I forgot to ask... Are you still alive, or did your earbuds electrocute your brain? Don't bother replying if you're dead. I'll get the message. B-)

A 2n2222 has a Vebo of about 5v according to my spec sheets. Yours is dead now, from pumping more than 100 times that into it.

Vebo= Voltage from emiter to base with collector open.

The schematic didn't show a resistor in series with the tube (Several MegOhms are required), so I'm assuming that's dead now too. That might explain why it's not very sensitive. 8-(  Good luck with future projects. A little more research, and some electronics knowledge will go a long way... Or change your major to digital, where you don't need Ohms Law and all that pesky theory to make stuff work. B-) Don't let this discourage you.

Thanks for your feedback - indeed this device is not anywhere near the best it could be. However, I do disagree that the transistor and tube are dead - the device itself works, which means that the transistor is surviving in HV pulses. In addition I have had no issues with the headset itself becoming a HV source. I suspect that the transistor is able to survive because of the very low current being pulled through the tube (perhaps a FET would not fare as well as this BJT). The high voltage supply itself is only capable of a couple mA's when shorted, if that, so I doubt that the tube was damaging by overcurrent.

For something like this, I was trying to find the bare minimum setup that actually works, as I like to fully understand what I am building. I could definitely do better now, but haven't gotten around to an upgrade... and any such upgrade would cost more and increase complexity.