One of the major problems in oscillistor work is connected with the stability and reproducibility of the surface conditions of the oscillistor specimen. An empirical surface treatment has been found which enables one to prepare reasonably reproducible and stable oscillistors. By utilizing this surface treatment, it has been possible to measure the conditions existing at the onset of current oscillations. The quantitative dependence of the minimal applied magnetic field required for oscillistor action has been measured as a function of applied voltage and specimen size. Some qualitative information regarding the dependence of the minimal applied magnetic field on bulk and surface properties has been inferred from the experimental data. These data reveal that there is an optimum size for oscillistor specimens that will minimize the electrical input power required for oscillations, and by using such samples, oscillistors have been fabricated that will function continuously at room temperature. An experiment designed to interact with the magnetic field produced by the helical perturbation proposed by Glicksman has disclosed a new effect that may provide a way of constructing an oscillistor amplifier.These experiments have revealed that the conditions necessary for oscillations in the current are quantitatively different from the conditions necessary for oscillation of the components of electric field that are transverse to the applied electric field. Since no quantitative theory of the mechanism of current oscillation has appeared in the literature, no direct comparison between theory and experiment is possible. However, the applied electric and magnetic fields required for current oscillations are of the same order of magnitude as those predicted by the existing helical instability theories.