[MRCA] project luck or lack thereof

Thu Sep 3 13:07:18 EDT 2020

Well, you might want to look for a lamp holder that doesn't have the 
resistor.  The lens for the neon has stripes in it in an attempt to get 
it to be brighter, I think, while the one for incandescent is a clear 
color red.  The neon isn't very bright, and from what you said you were 
trying to achieve, your first instinct to use an incandescent is 
probably right.  I think I may have one I can send you.  Let me check 
and see.

- Mike

On 9/3/2020 12:45 PM, W2HX wrote:
>
> Dang! See? Just goes to show you sharing your failures with others can 
> help you succeed. Both Jeep and Mike KC4TOS hit the nail on the head. 
> Instead of just checking continuity, I measured resistance. And lo and 
> behold, 74k ohms from solder terminal to center contact. I had no idea 
> that that domed/vs flat indicated incandescent vs neon!
>
> Based on this 74k measurement, does that indicate what kind of neon 
> bulb I should look for? The bulb base is T3-1/4.  What do I look for?
>
> Looks like I could salvage this after all!
>
> Thanks Jeep and Mike
>
> *From:* mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net <mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net> 
> *On Behalf Of *Doran Platt
> *Sent:* Thursday, September 3, 2020 5:50 AM
> *To:* Military Radio Collectors Association <mrca at mailman.qth.net>
> *Subject:* Re: [MRCA] project luck or lack thereof
>
> I have been snookered in the past with these lamp holders.   Some have 
> built-in series resistors for neon lamps. If the lamp contact appears 
> domed, it is probably the neon type.  If flat, probably incandescent.  
> Maybe?
>
> Jeep K3HVG
>
>     On 09/02/2020 7:59 PM W2HX <w2hx at w2hx.com <mailto:w2hx at w2hx.com>>
>     wrote:
>
>     Hi friends.
>
>     Just a story about how gremlins sometimes get into the simplest of
>     projects.  I’ve been working on an antenna switching system for my
>     shack. The project has evolved over time. Originally it was to
>     switch one antenna amongst two different couplers at the antenna
>     location.  One for transmitters up to 400W (RF-382A) and the other
>     for my 1KW transmitters (Sunair 1KW coupler).
>
>     I have since swapped out both of those couplers for one Rohde and
>     Schwarz 1KW coupler that takes tune power from 50W through 300W
>     (or thereabouts) so now I only need one coupler for all my
>     radios.   And instead of switching couplers, I will switch
>     antennas. One vertical and one horizontal long wire, both will
>     share the coupler and the counterpoise radials.
>
>     I started really buckling down to finish this project and part of
>     it was making a 19” control panel to enable power to the antenna
>     site and handle the switching and other functions. I assembled the
>     parts, most from my parts bin. One part was a nice 120V pilot lamp
>     which I thought was a good thing to add so I can see that the
>     power to the antenna site is on or off. I found a brand new,
>     unused indicator lamp housing with jewel top in my parts bin that
>     would be perfect. I probably bought this light at a hamfest 10
>     years ago, but who remembers.
>
>     The panel had lots of things to be mounted on it including some
>     barrier strips for wiring etc so I figured I would get the panel
>     created at front panel express. They provide a simple cad tool and
>     you upload your drawing and voila, about 10 days later the panel
>     arrives at your home all done to your specifications. Not cheap
>     but considering the time it would take and the mistakes I was sure
>     to make it seemed a good idea (and it was). For example, the fuse
>     holder I was going to use needed a “D” hole which I could never
>     make myself at home, so there you go. Among many others, I defined
>     the hole for the pilot lamp in the cad drawing. The panel arrived
>     as scheduled.
>
>     Well today I started wiring up the AC. And did a simple test, when
>     I throw the AC power switch does my little pilot lamp illuminate?
>     No! why not?! Such a simple thing! Fuse was there, switch was
>     switching, not much to go wrong. Must have been the lamp, of
>     course. I had to find this little bayonet lamp for 120V and low
>     wattage that would fit this holder. Checked out the lamp, it is
>     continuous no problem!? What’s going on here? Well I ohmed out
>     every single wire.
>
>     The problem? The lamp holder had no continuity from one terminal
>     to the center conductor! I couldn’t believe it! I pushed it in
>     really tried to make contact with my DVM and nothing. Who would
>     expect a brand new item, one that is so simple to fail!.  Arrggh.
>     So now to find another one with the same diameter as the original
>     so it will properly fit in my panel that I took such pains to create.
>
>     Anyway. Very long story. I hope it wasn’t too boring, but you
>     know. You have to build up these stories to make the climax more
>     satisfying hihi.
>
>     73 Eugene W2HX
>
>     Keep your lamps trimmed and burning
>
>
>
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-- 
Michael Hanz - KC4TOS

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