Hi all,
A few years ago I built a 6 digit clock using those indicators. They are multiplexed and the clock looks terrific. Mine uses 12V flange based bulbs. The downside is that the bulbs don't last all that long when multiplexed at the theoretically correct voltage of 12 * sqrt(6) = 30 V (approx). Those little bulbs are not easy to find. The local professional suppliers (RS or Farnell) have them but you need to buy 100 at a time. I have had some success substituting LEDs as the quality and colour of high intensity warm white LEDs have improved. Once I run out of my last purchase of 100 bulbs which should be in about a year at the current rate, I'll install them. It won't look quite the same but them's the breaks. Substituting LEDs is not straightforward. The issue with LEDs is that the light intensity is maximal in one direction while a small hot filament quasi-isotropically radiates in all directions. The bulb housings are like an integrating sphere with a slit where the edge of the perspex picks up the light. If the LED radiating direction does not coincide with the slit you lose a lot of it so even with very bright 5 mm LEDS the display looks dim compared to when a bulb is used. Recently I picked up a batch of warm white LEDs which have short bodies thus allowing more of the light to be bounced around inside the integrating housing and they are not too bad. I've got quite a collection now of unsuitable high intensity white LEDs! Morris On Monday, 19 May 2014 09:37:22 UTC+10, Dave Brown wrote: > > Yes-those KGM displays are really quite interesting. > Has anyone come up with an LED replacement for the bulbs in them? > DaveB, > Christchurch, NZ > > -- 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 neonixie-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send an email to neonixie-l@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/9e4485a6-ebc7-4a4b-8456-315f083f9234%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
