Building a Hamamatsu phototube flame scanner @Marbslab

Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago

#UVTRON #Flamesensor #hamamatsu #R2868 #wildfire
A 3D-printed 360° flame scanner based on the Hamamatsu UVTRON R2868 phototube. I designed it for my terrestrial rover to detect wildfires early on. A slip ring and a bus servo with a magnetic encoder ensure smooth movements. The YouTube channel Project 326 has also created a great video about the R2868 phototube: youtube.com/watch?v=yh_ctoDg_v4

Building a Hamamatsu phototube flame scanner

$Powering a Geissler tube by hand #wimshurst #geissler #helium In this video, I show you how to operate a Geissler tube with a Wimshurst machine. The Wimshurst machine is from AliExpress, and the Geissler tube is from eBay. Geissler tubes are filled with various gases at low pressure, with metal electrodes at each end. A high voltage of several thousand volts is applied between the electrodes. The high voltage ionizes the gas, causing it to give off light by fluorescence in a glow discharge. The color of the light depends on the gas used. To give it a vintage look, I made a new base from lime wood and tube holders from turned wood. I also made the brass wire connections myself and paid attention to other historical details. My Geissler tube is filled with helium. I checked this with a diffraction grating by looking at the spectral lines.$

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