re building a uv flashlight in article c r lz n panix com jhawk panix com john hawkinson writes one other thing a friend of mine mentioned something about near uv light being cheaper to get at than actual uv light does anyone know what he was referring to i don t want to get into a semantic argument but contrary to some other postings near uv light is actual uv light the near means that it is close to the visible spectrum i e of relatively long wavelength not that it is nearly uv i m sure you can figure out now just what far uv is regular incandenscent flashlight bulbs emit tiny amounts of uv in the near end of the spectrum such that a filter can be used to remove the visible light and thus create a weak uv source stronger sources are going to require gas probably mercury vapor discharge tubes such as fluorescent tubes with uv phosphor be careful though strong uv sources can cause physiological damage especially to the eyes the shorter wavelengths are the most dangerous it wouldn t project a beam like a flashlight but replacing the tubes in a portable fluorescent lantern with uv tubes would be a relatively cheap way to create a portable source it would be bright enough to be useful but not dangerously so ed hall edhall rand org
