Nixie Nirvana

[Jeffry P]

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

***

[Audrey]

You may type slow but you're a wonderful writer. I'm glad the tubes went to you, jeffry. Hope you are able to show some long-unseen tubes

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[gregebert]

Nixie collectors are also known for acquiring other novelties from that era, so when the time comes to tell the story, please pass along any info on not-necessarily-nixie items that were part of the estate. I'm glad this collection didn't get into the hands of someone who simply wants to liquidate it for a quick profit.

[Jeff Walton]

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 

[Jeffry Portell]

Yes he and I are the same age. I need to think about where all this should go in the event of my demise.

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[Jeffry Portell]

Thank you Audrey for your kind words. I'm looking forward to sharing this amazing collection.

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[Audrey]

You should give them to me :)

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[Nicholas Stock]

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

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[Dekatron42]

Nice, it is a gold mine, especially since there is documentation as that is harder to come by than actual Nixies (except for a very few rare ones) in my opinion.

However I can't see any photos, is there a link to them or where are they?

/Martin

[Bill Notfaded]

I don't see any pictures either?  I too have a Pete Hand FLW clock and I bought it from Pete's relatives.  Does anyone have the Pete Hand FLW manual?  It used to be on his website but that's sadly gone like him.  I remember Raymond and also the geek clock!

Best Regards,

  

Bill

[Allen]

I (hope) I have a Pete Hand FLW manual.

A few years ago I acquired a bare board that was an older version of the FLW. After some inquiries Pete identified it as his and offered to send me an updated board and kit of components. 

I have not put the kit together yet, we were looking to move at the time and I’ve had other priorities since I did move.

I’ll poke around and see if I printed the manual and put it in the box with the rest.

As an aside: I managed to get a full set of B7951 tubes. The first pair cost me $100, the next pair was close to $400. 

At a ham fest last weekend I saw one sell for $1.00! 

Allen Wisbey, W1SBY

On Aug 25, 2021, at 6:03 AM, Bill Notfaded <notf...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Bill Notfaded]

1$ for B-7971 is great deal!  I got one of these for 60$ not long ago NIB with great condition box.  Big tube with a decimal point!  NL-934.

https://www.nixies.us/bwg_gallery/nl934/

Bill

[Audrey]

That tube is simply amazing

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[Jeffry Portell]

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

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[Bill Notfaded]

Jeffrey-

Where there any big Borroughs or NL tubes vertical or round?

Bill

[Robert G. Schaffrath]

$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

[Jeffry Portell]

There is a Burroughs tube that comes in a box you fit a BigMac in. I haven't looked in the box yet- I'm never near a chair when it's nearby.

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[Nicholas Stock]

Sounds like a 7094....nice. That's one expensive tube these days....

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[Stuckey]

RE: Pete Hand manual - I have a version for the VFW FLW clock he made. It doesn't look super technical but maybe there are similarities in the software:

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AkXvRTwv6tXXvZN-zptH48yMbs8_rw?e=qwncjE  

B

[Ian]

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 <robert.s...@gmail.com> 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.

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[Jeff Walton]

Tape the tube to a wooden dowel, like a closet rod, and pin one end on a carpeted surface so that you can smack the entire length of the dowel (with the taped 7971) against the carpeted floor.  This will transfer the shock to the full height of the 7971 and separate the overlapping segment ends.  I usually tape the tube tightly with masking tape so that the face of the digits is perpendicular to the floor.  I've successfully fixed at least a half dozen tubes this way and not broken any.  

I know that there have been other threads with photos.  And yes, you will feel really apprehensive when you do it the first time.  I haven't had one that didn't get cured... 

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[Ian]

Thank you Jeff. I have a few 7971’s in a box from quite a few years back from the US Mint outfit. Might be needing that method.

IanV

On 27 Aug 2021, at 22:15, Jeff Walton <jwalt...@gmail.com> wrote:



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