Yes he and I are the same age. I need to think about where all this should go in the event of my demise.
On Mon, Aug 23, 2021, 3:27 PM Jeff Walton <[email protected]> wrote: > Nice to hear that someone from the group was able to make the trip. You > are fortunate to have your hands on such a treasure trove of antiquities! > Looking forward to seeing photos of the collection. Eventually we all have > collections that will change hands, some sooner than others... > > > *Jeff * > > > -------- Original message -------- > From: Jeffry P <[email protected]> > Date: 8/23/21 11:15 AM (GMT-06:00) > To: neonixie-l <[email protected]> > Subject: [neonixie-l] Nixie Nirvana > > Good morning to all! > > > I joined the original Neonixie-l group on Yahoo many years ago when > Raymond W. was moderator. I had the privilege of paying him $100+ for a > ‘Four Letter Word’ kit that never arrived. Raymond was good at making > excuses ( waiting for parts, illness, earthquakes, no reliable help, etc.) > and always promised that no matter what I would get a kit. Meanwhile, the > time had run out for a refund. The (4) B7971’s were gathering dust while > waiting to broadcast their message as tame, colorful, or indecent per your > preferences! I think there was something in there about nuns blushing as > well. I still get a twinge while checking my postal mailbox and recalling > the 2 years of looking for a package from ‘Indonesia’. > > R.W took a lot of money from people and didn’t deliver. I believe many of > his unfortunate customers were, and still are, responsible for the renewed > interest in using nixie tubes. Kits were being designed by hobbyists and > enterprising individuals found and marketed tubes that could be used to > build clocks. I had bought the (4)B7971’s for my FLW on eBay in > anticipation of the kit arrival. > > I love clocks-flip clocks, nixies, and electronic types especially. Online > auctions made access to these clocks easy and somewhat affordable. I > ordered another kit from a seller on eBay named Pete Hand. I actually > received the kit, built it, and I was now the proud owner of a Four > -Letter- Word. I’ve owned quite a few four letter words in my lifetime but > once they fall out of your mouth….. > > I bought and built another kit and was hooked on nixies. I watched prices > rise for certain tubes and bought them and others as my budget would allow. > The intention was to make clocks with them when I retired. I bought a few > kits that featured newer display types and learned about SMD’s through > trial and error. > > This past weekend I made a trip to Madison Alabama which is a suburb of > Huntsville AL. NASA and it’s supporting industries (Northrup, Intergraph, > Boeing, Dynetics, etc.) put Huntsville on the map as a hub for technical > and engineering products and services. The area has computer scientists, > mechanical and electronic engineers, Material Science PHD’s, and thousands > of really smart people. > > Please bear with me as I feel there is a story to be told here. A computer > scientist, whom I’ll call RS had a more than passing interest in Nixes. > Unfortunately he passed away suddenly while in his prime years. I believe > this person was personally known to members of the Nixie community. I am > in possession of RS’s extensive collection of Nixie tubes, built clocks, > and collector's pieces. Technical documentation and assembly manuals were > kept in file folders. Included is some correspondence related to RS’s > support of the art of manufacturing Nixie tubes. > > I arrived home yesterday after having flown to Huntsville, renting a > truck, packing the collection, and driving 12 hours. Saturday and Sunday > were one long day for me and I need to rest a bit and recover. If RS’s > brother reads this I want to say it was great to meet you and thank you for > giving (no it was purchased) myself and the world this fine collection to > enjoy. I plan on keeping this collection complete. > > Now for the good part……… > > I believe RS was friends with engineers in the aerospace industry as a lot > of the tubes are NOS in original boxes with identical date codes. These > would have been backup replacements or engineering samples used by NASA . > Most of these were American manufactured and include the full range of > tubes from Burroughs, RCA, Amperex, National, AEG, etc. The items range > from 6 to 20 pieces of each model. > > There_is_a_ mouth_full_of_hen’s_teeth_here! That last sentence is a matter > of fact. I’ve seen the pages of Claus-Dieter, Cathode Corner, and Sphere > and a few others. Are these pages of tubes they actually own or just > reference info and sale availability? Does anyone have a complete list of > every type of nixie tube that was manufactured? > > RS’s collection contains some Russian and Chinese tubes but I think they > were extras for the clocks he built. > > Most of the shipping boxes for all the tubes he had were emptied in > preparation for the sale. I took me 5 hours to pack up everything and RS’s > brother and Estate agent were very gracious in the time they allowed me to > pack everything. I didn’t have time to wrap each tube that didn’t have a > box and I have a 3’x3’x4’ box of loose tubes. The egg cartons you see in > the photos were literally stacked atop each other in a box and transported. > So far I’ve found 1 broken tube and my heart sank -it was an E1T. > > This message has become way too long but I want everyone to know these > tubes weren’t scattered to the wind or thrown out. > > > PLEASE BE PATIENT > > > PLEASE BE PATIENT > > > PLEASE BE PATIENT > > > PLEASE BE PATIENT > > > I work and am in the midst of remodeling my home so my time is spread out > thinly. I plan on inventorying the collection, trading with other > collectors to mutually enhance our collections, and putting together a > website that features the collection. Any surplus that I have will be > auctioned on eBay. I have no idea what those tubes will be but members here > will be alerted. It may be 3-6 months before I can unpack everything. I’m > not a tube dealer so getting things listed and sold is not my priority. > > Please don’t message me asking to buy something you saw in the pics. Until > I know what all is there nothing is for sale. Don’t ask what I paid for > the collection- If you do I will block you from messaging me. Don’t be rude > money was not the issue here it was about keeping this collection intact. > > If you know RS personally I would love to hear what your interactions > were. Many of the shipping boxes were from familiar names and were from all > over the world. The number of tubes is overwhelming and I feel very > fortunate to own them. There are tubes that I thought I would never in my > lifetime be able to see or touch. I’m an old school guy and I don’t take > pictures of many things. I may start to Instagram or something to share my > finds but if I I get bombarded with offers to buy etc I’ll have to stop. I > don’t keyboard very fast (cause I didn’t take typing in high school- I > thought I’d have a secretary) so answering emails and messages takes me > awhile. Took me 2 plus hours to get this out from the computer. > > Have a good afternoon, > > Jeffry > > *** > > > > -- > 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 [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/c88048ff-4540-4ecb-9595-0c8b8824c60en%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/c88048ff-4540-4ecb-9595-0c8b8824c60en%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the > Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. > To unsubscribe from this topic, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/topic/neonixie-l/1ZLwWJYUnmk/unsubscribe. > To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to > [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/61240494.1c69fb81.3c3cb.d144%40mx.google.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/61240494.1c69fb81.3c3cb.d144%40mx.google.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. 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