Thanks everyone for helping to find a source for the backlights.
I'm a little dismayed, however, to note that Ten-Tec, which has not had a
solution to this problem for so long could not discover this source. They
wouldn't have had to look very hard; I removed the el panel from my Delta II
(yes it was real easy following the directions here) to find the panel was
made by Eltech, the *same* company we're talking about dealing with here!
I doesn't look like the Austin Innovations night lights, sold by K-Mart and
a million others under the GE Indiglo name, is a great answer. The panel is
just too small and you'd have to overlap three or four of them if you use
the existing connectors. Anyone with any ideas on that?
These things have been around for awhile; back around '61 I used 'em as a
fourth grade science project. The plug-in night lights were sold by the
"real" GE, Sylvania (that one was round) and by Westinghouse (RIP).
Difference as I recall was that the material was on a rigid substrate.
I wonder if a source of obsolete displays from laptops or whatnot would
yield usable el strips cheaper - I do recall from time to time seeing them
advertised as surplus.
I wonder if anyone who understand specs on lighting can offer an answer as
to whether the current Eltech item is significantly brighter than the
original TT one - my recollection is that the backlight was never really
bright enough to begin with.
-Pete
WB2QLL
Plainfield, NH
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