RE: [neonixie-l] Round end-view tubes + long-life?

[chuck richards]

Hello,

My own personal opinion of mercury vs non-mercury and the whole
business about limited lifespan vs "long life" is that it really
does not make much of a difference if you are careful not to
leave your tubes on all the time.

I say this because in year 2010 I built a clock which
uses National NL-6844A end view tubes. Those are non-mercury
and as such they have a very nice orange glow with no blue haze
because there's no mercury to cause the blue haze.

There's a small toggle switch on the front of the clock which
powers down the tubes. That switch stays off unless I want to
have the tubes on.

There are many tubes of that style, that same base and pinout
which look very nice. Some of them have mercury, a few do not.

Yes they are nice. On this most recent 2010 clock build it's all
in a clear plexiglas case which is about 6 inches tall by 6 inches
deep by 8 inches wide. The tube sockets are mounted on the upper
portion of the clear front of the case and the tubes just poke
right out into the air. A bit delicate, but I think it looks great
that way. That clock was built around one of John Taylor's
little HV power supplies and I just can't say enough about how
well that little power supply works!! Those little supplies are
well worth every penny.

Chuck

>
>
>---- Original Message ----
>From: mdla...@gmail.com
>To: neoni...@googlegroups.com
>Subject: RE: [neonixie-l] Round end-view tubes + long-life?
>Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2014 07:06:48 -0800 (PST)
>
>>Hi. I've been building nixie clocks and recently realized just how
>many
>>varieties of tubes there are out there. I'm interested in larger
>(IN-4
>>ish) round end-view tubes. While the IN-4 is visually nice looking
>and
>>relatively inexpensive, I am concerned about it's lifespan and am
>looking
>>for alternatives. I've discovered the B6091 and it seems like a
>good
>>choice, but I wanted to see if anyone can suggest any similar
>long-life
>>tubes.
>>
>>Thanks!
>>
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