On Jul 19, 8:20 pm, AnubisTTP <[email protected]> wrote: > My belief that the display was made in Russia was based on the > observations below as well as the linked image below showing an > earlier, definitely Russian made version of this display. > > http://www.decadecounter.com/vta/pict14/udt3old.jpg
That looks like the "blister face" construction used on the (definitely) Reflector-built 7-segment displays (in the same size housing) and also seems to match the banner image the seller is using on his eBay listings. It also looks like all of the pins are connected properly in this specimen, making it fully addressable. BTW, I emailed Micah a message saying all my units were like this back in December. Since I didn't hear back from him since January and the 7- segment monster hasn't shown up on the site yet, I figured you were both busy with other stuff. > # The date code is applied with a rubber stamp like the various > mid-90s Reflector made tubes available on Ebay, and it is in Cyrillic. > I can't say I have ever seen a Japanese VFD marked with a rubber > stamp, and I know I have never seen a Japanese display marked with > Cyrillic characters. I mentioned earlier that my opinion on the origin of this display shouldn't be taken as gospel. However... Since all of these marking are on the outside of the display, the tubes could have been made anywhere. Reflector had a date stamp and stamped them with the date code. They didn't have a stamp already made with the part number and company logo - instead, these were laser-printed on pieces of paper and taped to the outside of the display. What would be convincing evidence of origin would be writing inside the envelope in some language. I've seen what look like writing in pencil inside other Russian VFDs, but I have not observed any in these. > Knowing that all the displays were defective makes me believe even > less that they are Japanese in origin. It requires me to believe that I think we need to make a distinction between "dud" defective and "intentionally reduced functionality" defective. These are certainly the latter, as it persists across multiple dates. > some random Japanese VFD manufacturer out there was stupid enough to, > eg, think that some equally random Russian VFD manufacturer could copy > their VFD, yet be stymied by a thin piece of sheet metal. Did this > Japanese manufacturer assume that the defect would somehow be missed > before the design went to the production floor? That the Russians > would not have access to diagonal cutter technology? There is > definitely something weird going on with these displays, but I just > can't buy that it was sabotage from a foreign manufacturer. Maybe it > is completely intentional, and the UDT3 is a failed attempt to make > some sort of "VU meter" style bargraph display. The seller on Ebay has > unloaded literally hundreds of these tubes over the past year, could > they 'all' be manufacturing mistakes? I've seen larger runs of engineering samples of various devices, with parts of functionality intentionally left out. That's what I think is going on with these. If your blister face UDT is a much older device, the flat-face ones could have been a sample batch from a second manufacturer to prove that they were capable of producing the device in quantity. Any testing, such as for aging deterioration of the phosphor, could be performed on these - they just wouldn't be marketable as functional displays due to the intentionally reduced functionality. > It should be noted that I have been contacted by at least one Russian > reader of the site who confirmed that there is something very strange > going on with this display. He said that he was under the impression > the Reflector plant had closed three years ago and Russian nixie > collectors had not seen any Russian VFD displays dated later than > 2003. All the other post-90's VFDs' I have seen from Russia have the > Reflector factory mark on them, but if the Reflector plant closed 3 > years ago, where was this thing made? If Reflector was in the process of shutting down, that would seem to support my idea that these were made somewhere else as a potential second source, and then when Saratov was being scavenged for stuff to sell to the West, these tubes were found. They look like the earlier models, so the seller probably thought they were the same as the earlier models and attached the data for those to the listing. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/neonixie-l?hl=en-GB.
