Micro incandescent lamp source

[Guest MikePowell]

Very small incandescent lamps are used in a variety of aerospace applications including light plates, annunciator panels and instruments. If you're trying to simulate any of these, you probably know how expensive these tiny bulbs are, generally well in excess of a dollar a piece.I recently ran across a much less expensive alternative. The local craft store is selling battery operated Christmas tree lights. The lamps are much smaller than the normal Christmas "mini-bulb". They appear to be close in size to a T-3/4 lamp, and operate on a nominal 3 volts. A string of 20 costs $2.49, while a string of 100 goes for $9.99. The lights I bought are sold under the "Bright Tidings" marketing name and are called "petite lights". For 10 cents a bulb I would not expect outstanding reliability. However, operating them at slightly reduced voltage (say 10-15%) should show a substantial increase in bulb life for a slight reduction in brightness.Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com

[Guest]

Mike,Re incandescent bulbs, I've found in the UK, that GE327's are relatively inexpensive compared with other types of bulbs. These bulbs can be bought for about 50p each and have a life of approx 25,000 hours.There is a 12 volt T-3/4 bulb that is available for 29p each, and the life of this bulb is around 5000 hours.Darren