Mixed carbon/hydrogen cationic clusters, C n H x + are generated in a laser desorption ion source over the size range 0 e x e 5 and 5 e n e 22. These species are mass selected and their conformations determined using ion mobility/ion chromatography methods. The conformations of pure carbon cationic species have been previously reported as pure linear chains for n e 6, mixed chains and monocyclic rings for 7 e n e 9, and pure monocyclic rings for n g 10. Addition of a single H atom extends the range of linear species to n ) 15, and addition of two or more H atoms extends the linear isomer to n g 22, primarily at the expense of the fraction of monocyclic ring present. At n ) 15 a new isomer appears for x g 4 and persists to n g 22. Evidence is presented that this isomer is most likely a benzene ring with a carbon loop attached at ortho positions, providing a starting point for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) formation in carbon/hydrogen plasmas. The fraction of linear isomer for C n H 2 + is ∼1.0 up to n ) 12 and then smoothly decreases relative to the monocyclic isomer until it is nearly gone at n ) 20. This fractional abundance is quantitatively matched by C n -anions over this range of n, indicating H atoms act primarily as electron donors tying up dangling bonds. This analogy indicates C n H + abundances should then reflect C n abundances, quantities that cannot be directly measured experimentally. The C n H + relative linear isomer abundances fall between C n + and C n -(or C n H 2 + ) abundances, declining from 1.0 at n ) 8 to near 0.0 at n ) 16, indicating large linear carbon clusters are almost certainly unstable to ring closure.