Peter Forde writes:
>I don't believe this - they didn't have fluorescent tubes until the
>early 1960's !

        Actually, neon lamps date back to at least the 1920's and
earlier.  Fluorescent tubes which are close cousins were invented in
1938.  There were definitely neon lamps used on equipment in WWII.  I
have seen several pieces of forties-vintage equipment which used
neons as transmitter tuning indicators, voltage regulators, and
indicators.  One such device was an emergency rescue transmitter which
was known as a "Gibson Girl," or "May West."  It was a heavy orange
metal box which was contoured to be grasped between one's knees while
sitting in a lifer aft and cranking the generator that powered the
transmitter.  There was a neon lamp tuning indicator that one was
supposed to watch while adjusting the final tank circuit.

        I also used to have a 1942-vintage aircraft receiver which
used a strange-looking neon lamp as a regulator.

        WWII was before my time, but the surplus electronics stuff
could be had by the pound, almost, all across the United states in the
early sixties.  For a boy of 10 or 11, it was like heaven on Earth and
one could spend hours dismantling thousands of Dollars worth of what
once had been mission-critical equipment and nobody got mad about it.

Martin McCormick WB5AGZ  Stillwater, OK
OSU Center for Computing and Information Services Data Communications Group