About a year ago I decided it was time to change the incandescent pilot bulbs
in my 238 tuner to LED's since the old bulbs kept burning out. My first stab
at it was with a direct plug in replacement that used only one single LED
element. The results were disappointing. I could hardly read the meter and
the slide-rule dial was so dim I had to use a flashlight to see where the
pointer was.
A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a plug in replacement from
SuperBrightLEDs.com that features nine (count 'em nine!) elements, so I gave
them a try. While expensive ($9.95 each and you need three) the tuner now
lights up like a lighthouse on steroids! The meter and dial pointer are easily
readable from across the room in any light condition. The units I used are on
this page:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&Page2Disp=%2FBA9S6_specs.htm
The BA9s-xHP9 runs on 9-14.5 VDC and each draws 35 mA. Specs claim 40,000 hour
life. They're also available in colors if you want to get creative. They fit
directly into the existing sockets, although since they are a bit longer than
the originals, it took a minor amount of coercion to get them into place.
I suspect these can be used in a lot of older equipment since quality
incandescent pilot bulbs are getting harder to find.
Ron N6IE
www.N6IE.com
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