I see the situation differently. It's way more complicated than you describe. It's the glass, the wire coatings and a lot of process control. It's been a long time since mass production of reliable tubes and frankly, a lot of trial and error for current makers to get back to where they are. They are not fake. The glow is quite genuine. Nobody is rushing anything out the door when everything is made by hand. I agree that we'd probably all prefer the beautiful glass tubes of 50 years ago but it is great that someone is attempting to make an unobtanium tube of any style. We have folks on this board that are pleased to see steps towards restoring a lost art and chance to participate. If the tubes are still working 20-30 years from now, that is a success and the bases can be re-glued. I won't be around to be worried about it. Jeff -------- Original message --------From: Leroy Jones <[email protected]> Date: 12/31/24 9:15 PM (GMT-06:00) To: neonixie-l <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [neonixie-l] B-87971 tubes One thing that bothers/worries me about all of these modern-day nixie tubes is the fact that the base is GLUED on to the envelope.Over the years I have seen plenty of older tubes (not nixies) that had glued bases and the base always eventually comes loose.I have had several old Western Electric ballast lamps that had the base come loose. Luckily the lead wires stayed intact and I was ableto re-glue the base to the envelope using cyanoacrylate (aka "super") glue. So I honestly think that this is what we are in for with thesemodern-day so-called "nixie" tubes. In other words, wait 20 or 30 years and then the base comes loose. In my humble opinion, the nixie tube makersreally need to re-learn the skill of sealing good pins to the glass like they used to do. It cannot be that tough of a skill to master.After all millions upon millions of all different types of vacuum tubes were made this way. I think they are using a plain pinch with wirescoming out then soldered to a fake little PC board is kind of an easy cop-out they are using to get tubes out the door fast instead of making themproperly. Yes, I have a problem with these new tubes. They are not genuine. On Tuesday, December 31, 2024 at 9:25:45 AM UTC-5 Adam Piórko wrote:The option of an MCU on the PCB is not a bad idea. I dream of a PCB with control via I2C bus or shift registers. The only problem is that the B8971 is about the size of an IN-18, and I doubt there would be space for anything other than traces to the pins :)Most likely, the board will have a hole through which the leads from the tube will pass and need to be soldered to the PCB – and that takes up space...wtorek, 31 grudnia 2024 o 11:29:16 UTC+1 newxito napisał(a):I’m still interested, I have no problem with the small PCB approach. They could add a 50 cents MCU to the PCB for storing the serial number and counting the operating hours, of course all data accessible from my clock... just kidding...Richard Scales schrieb am Dienstag, 31. Dezember 2024 um 05:18:14 UTC+1:A slight update:Whilst the manufacturer has made the DGM01 tube with glass sealed pins at the base - the preferred approach seems to be, like other manufacturers, to use the small PCB at the base.This is to mitigate against leakage around the pins in the glass base which whilst was once a common place manufacturing step (back when tube production was massive) but now appears to be a technique that has been lost in the sands of time.So, that is the current thought.The base absolutely positively has to match the existing B8971 for compatibility purposes.A lot more research has yet to be done and I will report all progress here.In the meantime - thank you all for your support. It is clear that there is demand for such a thing - even if only in the 100's. I look forward to updating you all when I know more.- RichardOn Monday, 30 December 2024 at 23:30:16 UTC Bill Stanley wrote:
Hi Richard, Add me for 6 of the tubes. -Bill- From: Richard Scales Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2024 10:34 PM To: neonixie-l Subject: [neonixie-l] B-87971 tubes Hello,I am in discussion with a tube manufacturer regarding the implementation of a B-8971 replacement tube.It seems that the idea is fully achievable though I would need to order 100 units of the first batch in order to make it happen.Naturally I am asking to see if anyone would be interested in committing to the purchase of a number of tubes to see if I can get an order for 100 units together.Please let me know if you might be interested, the target price for the first should be close to $75+whatever duties and taxes are applied. Thereafter the price could get much closer to $50+taxes etc.Just let me know.- Richard-- 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] view this discussion, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/35e83ab3-4d08-44c1-a52d-53d6fd5ea924n%40googlegroups.com. -- 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, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/2f64a8cc-e390-4550-b373-a0b7f8a7f1b0n%40googlegroups.com. -- 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, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/6774ba25.050a0220.2e5afb.e457%40mx.google.com.
