Early Sylvania Roundie on the 'Bay

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by Steve McVoy

Would it be possible to use high voltage zeners to make a replacement coretron? I see 300v 1w zeners available for about 10 cents each at Mouser. The 70 or so needed for 20kv could fit in the old can.

That's an interesting thought - even if the regulator had to draw 3 ma max, that would be 0.9 watts each. I assume that would require heat sinking? The hardest thing might be assembling the string in such a way as to avoid arcing over or gradual carbon tracking of whatever you mounted the diodes on.