[time-nuts] Old Crystal.

[Dana Whitlow]

Blue LEDs under Nixie tubes might have a deeper purpose than appearance-
they can also
help the Nixie tubes get started upon turn-on (especially if they're
getting old).  I once stayed
in a hotel room whose light switches had neon indicators to help one find
them in the dark,
and the one near the entrance door was getting awfully marginal.  I
happened to have a blue
LED penlight with me, and I found that shining that on the switch face made
a radical
improvement in making the neon indicator keep going, even at a range of >
20 feet.  And
this flashlight was no powerhouse either- it was a single LED with no
auxiliary focussing
optics.

Dana


On Fri, Mar 5, 2021 at 1:05 PM John Moran, Scawby Design <
john at scawbydesign.co.uk> wrote:

> Ref. the original comment about a blue glow seen in a crystal, I would
> suggest that it was simply a blue LED used in exactly the same way that
> constructers of Nixie Clocks add LEDs under the Nixie tubes to make them
> look more dramatic.
>
> John
>
> _______________________________________________
> time-nuts mailing list -- time-nuts at lists.febo.com
> To unsubscribe, go to
> http://lists.febo.com/mailman/listinfo/time-nuts_lists.febo.com
> and follow the instructions there.
>