Is anyone familiar with vacuum tube indicators used on transistor logic
machines?
I recently found a small rack filled with small transistor logic modules.
Each module holds a flip flop or two at most.
The modules are small PC boards with a metal frame and handle. Test points
give you the state of each transistor
on the module.
Several modules have some sort of visual indicator tube as well.
These tubes are not much larger than a standard NE-2 bulb, but they more
resemble subminiature vacuum tubes.
The tubes are marked 01037 J3, each had four leads. Two of these leads
shows a resistance of 9.8 Ohms, and
appears to be a low voltage filament. One is grounded, the other is
connected to a bus in the rack of logic.
There is no 'getter flash' inside the glass tube, so they may be some sort
of glow discharge tube.
Looking at the insides of each tube thee appears to be a very fine V style
filament and a grid-like structure, but
I see no clear anode or plate structures. There are two thin 'wires'
outside of the grid, one in front and one
behind the central grid-like / filament structure.
The logic itself is made from 2N414 transistors, mil-spec at one time,
covered in conformal coating. Markings
show this device came from the USAF Airborne Instrumentation Labs. I only
have a small part of some
larger system, but I would like to power this rack of logic up and see these
indicators in action.
There is something very familiar about these things. They remind me of
something I may have seen once
in a telephone switching application when I was in the USAF long ago.
Any idea what these things may be? I'll try to get a digital photo, but the
tubes are mounted under small
metal clips with short leads.