Step by step: bench test of Moray's valve between two tank circuits (follow-up Q16)
Procedure page for answer A16 (Morray-TH). The reasoning, sources and the worked energy example are in the research notes. Added 2026-10-10 from the "Bench test" section of those notes.
What this can and cannot show
- It can show how three kinds of one-way element behave as the coupler between two resonant stages: a fast diode, a threshold gas tube (the reading closest to Moray's own description, Sea of Energy 4th ed. pp.55-56 and 139) and a non-reciprocal isolator. It shows whether the earlier stage "feels" the load, and how much energy passes per firing.
- It can test the question claims 3 and 4 turn on: does any configuration deliver more power to the load than it takes from the drive? No such measurement is on record for Moray's tubes.
- It cannot show what Moray's own tubes did. Their fill gases, firing voltages and stage frequencies are not in the pages read, and the p.115 cascade drawing is unreadable in the OCR.
What you need
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| Signal generator, with a small power amplifier if needed | drives tank A through a weak coupling (stands in for Moray's "harmonic coupling") |
| Two parallel LC tanks | A at about 200 kHz, B at about 100 kHz (half of A); film capacitors, air- or ferrite-core coils |
| Load resistor bank for tank B | open; 10 x and 1 x the tank's dynamic resistance |
| Valve 1: fast diode | 1N4148, or a germanium point contact (closer to a crystal "stone") |
| Valve 2: threshold gas tube | small neon or gas-discharge surge arrester, striking about 70-90 V, maintaining about 50-60 V |
| Valve 3: isolator | coaxial ferrite isolator (needs the test rescaled to 30-50 MHz) or an active buffer amplifier as the one-way control |
| Two-channel oscilloscope, current probe or shunt | for true power (voltage and current in phase), tank voltages and phase |
| Second signal generator | to drive tank B backwards for the reverse-leakage test |
Assumptions
| Id | Assumption | Status |
|---|---|---|
| B1 | A neon tube or surge arrester behaves like Moray's "valve" (ionises at a set voltage, goes out when the voltage falls) | Stated: based on his description (pp.55-56, "much like a bucket brigade"), not on a surviving tube |
| B2 | 200 kHz and 100 kHz stand in for his stage frequencies | Stated: his frequencies are not recorded. If the tube fails to go out between cycles, lower both tanks to about 10-20 kHz (neon needs tens of microseconds to deionise) |
| B3 | Power readings are true power | Tested: measure voltage and current together and use their in-phase part; check the meter on a plain resistor first |
Predictions to write down first
| Measurement | Diode | Threshold gas tube | Isolator |
|---|---|---|---|
| When it conducts | every cycle above 0.3-0.7 V | once every few cycles, when tank A's voltage reaches the striking voltage | continuously, one way |
| Tank B between transfers | carries a DC offset; little stepping down unless B is exactly half of A | rings freely between firings | driven continuously |
| Drive power as the load on B increases | rises | rises: the earlier stage "feels" the load through the charge each firing passes | does not change: unused power heats the isolator's termination |
| Leakage back from B to A | through the diode's capacitance | only through the tube's picofarad capacitance between firings | very small |
| Power to the load against power from the drive | less | less | less |
The last row is the prediction from energy conservation. The question claims 3 and 4 turn on is whether any configuration breaks it.
Steps
- Build and check. Tune tank A to 200 kHz and tank B to 100 kHz, each alone. Measure each tank's dynamic resistance and Q. Check the power meter on a plain resistor.
- Set the drive. Couple the generator weakly to tank A. Fix the drive level for all runs.
- Valve 1 (diode). Put the diode between the tanks. For each load (open, 10 x, 1 x): record (1) true power from the generator, (2) power in the load, (3) tank A voltage, (4) tank B phase against the generator's divided-down reference. - Expected: conduction every cycle, a DC offset on B, drive power rising with load, load power below drive power.
- Valve 2 (gas tube). Raise tank A until the tube strikes. Repeat the same four readings for each load. Count firings per cycle on the scope. - Expected: firing every n cycles, B ringing freely between firings, drive power rising with load ("the draft of the current adapted to the load"), load power below drive power. - Plot energy per firing against load and compare with the worked example in the notes. With 10 nF tanks at 1,000 V and a 100 V tube drop: 2.55 mJ per firing into B at 300 V, 3.2 mJ with B loaded down to 100 V.
- Valve 3 (isolator). Rescale both tanks to 30-50 MHz for a coaxial isolator, or use a buffer amplifier at the original frequencies. Repeat the readings. - Expected: drive power independent of the load; unused power heats the termination.
- Reverse leakage. With each valve in place, drive tank B from the second generator at a slightly different frequency. Measure how much signal reaches tank A. - Expected: isolation set by the diode's capacitance (valve 1), the tube's capacitance between firings (valve 2), the isolator's rating (valve 3).
- Phase. With the gas tube, detune B slightly (about 20 Hz) and change the load. Record B's phase. - Expected: a resistive load changes amplitude; phase moves only with detuning (example from the notes: Q from 50 to 40 at 20 Hz off moves the phase from 11.5 to 9.2 degrees).
Decision rule
- Gas-tube reading of the valve supported if the gas tube, alone of the three, gives firing every few cycles, free ringing between firings, and drive power that follows the load.
- Net-energy question: if any configuration delivers more true power to the load than it takes from the drive, by more than the measurement error, on repeated runs, that would be the first record of it. Energy conservation predicts that none will.
Safety
- Tank voltages of hundreds of volts and stored energy in the millijoules can give painful shocks and burns. Discharge capacitors before touching them, and use insulated probes.
- Gas-discharge arresters can fail short. Fuse the drive.
Record sheet
| Valve | Frequencies | Load | Drive power (true) | Load power | Tank A V | Tank B phase | Firings per cycle | Reverse leakage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sources
- Research notes: 2026-10-08-followup-Q16 (Moray pp.55-56, 116, 139; Wien's quenched gap; Adler's equation after Razavi 2004; antenna absorption after Gustafsson 2012; isolator frequency ranges).
- Moray, The Sea of Energy in Which the Earth Floats, 4th ed., pp.55-56, 115-116, 139.