Here is an update on the Doo-Hicky. I went with a metal base OG-4, cherry wood for the case, was able to get one from Amazon Prime, and all in all very happy with it. This was probably the coolest, most retro-tech, and completely useless thing I could build for less than $50, but still pretty damn cool. My only complaint about the kit is that the 12V jack and the button are not adjacent to another, this would allow for a more minimalist case design, rather than having to put legs on it with the two components on opposite sides of the board. However, this is a mild inconvenience, and more of me just finding something to complain about. Overall, I really liked this project and especially liked the outcome.
Thank you again for the advice on it!!! https://drive.google.com/file/d/17J0zfseOXXUNMYcdAAXAiQiNFqQ8jnb8/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lSIMnzE8mtR4WORX7GfpvDwT44jqSjwr/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wOI2a7XKHUDZAXosMfr5qyRKsPuZlLLt/view?usp=sharing On Thursday, November 1, 2018 at 10:44:40 AM UTC-4, Jon wrote: > > Hi Thomas, > > OK, you are teetering on the edge of a very bad potential addiction by > wanting to dabble with dekatrons... :) > > I can't offer any help on the shipping point, but with regards to the > tubes themselves: > > 1. Orange (neon-based) dekatrons are *much* brighter in reality than > the purple ones. Depending on how you're operating the tube, you may > struggle to see the purple glow from distance in a brightly lit room, > though they can be OK in subdued lighting. > 2. Reliability of tubes. The issue I think you're referring to is the > observation that high-speed dekatrons have an unfortunate habit of dying > in > storage - even a true NIB tube can be stone dead on arrival. Low-speed > dekatrons don't have this problem and generally speaking are tough > reliable > tubes. The difference is primarily (but not exclusively) down to the gas > mixes being used. Most purple-glowing tubes are in the high-speed > category, > including your OG3 and OG7. So yes, they can be dodgy, so ideally buy from > a seller who has tested the actual tube they're selling you, not just > relying on the fact that the factory tested them before they were boxed up > 50 years ago. > 3. Subject to the comment above, the Russian tubes are no less > reliable than Western ones - ie their low speed tubes work just fine, and > their high speed ones can be a lottery. Manufacturing tolerances can be > less good, with the occasional wonky fitting of the base. The one area > where the Western tubes do seem better is in the visibility of the glow. > Many Russian tubes seem to be manufactured in a way that deposits a metal > film on the inside of the glass dome at the top of the tube - I assume > this > is sputtered material from initial cleaning of the cathode surfaces. While > Western tubes have been through a similar process, in those tubes that > material tends to be confined to the outer walls of the tube, leaving the > top dome clear, and therefore providing a better view of the glowing > electrodes. The degree of darkening is very variable between individual > tubes and can be quite significant in reducing the visible light output of > the tube (which may not be that high to start with for purple-glowing > tubes...). My experience on this point with OG7 is better than with OG3, > and better for the variants of the tubes that have metal shells around > their bases compared with the plain black Bakelite type. But don't take > that as a firm rule - ask the seller to send you a top-view picture of > the > actual tube you're buying and check you can see the cathode pins clearly. > > Where does this net out? As a top-level practical answer, if you're fixed > on having a purple glow from a readily-available cheap tube, I'd go for a > metal-based OG7. If you want to maximise visibility of your do-hickie, > I'd suggest one of the Ericsson GC10B family, 6802 or a well-chosen OG4. > Now, if you're wanting to imbibe more deeply of the drug, there are more > interesting and exotic possibilities you could explore... But the tubes get > harder to find of course. :) > > Cheers, > > Jon. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send an email to neonixie-l@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/56789dac-3403-4ed8-9712-63d098287c77%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
