[sdiy] 12V tube supply (I probably answered my question but read on!)

[anthony]

I have a tiny power inverter for one of those automobile neon/fluorescent 
things. It puts out about 350VAC (with a 9V supply I didn't have my +/-12V 
handy).

What I am wondering is if this would put out enough current for a vacuum 
tube?

I'm pretty confident that it's work on one li'l 7-pin pentode, but I'd like 
to see how /many/?

I don't know what brand it is so I guess I'll just end up testing it in a 
circuit and watch the voltage drop.

The cool thing about it is it's /really/ tiny - about the size of a quarter. 
This may be what limits it I'm sure.

***UPDATE***

I got to thinking about what it was used for again and checked the /DC/ 
voltage (which I stupidly didn't check before).
WOA! 1600VDC.

The more I think about it the more I think I remember that these try to set 
a rarefied gas aglow then backs off once it has a current going through it.

SO maybe if I found a tiny Geiger-Muller tube, I can make a Geiger counter 
(which will probably become very useful very soon).

Now I'm all bummed but maybe I could tweak it into something that would work 
for my needs from say a 3V supply or maybe even a AAA. I don't think it 
would work though.