Maybe you could modify the electronics from an old/defunct compact
fluorescent (mains) bulb. It might not be much more difficult than
rewinding the pulse transformer and changing a couple of resistors.

RP

On 02/11/06, Alan B. Pearce <A.B.Pearce@rl.ac.uk> wrote:
> >I think, on reflection, I posted the request in a moment of, for want of
> >a better word, weakness. After being frustrated on the phone for quite
> >some time, I thought I'd ask the guys who really know. When being
> >given prices $33 - $42 per tube, you just know you could do it for
> >less ;-)
> >
> >Then it dawned on me
> >
> > http://home.howstuffworks.com/fluorescent-lamp.htm
> >
> >Confirmed what I already thought I knew and filled in some blanks.
> >Not quite as simple or cheap to build your own after all. Looks like
> >I'll need to visit an electrical store and probably stump up for the 12V
> >fittings. Oh well, live and learn
>
> I don't see why one shouldn't be able to build something for less than that.
> My unit did not use a starter, the secondary of the transformer acts as the
> ballast, and I wired both pins at the end of the tube together, and operated
> it in the "instant-start" mode they mention several pages into that article.
>
> A suitable ferrite core, a suitable transistor and a handful of discrete
> components I would have thought would come in at around NZ$10 unless prices
> have gone real AWOL since i was there.
>
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