[GreenKeys] [External] Re: ST-6 neon lamp part number

[Dave Horsfall]

On Tue, 26 May 2020, Jones, Douglas W wrote:

> Neon discharge lamps and displays age because of sputtering.  [...]

Ah, of course!  Thanks for the great explanation.

> There are tricks for re-forming the electrodes in glow lamps.  People 
> who are into nixie tubes have pursued these rather aggressively because 
> Nixies are hard to replace.  NE-2 lamps aren't worth trying to re-form, 
> they're still made, and dirt cheap.

The Aussie electronics magazine "Silicon Chip" (siliconchip.com.au) had a 
digital clock project based around Nixie tubes; I'll dig out the article 
and see where they found them.

> The 1965-vintage PDP-8 I'm working on restoring has neon indicator 
> lights on the front and back of the power supply to show it's on.  They 
> flicker irregularly when on.  Not worth fixing.

Come to think of it, I do remember them flickering on old equipment, and 
just assumed that it was part of the circuit design.

-- Dave VK2KFU