This is a Wimshurst generator bought on eBay that failed after a few weeks of use. The fault was tracked down to failing dielectric in the capacitors. With it working again thought it would be interesting to look at one of the main original uses. This experiment produces x-rays care has been taken to keep the energy levels and generation low for the demonstration. Crookes X-ray tubes are no longer used, their beam control and energy regulation were poor. The experiment should not be copied as the voltages can be higher than 60kV. There is also an implosion risk with a large vacuum tube and x-ray emission must be minimised and monitored. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTeJG2u-lsI

This radiation rate meter dates from the cold war and was manufactured in the early 1980’s. They were issued to the Observer Corps and designed for detection of nuclear weapon activity. These only registers high doses of gamma radiation and aren’t of any use for low radiation checking. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mpg99EoN8I

These large high voltage x-ray transformers not only generate very high voltages but also have high current capacity. The ratings for peak power can be in the order of x10 kW. This one, I think is, around 35kW with a potential of 150kV. Many smaller x-ray machines have the transformer and tube built into the head assembly. In this larger type, the head and PSU are housed in separate units. This video looks at the transformer and rectifying circuit. The transformer is designed to operate from an 8kHz AC supply normally driven with a half bridge inverter. For testing here, a H-bridge driver is being supplied with up to 30V 30A DC. As these transformers are designed to operate under oil and have a centre tap arrangement it can be difficult to modify them due to the likely hood of breakdown to chassis/ground. The design has similarities to the construction of some later TV flyback HV transformers with HV stages. However, as well as being many time larger, this transformer is full-wave and the core is not gapped as in flyback construction. CONTENT: 00:00 - Intro 00:58 - Testing 02:45 - Construction 10:20 - Modification 11:50 - Circuit diagram 12:49 - spark test ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkeYHma9hgs

Another cathode ray device, the Travelling Wave tube (TWT) is used in microwave communications and radar. Unlike magnetrons and similar to klystrons, it doesn’t create the wave but amplifies it. These linear beam tubes can have output energy in hundreds of kW where as this example has just a 1W output. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-DlgOoz978