<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On May 2, 2021, at 9:08 PM, Benjamin Tremblay <<a href="mailto:btremblay@me.com" class="">btremblay@me.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class="">I eat my crow.</div><div class="">I should try that touch switch feature in my teensy.</div><br class=""><div class=""><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On May 2, 2021, at 7:48 PM, KA4HJH via Synth-diy <<a href="mailto:synth-diy@synth-diy.org" class="">synth-diy@synth-diy.org</a>> wrote:</div><div class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div></div><div class="">How about a cold cathode thyratron (that just happens the be a lamp as well)?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="http://www.industrialalchemy.org/articleview.php?item=1084" class="">http://www.industrialalchemy.org/articleview.php?item=1084</a></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></blockquote></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Here's an inexpensive MTX-90 toy you can play around with (no assembly required)—cute "control modules" with five touch-sensitive pads:<br class=""><br class=""><a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/133725689779" class="">https://www.ebay.com/itm/133725689779</a><br class=""><div class=""><div class=""><br class="">Note that this is one of several variants available (white/gray panels, clear/orange lenses). Search the same category for "MTX-90". The orange lenses are cool but clear lenses will be brighter when lit.</div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class="">Based on generic circuits for other cold cathode devices in old Russian data books, I'm guessing that the power supply was half-wave rectified 220V AC . There are a number of schematics online for real-world applications of the MTX-90, none of them as simple as this particular do-dad and/or "proper". I haven't puzzled it out yet as I'm waiting for someone in the neonixe-l group to hook one up and report back.</div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">They came from out of nowhere. Several listings appeared on eBay over a few days. No one had ever seen them before and what the intended use was is still a mystery. And the asking prices have gone up since I haggled down two sellers.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">There's a ton of surplus Soviet electronic parts on eBay, mostly from Ukraine. All of the cool stuff—Geiger-Mueller tubes, Nixies, Dekatrons, etc.—is steadily rising in price. I've missed out on some excellent investment opportunities in just the last two years. The Nixie clock craze has gotten steadily crazier. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">If you any B7971s lying around take good care of them.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Terry Bowman, KA4HJH</div><div class=""><div class=""><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">"The Mac Doctor"<br class=""><br class=""></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><a href="https://www.astarcloseup.com/" class="">https://www.astarcloseup.com/</a></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">“...the book said something astonishing, a very big thought. The stars, it said, were suns but very far away. The Sun was a star but close up.”—Carl Sagan, "The Backbone Of Night",<span class="Apple-converted-space" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"> </span><i style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class="">Cosmos</i>, 1980<br class=""><br class=""></div></div></div></div>
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