I’m not heard of the wooden dowel method. Is that just hitting the tube?

In the dark
IanV

> On 26 Aug 2021, at 15:56, Robert G. Schaffrath <[email protected]> 
> wrote:
> 
> $1 for a B-7971?!?! Incredible. The best price I ever saw was late 
> 1970's/early 1980's when they were still common. As I mentioned in the past, 
> I got six NOS B-7971's around that time from Meshna Electronics for $5/each 
> IIRC. The used ones were $1 cheaper and I decided to splurge. The first eight 
> tubes I got came in pairs on the old stock ticker boards. One tube was 
> defective leaving me with seven good ones. I believe I paid something like 
> $8/each for the boards. Some from Poly Paks and some from Meshna. It has been 
> so long many of the details escape me. I still have that "defective" tube 
> that I have been debating about selling. It had shorted segments and various 
> attempts at fixing it over they years before learning about the "wooden 
> dowel" method that worked resulted in some segments getting damaged. Tube 
> still intact and several segments still light up so it is useful as a novelty 
> but it will not display all possible segments that a good B-7971 will. It is 
> wrapped in bubble wrap sitting in an odds-and-ends box which is why I am 
> thinking of parting with it. I am not using it.
> 
> Robert
> 
> 
>> On Thursday, August 26, 2021 at 6:36:35 AM UTC-4 Bill Notfaded wrote:
>> Jeffrey-
>> 
>> Where there any big Borroughs or NL tubes vertical or round?
>> 
>> Bill
>>> On Wednesday, August 25, 2021 at 1:46:02 PM UTC-7 Jeffry P wrote:
>>> Hi Nick,
>>> 
>>> I've been lurking in this group since its creation.  Most of the discussion 
>>> is a bit beyond me but interesting nonetheless.  Some members were asking 
>>> where the pictures were- I was referring to the pictures listed on the 
>>> Facebook group. I have not posted any pictures anywhere. I'm about halfway 
>>> through sorting tubes into bins, so that all alike types are together. 
>>> Burroughs has the lead as far as variety with National right behind.Valvo 
>>> and Amperex are well represented. This coming weekend I should be able to 
>>> finish sorting. I'll post some pictures when the sorting is finished. Thank 
>>> you to all who have sent encouraging words. I was concerned that some folks 
>>> would be out of joint because I went in and got everything. If you were 
>>> planning on going to Huntsville for nixies this weekend I apologize. There 
>>> were some meters left that someone might be interested in. I'm referring to 
>>> the photos on the Facebook page (Harpers Home Estate Sales). The collection 
>>> came from Michael Seaton. He had a few posts here and his name was in his 
>>> email address.
>>> 
>>> Jeffry
>>> 
>>>> On Tue, Aug 24, 2021 at 10:30 PM Nicholas Stock <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>> Hi Jeffry, welcome to the group!!!
>>>> 
>>>> As a long time Nixie fan, clock builder, collector etc, I applaud you for 
>>>> keeping the treasure trove together. I noted a lot of highly sought after 
>>>> goodies in the photos (including a rather excessive number of old Axiris 
>>>> VU meters!). As a fellow nixie/neon nutcase and one of the moderators of 
>>>> the group, let me know if there's anything I(we) can do to help you with 
>>>> info, pricing etc....there are a lot of really knowledgeable and 
>>>> thoughtful folks on this list and whilst a lot of us are probably agog at 
>>>> the collection, deep-down we're happy that it is all in one place and with 
>>>> someone who knows its value (not just monetarily).
>>>> 
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> 
>>>> Nick
>>>> 
>>>>> On Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 6:16 PM Audrey <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>> You should give them to me :)
>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 9:14 PM Jeffry Portell <[email protected]> 
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> 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
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> ***
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
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