, whereas after reaching the “valley point” diode current increases once again and its characteristics covers with characteristics of normal semiconductor diode. It is also worth to be noted that in case of tunnel diode there is no retaining action at reversing voltage.
Tunnel diode are used in high-speed action pulse systems (for example in the electronic logic circuits of calculating machines), mobile microwave equipment, signal broadband amplifiers and frequency generation systems with frequencies above 300 MHz

Description, definition and characteristic here:
Tunnel Diode - Characteristic, symbol, definition

[LarsHudec]

You are saying that the diode is not going ON at the time when the signal from transformer is coming. The only cause is that the frequency of your signal is too high otherwise it is impossible. Can you please tell what frequency signal and transformer you are using? Also what is the specification of your diodes? If your frequency is too high then you must choose the diodes according to your transformer frequency and signal strength.