[sdiy] the function of neon lamps?

[Antti Pitkämäki]

Jeff Brown wrote:

>IIRC, Neon bulbs require a certain voltage (60v?) to ionize before they 
>will conduct. Once ionized, the voltage can be dropped (5-10v?) before they 
>stop conducting again. They make a rather simple sawtooth oscillator when 
>wired in parallel with a capacitor. Richard Dorf (who wrote "Electronic 
>Musical Instruments") did a nice little article about using these in an 
>organ back in 1958. See
>
>http://www.guitarfool.com/NeonOrgan.html

Whoa, that's a cool article! It's weird that I didn't manage to find that by 
myself. Thanks everybody for the neon information, now those lamps are not 
so weird anymore!

Antti

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