[Drake] REAL Drake Blue......

[Garey Barrell]

To the rest of the Luddites out there -

I know you're out there, I can hear you breathing........

Jim and Don have done really nice work with LEDs, and it's a very nice
blue, but it's not "Real Blue"  !!  :-)

I finally got some time to work out something that has been bothering me
for a while.  The Drake "Blue" tends to go green with age, resulting in
a not-so-pretty blue-green dial.  There have been various theories /
excuses for this, usually revolving around the fact that incandescent
bulbs such as the #47 and #755 have a "yellowish" cast to them.  Well,
they really don't, unless you have extremely low line voltage.

The reason appears to be that the "white" paint on the reflectors of the
dial and meter housing tends to yellow with age, and this is where the
"tint" is coming from.  When the blue film fades a little bit,
(difficult to see unless you put it on a sheet of white paper,) the
yellow overpowers it and  _blue-green_  dials...

So.   One can of Testor's Flat White spray enamel from the Hobby shop, a
quick spray, a new piece of Lee Lighting #172 "Lagoon Blue", and the
dial and meter have that beautiful, "Real Blue" glow.

73, Garey - K4OAH
Glen Allen, VA

Drake 2-B, 4-B, C-Line & TR-4/C Service Supplement CDs
<www.k4oah.com>